Honestly, all three Freedom Chronicle episodes feel so thin on content you're better of waiting for the season pass to go on sale and get them all cheaper than it would cost to buy any individual episode, but I figure people might appreciate separate reviews of each episode to get a better idea what they're buying. The first Freedom Chronicle episode opens with a lot promise. Joe Stallion was once a young quarterback living the American dream, then the Nazis took over and he's forced into throwing games to make the "master race" look good. Eventually he gets sick of that and beats them anyway, gets thrown in prison for his trouble, but naturally breaks out and start offs of on a rampage against the Nazis and the local Klansmen to try to met up with father, a resistance fighter. Like all the Freedom Chronicles episodes, this one suffers badly from not having the budget needed for this kind of concept. Most of the characters are regulated to very short cutscenes, most of what we do is recycled bits from the base game (the rideable Panzerhund segment is shamelessly redone on a much less visually striking map), and there's some questionable choices with this episode in particular. Joe has a natural version of the ramshackle upgrade which lets you plow through enemies. A natural fit for him, it's a shame it's not used all that creatively. I was hoping to constantly knock over Nazis like bowling pins but most of the levels don't favor rush tactics. Also instead of knives or hatchets, you get... cans. Joe can throw cans so hard they kill people... I get they wanted to work in the football gimmick, but why not something more exciting, like he throws grenades so hard they detonate on impact? There's a few memorable bits, in particular this nightmare segment on a football field against seemingly endless Klansmen and Nazis, but there far and few. Sadly, despite a great premise for a Wolfenstein adventure, the execution is mired by a low budget and some very odd choices.
Honestly, all three Freedom Chronicle episodes feel so thin on content you're better of waiting for the season pass to go on sale and get them all cheaper than it would cost to buy any individual episode, but I figure people might appreciate separate reviews of each episode to get a better idea what they're buying. Wilkins' episode is probably the most traditional of the three Freedom Chronicles add-ons. You play as tough but not necessarily all that bright Nazi-killing enthusiast on a mission to stop a super weapon. There's storming heavily guarded forts, betrayal, and massive stakes... at least in theory. In practice, it's three levels compromised of mostly assets recycled from the base game with a few very thin cutscenes and readables filling in all these details. Which is a shame because this does SOUND like a fun Wolfenstein adventure. The "Sonnengewehr" is a kill sat the Nazis are preparing to use which is a great ticking clock to work against, fighting across the Alaskan wilderness sounds novel, and there's even a supporting cast. But it's ENTIRELY regulated to a few very short cutscenes of just voice over on concept art and some readables. All these things aren't reflected in the gameplay, which is more blasting Nazis mostly inside generic looking bases. This deflates the story and makes the gameplay segments feel detached from what's supposed to be happening. There is a bit of novelty with Wilkins' levels being designed around having the battle walker upgrade which gives you more of a chance to enjoy it, but even that doesn't do much to shore up otherwise bog standard levels that aren't as visually or mechanically interesting as the ones you get in the main game. All three Freedom Chronicles episodes suffer from an obvious low budget, but Wilkins' was the last one released and as such, seems to be the one where there was just no money left and as such, there's even less to make it stand out beyond what COULD have been as suggested in the cutscenes.
Honestly, all three Freedom Chronicle episodes feel so thin on content you're better of waiting for the season pass to go on sale and get them all cheaper than it would cost to buy any individual episode, but I figure people might appreciate separate reviews of each episode to get a better idea what they're buying. Silent Death's episode is arguably the best of the bunch. Her story is a bit less weighty than Wilkins and Joe's, which is helpful since it means it doesn't feel like you're missing out on as much when the cutscenes are just concept art with voice over. Instead, they give you singular objectives each level to work towards, which does give you a bit payoff per chapter. In particular, the chapter the ends with you assassinating the actor playing a kind of Third Reich Batman in some campy 60's get-up is pretty funny. Silent Death's campaign also benefits a lot from its focus on stealth. I love New Colossus, but the more vertical level design seemed to cause issues with using stealth and enemies spotting you at you weird angles, making attempting stealth feel kind of pointless at times. Since all of this episode's levels are designed around using stealth and the constrictor upgrade, I found the stealth gameplay a good bit more satisfying than in New Colossus's base game. A highlight for me is the final chapter set on the moon base (which sadly is limited to halls looking out at the lunar landscape) has long thing crawlspaces you can creep along. With patience and good timing, you can cleanly assassinate your final target, then bolt before anyone even know what happened. It still suffers from the same budget problems as all the other Freedom Chronicles episodes, but I think this one weathered it the best and arguably even offers a little something you don't really get in the main game. Since it's part of the same game, everyone controls the same as BJ, but the lower armor and lack of big hitting weapons gives Silent Death a somewhat unique playstyle.
