Wolfenstein: The New Order Review: The Lone Wolf Returns

Review

May 20, 2014 By Maya Mayfield

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a no nonsense action  romp fest filled with Nazi cannon fodder lining up for bullets to the brain. This gutsy action packed shooter takes no prisoners as it takes you on a joyous roller coaster ride through the first view perspective of a Super Soldier known as B.J. Blazkowicz. This barreled chested, thick neck, muscle packed, blonde hair, blue-eyed soldier towering above most mortal men reminds us of the type of character the Author, Lee Childs describes in his Jack Reacher books. What we all unfortunately got when the movie came out was . . . Tom Cruise. Not to say Tom didn't do a smashing job, however if Jack Reacher did look anything like B.J. Blazkowicz I think most fans of the popular book series would have been more than pleased with the visual outcome of the character.  Anyway I digress . . . back to the review.

Our hero B.J. Blazkowicz is no stranger to Nazi scum, he has been battling Hitler and his goons since the early 90's in previous Wolfenstein iterations and this latest version is no different to what made the game a huge success back then, except of course  for the visual upgrades and awesome array of single and dual wielding weapons.  Wolfenstein: The New Order aims to get in your face, test your skills and even poke fun at those who don't have the  brass bawls to take it. Fire up the game and select easy mode for example and you will find your characters portrait in a baby's dress . . . Ouch! Not cool.

After B.J. Blazkowicz allied assault convoy is destroyed against the impregnable walls of General Deathshead's castle in 1946, Blazkowicz awakens in an alternate reality of 1960. Gingerly stumbling out of a 14-year coma in a mental hospital, he discovers that the German army has taken over the entire globe, using technological propaganda and the media to proclaim the world is now a better place to live under the oppressive reign of the Nazi regime.

B.J. Blazkowicz joins forces with a rag-tag resistance group to bring good old justice and order back to the world. The gameplay is very reminiscent to that of the classic PC version, complete with independent armor and health percentages to show  how well our hero is doing.  If you are running low on energy, you can loot the corpses of fallen soldiers to retrieve armor vests, giving you time to recover during heated battles, in which their are many.

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a throwback to movies like Commando starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Chuck Norris in Delta Force, where dual wielding heavy assault riffles in the heat of battle was as easy as single handedly taking down an entire army on your own. Both of these incredible feats would be very impossible to achieve in reality however unless you also have a magic fairy in your pocket and pigs where  able to fly.

As ridiculous and funny as this may be when you really stop and think about it, this is actually why Wolfenstein: The New Order works so well. The game really doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should you when you go on a Nazi killing  rampage with two assault rifles in hand. The game allows you to double wield just about anything, if you are willing to sacrifice a bit of speed in the process.  Wolfenstein: The New Order feeds off that same adrenaline you felt the very first time you watched Chuck Norris fire a rocket from his motorbike in the movie, 'Delta force' and just like the film you really can't help but feel a little invisible as you march through german territories gunning down those fool-hardy Nazi's with a death wish.

Regardless of the games nostalgic appeal and smooth frame rate, we felt the games AI could have been a little more challenging and the constant prompts that appeared on screen for us to collect ammunitions did seem to drag the fast gameplay down.

The stealth kills were a nice addition as it did change the gameplay dynamic. Some locations are under German commanders and these men need to be silently put to rest before they can call for reinforcements.

As you progress through the mission there will be additional bonuses along the way that will help to shorten reload times while double wielding weapons, or give you a set of fast throwing knives, which by the way is also the most powerful weapons within Wolfenstein: The New Order. Aim a good Knife throw at an enemies body and he is guaranteed to go down.

Overall: 

Buy Wolfenstein: The New Order On PS4 Today

Wolfenstein: The New Order has all the makings of what a classic shooter should be. It literally grabs you by the throat taking you on an exciting thrill ride full of guns, rockets, machine guns and turrets. The story plot may be something inspired of a B Movie, but isn't some of the greatest cult classic films B movies anyway, like the current box office smash Godzilla? We rest our case.  If you are looking for some good old fashion over the top point, run, lean and shoot action then we couldn't recommend any better than Wolfenstein: The New Order.

We are also live streaming Wolfenstein: The New Order and other exclusive PS4 Games on our TwitchTV channel 24 hours a day, click the link to see what we are playing right now. 

Score 4/5