Wolfenstein: The New Order

AMD Ryzen 7 - GTX 1060 - 16GB RAM - Win10 - very slow WD HDD (Blue) The 'most helpful' reviews are from Feb 2020, all complaining about 'technical issues' without stating their hardware specs or use of 3rd party tools or driver versions. I chose to ignore these reviews and bought it on GOG regardlessly. The default game runs out of the gate in maxed out settings - without any 'hot-fixes' or 3rd party 'unofficial patches'. Safe to buy. Game itself of course is amazing, as everyone raved about it on release day. German customers can get the uncensored original English version (unlike on Steam). The way it was meant to be played.

Wolfenstein: New Order is an effective reboot for the franchise that not only modernizes the trademark Nazi slaughtering gameplay, but also transports it from the dated World War II trappings into a (comparatively) modern setting. Taking place in an alt-history 1960 where the Third Reich has spread out all across the globe, you play as BJ Blaskovich as he has to contend with how to combat this terrifying new world order (don't worry, it still involves shooting, stabbing and strangling a LOT of Nazis). I don't think it can be overstated how much a difference the dramatic shift in setting has on this game. In Wolfenstein and a lot of media, the danger of Nazism and fascism is often showcased as a now defeated threat usually constrained to the second World War. Even though New Order is set in 1960, the schizo tech makes it feel much closer to our present, which makes keeping the grotesque nature of Nazism in the foreground feel all the nearer. Seeing the inside of a concentration camp after escaping a fairly modern looking Berlin patrolled by Nazi police officers paints a wider and more terrifying image than games still set in World War II, where the Nazis being defeated is a forgone conclusion. Here the struggle feels far more insurmountable, something made more poignant with the stronger focus on story and characters exploring their own doubts and despair facing this dystopic reality. This synergizes well with gameplay. It's not JUST killing Nazis for fun anymore, every one you take out feels like another small step on a long and difficult path to victory. A combination of big set pieces and fast paced shooting creates for an exciting combat, while the lack of modern recharging health keeps encounters tense, and the hub area between missions let's the story breathe and gives you a chance to talk to the other characters, so you never forget what you're fighting for. New Order is a great game for anyone wanting a big single-player shooter that has some bite to it.

The game could be 5 stars, yes IT COULD BE. Because of the background story, clever alternate history, great atmosphere, animations/cinematics, a bit of steampunk, the epic sound and music, not to mention the excellent gunplay... but no, I have to give it a big NO in current state. Whatever happened to the DRM free version, it is almost unusable. The loading times between cinematics/levels/section can go from 15-30 second (if you are lucky) to almost infinite time. You die in a fight? No luck for you... The game will simply freeze and become unresponsive. Sometimes the wait helps, but mostly not. You have 32 or more GB of RAM? Doesn't really matter, because the game can fill it up, while loading. But that doesn't help either. The loading time is simply a real catastrophy... cannot explain with words. When they eventually fix it, than I will say, that it is worth the 5 stars. I do not recommend purchase at this time!

Unfortunately this Wolfenstein is far more console focused than it should be. Pros - original setting (post WWII world ruled by nazi Germany) - lots of soul added to the grandpa of FPS genre - original atmosphere and tone of the game - great shooting - original languages spoken by characters (english, polish, german) - humor - screen space reflections in a game from 2014 - sounds - controls (BJ's movement) - graphics in cutscenes Cons - dramatically flawed engine: texture quality far below any 2014 standards (compressed jpegs all the way) - game weight's far too much for what it offers - texture popping - lots of bugs - linear gameplay of the worst kind far too often - too many cutscenes - too many forced animations - very poorly and briefly touched serious issues of WWII - poor balance between seriusness and cartoonish humor - few moments with excellent shooting mechanics - undercooked stealth sections - lacking guns