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is one of my all time favorite games, and yet I very rarely think about the "Freedom Chronicles" that make up the entirety of its DLC. On the surface, this is a great idea. Branching out to new characters in new locations with new stories combatting the massive threat of this alternative history Third Reich. It creates so many opportunities to show us new fronts of the resistance, focus on aspects of the main game's story that didn't get a lot of attention, and just open up a lot of new gameplay opportunities. Sadly, that's not really what happens, and it comes down to mostly one thing: budget. Clearly Freedom Chronicles wasn't given much of a budget. Most of the locations are recycled from the main game. Some are dressed up decently so it's not so obvious, but many aren't. The cutscenes use the that trademark of low-budgeted games with playing dialogue over effectively concept art. You'll fight the same enemies as the main game, although you'll get to gut a decent bit more Klansmen in Joe's campaign (still less than I would have expected). To top it off, the stories are decent but very undeveloped, and they're framed as IN-UNIVERSE fiction POSSIBLY based on real events? Not sure why as nothing is more outlandish than the main game, but it further dilutes the experience since these are possibly not even actual fights in the same war you've been fighting in the main game, just... books based on it? One thing I do like is each character gets one of the three contraptions you can get in the main game, and this means the levels are designed with JUST that one in mind and so you get to use them more thoroughly than you would vs. levels that can't be locked to any single ability, but even that isn't used nearly as much as I would have liked. Again, the Freedom Chronicles aren't bad but severely over-priced for what you get. Had they been given the budget needed they could have a great set of add-ons, but as is they're not worth the cost.
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is a fantastic mix of great action gameplay combining modern and traditional shooter mechanics, a strong cast of fun characters, and a story actually daring to put the still ongoing threat of fascism front and center for the audience to behold. Yes, it's "alternative history", but one deliberately evoking the bygone era of late 50's/early 60's America and showcasing how disturbingly comfortable many people would be Nazism prevailing. It's best encapsulated with the main character's father, who whines about the coloreds and the Jews and the queers keeping him down while abusing his own family. He's not a Nazi, but happily supports them after they conquer America, as do many other bigots and cowards who don't fall into one of the groups marked for extermination. Rank and file Nazi soldiers are humanized in a way that does NOT detract from their atrocities and instead serve as a stark reminder that "normal" people are capable of heinous acts when what's "normal" is so horrible. It's true to history as a common defense of concentration camp guards was they were "only doing their job". By bringing the focus closer to home, in an "alternate" America with dashes of the modern world slipped in, it unnerves those who prefer to remain willfully ignorant and only see the threat of Nazism as something far away and defeated long ago. It's also just a fun game in its own right, with a wide variety of fun, upgradable weapons and new abilities to slaughter Nazis with. It's not perfect by any means. There's issues with pacing out your new abilities, I'm not a fan of the "perk" system, and stealth is very wiggy compared to previous games. But I'm hard pressed to think of a better way to get catharsis after being forced to glimpse the horrors of Nazism then dual-wielding triple-barreled shotguns and turning them into a fine red paste! Also the standard edition is likely a better value. The DLC episodes are just too thin to justify the price for most.
