We’ve been following Wolfenstein The New Order for over a year now and are happy to have the finished game in our hands ready to play.  Wolfenstein The New Order is a single-player first-person shooter featuring anti-hero B.J. Blazkowicz fighting a war against Nazi forces in a ‘what if’ scenario in which German forces won World War II and took over the world.  For those who don’t know – Wolfenstein 3D was the original first-person shooter launched in 1992 and introduced the world to this type of gameplay and B.J. Blazkowicz.  Many elements from the original series hold true in The New Order like fighting Nazi, fast action and pacing and Blazkowicz’s attitude and charm.

Wolfenstein The New Order is a shooter with a variety of action and a ton of story and transition scenes.  The story and setting will introduce you to a good amount of side characters like Anya, Fergus and Wyatt as well as the returning Caroline Becker.  The motion capture and acting in the transition scenes are all well made and sometimes may even outshine other parts of the game.  There is no shortage of action and combat in Wolfenstein The New Order – once again you can dual wield your guns and knives — taking away some accuracy but adding style points.  There is a perk system that encourages players to ‘play the way they want’ and will reward them if they show a tenancy to favor one style of play over another — like stealth versus demolition.

PROS:

  • Graphics and visuals are beefy (we played on PS4)
  • Tons of old-school sarcasm and fun from hero and supporting cast
  • Blood-pumping intense combat
  • Interesting spin on ‘what if Hitler won World War II’

CONS:

  • No HUD to show position of enemies during firefight
  • Difficult to tell where you are being shot from
  • Have to push a button in order to pick up ammo and health instead of just walking over it
  • Leaning around walls and using cover – sort of pointless because tactics don’t really come into play

Overall Wolfenstein The New Order is full of fun and will keep your trigger fingers satisfied.  The game doesn’t go out of its way to break any new ground but instead takes a bunch of elements already established and puts them into well-made single package.  Our biggest gameplay mechanic we would have loved to see changed was not having to click a button to pick up items like health and ammo — especially during a fire-fight where this slows down the action and causing the dreaded ‘accidental re-load’.

Wolfenstein The New Order is available now for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows PC.

Wolfenstein The New Order Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-Bg6drRZg

Wolfenstein The New Order Gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFnmOweDqGY

Wolfenstein The New Order Hands-On Preview and Developer Interview
https://coin-op.tv/wolfenstein-the-new-order-hands/