Wolfenstein: The New Order

At least with Windows 10 64bit the game crashes on load screens and due to the save point feature instead of free saves, it breaks your savegame es well. I could not play past the first bunker line on the beach. While the game itself makes a good impression, the technical issues can't be tolerated. Apparently this was an untested release. Therefore 2 Stars.

Wolfenstein New Order plays very much like RTCW with the only minus being the much smaller and thus more linear levels. Graphics are great (for the time of release) but there are some technical "hiccups" like the way the engine draws objects as they come into sight. Luckily, this doesn't take away from the gameplay. Just like in RTCW, there're many treasures and other collectibles scattered around the levels which rewards the little exploring you can do. Story wise, this game is (mostly) set in a what-if future of the 1960's in which the Nazis won the war. You join the resistence on their fight against the now global regime and uncover their atrocities while fighting their hellish Wunderwaffen. Also, for those wondering, the German release is entirely uncensored so have fun killing some damned Nazis.

Wolfenstein is a very good title, but it is not a great one. In almost every way possible, the game does a very good job, but at the same time falls short of what one would want from one of the first true “next generation” titles. Instead, it falls a lot more on the old ways, mixing them with current where possible. But never really standing out as something new and all it’s own. If you are a fan of the franchise, I recommend picking it up when you can, for it will not disappoint (aside from that ending). But if you are just looking for a new FPS game to play, you might want to wait on this one till it’s dropped in price some. It just isn’t special enough to warrant grabbing it while it’s still relatively new on the shelves.

There's no reason this reimagining of Wolfenstein couldn't have worked, but the devs were clearly split between making a pulpy Nazi-killing romp versus an artsy cinematic cutscene shooter. What we ended up getting leans more towards the latter but overflowing with alarming tonal inconsistencies which undermine the already excessive focus on plot. Every time you think about enjoying yourself during a mission, it yanks you right out into another story cutscene, walking sim level, or dull forced stealth mission. I'd like to credit MachineGames for incorporating some nice features like dual-wielding and a full leaning/cover system (not bad for a console FPS from 2014), but the firefights still play out like a sloppier Call of Duty. Although the 60s-Nazi-retrofuture can lend itself to some neat visuals, we're still stuck with a 60 fps cap and a subpar use of id Tech 5 (Comparisons to Rage heavily favor the older game in all the ways that matter). This is one to skip.

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