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus is a fantastic mix of great action gameplay combing modern and traditional shooter mechanics, a strong cast of fun characters, and a story actually daring to put the still ongoing threat of fascism front and center for the audience to behold. Yes, it's "alternative history", but one deliberately evoking the bygone era of late 50's/early 60's America and showcasing how disturbingly comfortable many people would be Nazism prevailing. It's best encapsulated with the main character's father, who whines about the coloreds and the Jews and the queers keeping him down while abusing his own family. He's not a Nazi, but happily supports them after they conquer America, as do many other bigots and cowards who don't fall into one of the groups marked for extermination. Rank and file Nazi soldiers are humanized in a way that does NOT detract from their atrocities and instead serve as a stark reminder that "normal" people are capable of heinous acts when what's "normal" is so horrible. It's true to history as a common defense of concentration camp guards was they were "only doing their job". By bringing the focus closer to home, in an "alternate" America with dashes of the modern world slipped in, it unnerves those who prefer to remain willfully ignorant and only see the threat of Nazism as something far away and defeated long ago. It's also just a fun game in its own right, with a wide variety of fun, upgradable weapons and new abilities to slaughter Nazis with. It's not perfect by any means. There's issues with pacing out your new abilities, I'm not a fan of the "perk" system, and stealth is very wiggy compared to previous games. But I'm hard pressed to think of a better way to get catharsis after being forced to glimpse the horrors of Nazism then dual-wielding triple-barreled shotguns and turning them into a fine red paste! Also the standard edition is likely a better value. The DLC episodes are just too thin to justify the price for most.
Arkham Origins "season pass" doesn't include much compelling content. You get a bunch of costumes for Batman, Deathstroke as a playable character but for the challenge maps only, "Initiations" which is a supposed story expansion of Batman before he was Batman but really is more four challenge maps loosely strung together with some very minor cutscenes (Bruce doesn't even speak during any of these scenes). None of these things are bad and if you like the challenge maps having two new characters (ninja Bruce Wayne is treated as a separate character) are nice bonuses, but not worth the cost attached with the season pass. The headliner is Cold, Cold Heart, effectively an expansion pack that gives you a new, self-contained adventure set after the events of Arkham Origins main plot. New Year's at Wayne Manor is crashed by Mr. Freeze and serves as a kind of (chronological) introduction to the iconic villain as the plot is largely an adaptation of his excellent debut episode from Batman the Animated Series. And it's good! There's some fun gimmicks such as having to creep through Wayne Manor and fight without your gadgets until you can get to the Batcave. Freeze's story is handled well and the expansion does a good job encapsulating the BtAS episode that established him as a sympathetic villain. And it's good few hours of fun that doesn't drag on too long. Although the final boss fight with Freeze feels clunky, which is ironic as it was the one truly great boss fight in Arkham City... That said it's not worth $20, even with the other items packed in. If you enjoyed your time with Arkham Origins and it's on sale, grab it. It's definitely worth it at $5, MAYBE $10 if you really enjoy the challenge maps (Initiations feels like kind of expert exam for people really good at the game). Not $20 though. Wishlist it and wait for a sale.
I didn't play Arkham Origins when it first came out despite finishing Arkham Asylum over ten times and getting Arkham City at launch. I found the previews underwhelming and everything reeked of WB Games trying to force the franchise forward with an "off-year" installment by a different team. Even when I did get around to playing it I wasn't super impressed. It didn't really click for me until I replayed it, and since then it's become my favorite game in the series that I replay often. Arkham Origins has be far the best writing in the series. Taking better elements of The Killing Joke and Batman: Year One and mixing them with a strong cinematic direction for big set pieces really sells a narrative of fighting for (or even against) a broken society. Batman has an actual arc, themes on how people cope with injustice are intriguing, and the audio and text logs even dabble in some interesting political commentary. You'd be hard pressed to name another game that talks about anarchist bombings from 1919. The gameplay can be initially off-putting coming from Arkham City for being both too similar while the differences feel like detractions. But Arkham City had a great gameplay foundation and once you understand the changes (which the game SHOULD do a better job explaining) they deepen the combat and stealth. In particular, the martial artist enemies who can counter your counters add a dimension to brawls I deeply missed come Arkham Knight. And lastly, many would agree Origins has the best boss fights of the series, normally a weak point for the franchise. They do reuse parts of Arkham City for the fights but they're used MUCH more effectively in this game. I get chills facing off against Firefly every playthrough, who's normally a C-list villain in Batman's rogue gallery. If you skipped Arkham Origins definitely give it a try, and if you HAVE tried it, try it again. It's better on replays, especially once you know to time your counters carefully against Deathstroke. ;)
