The long awaited return of a classic game
Wolfenstein: The New Order is one of the most entertaining FPS games I’ve tried in a while. The gameplay can be good and bad, and it could have better graphics, but above all, it’s very entertaining.
Historical alternate reality
Amazing controls
Excellent artistic design
Conclusion
It’s incredibly difficult to create a good first person shooter game. You can fall into the trap of thinking that everything can be solved by adding weapons, enemies, and a few levels. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A good shooter is made of many smaller little details that must be coordinated. A slight mismatch, and a brilliant game ends up becoming just another shooter.
Wolfenstein achieves that coveted balance, from its controls and weapon selection system to its good quality graphics, without forgetting the many different and interesting missions . Wolfenstein: The New Order hasn’t reinvented the wheel, but the entertainment value of the game, thanks to an almost perfect combination of all of its parts, compensates for the few flaws it has.
Another virtue of the new Wolfenstein is its love for the classic FPS. It goes back to the hero who can carry a a lot of weapons at once, shoots accurately, has limited lives or shields, has to collect ammunition and med-kits, and must find keys to open doors. This game will be extremely popular among regulars of the genre, but also among those who are tired of playing the superhuman.
Perhaps one of the best features of Wolfenstein is the use of weapons and the number of different ones available. It’s a game that doesn’t limit the player, instead giving you all the tools so that you can choose how to tackle a level.
You have a good semi-automatic handgun. for example, that you can attach a silencer to for stealth kills without making any noise. You can also dual wield (all weapons let you do this) and use ammo with abandon, causing as much destruction as you can. It’s up to you. You want to kill with a knife? You can. Use one of many rifles? You can. Use the laser cutter? You can. Throw and return grenades? Sure.
The controls on Wolfenstein are the best I’ve seen for a FPS in a long time. They are balanced and finely adjusted. It works well, aims well, the speed of movement is great (not too fast or too slow), and if you need the onscreen guides, they’re actually useful. The in-game menu is especially good and responds perfectly.
The laser cutter is used for quite interesting situations. With this “weapon” you can cut your way through walls or fences, useful if you want to take a shortcut or sneak without being seen.
When dual wielding guns, each is fired with its own trigger, and leads to absolute carnage. When you’re climbing, for example, you must shoot with your free hand.
There is just one thing that I didn’t like in Wolftenstein: The New Order: collecting items and ammunition. It’s not automatic, like simply collecting them by walking over them, but rather, you have to look and press a button to collect everything (in the style of Fallout). This stops the game’s rhythm, forcing you to stroll through a scene full of corpses to collect your loot of first-aid kits and armor. Even worse, it’s difficult to do this in the middle of a fight, surrounded by gunfire, when you are short of ammunition.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is very visually attractive. The graphics engine, id Tech 5, is really impressive even though it’s not really a next generation engine. The game achieves spectacular performance that never falters, but also because it comes with a brilliant and original artistic design, which gives a twist to the franchise, combining something old and new.
In addition to common soldiers, the game offers a good amount of armed and robotic variations. Bigger enemies and robots are gradually destroyed as you shoot, creating a lot of junk that scatters across the floor.
But if there is something that Wolfenstein can be proud of, it’s how it captures the player’s attention with its effective system to show the most violent scenes from a first person view in a very realistic way.
You play the entire game from Blazkowicz’s point of view, but there are also several tense and terrible moments that you live with special intensity. I won’t reveal anything – I don’t want to spoil the surprise – but one of those scenes does change the course of the story. It also gives you a good excuse to play again and choose the “other option.”
Although the graphics are flawless, the sound isn’t as good. The sound of explosions and gunfire are brilliant, but there is one detail that kills the game’s ambiance: the volume of voices is very low, and it’s a shame because you can’t hear the actors when they speak, being forced to use subtitles.
Wolfenstein The New Order has made me believe in FPS games again. Tired of a genre that is now divided between realistic games or games filled with meaningless explosions, Wolfenstein takes me back to what we had forgotten along the way: to have fun.
Wolfenstein is incredibly fun and intense: you’ll enjoy the weapons and action, the calm and stormy cutscenes, the small yet intelligent puzzles, the robots, and the story, and because it doesn’t take itself too seriously, it will entertain you for hours, which is all that matters. Shots and explosions are fun, and many other games have forgotten this by seeking a realism that isn’t always necessary. Wolfenstein hasn’t forgotten that, and that’s why it’s a good game.
