'Wolfenstein: The New Order' is (in my opinion) one of those rare First Person Shooters with a very engaging, gripping and emotional story to it. I'll be honest, my expectations weren't exactly high when I first saw its debut at E3. It looked like a typical run-and-gun, shoot 'em up FPS. But after playing the first 3 or 4 chapters, I see that Bethesda and Machinegames really pushed the envelope with this imagining of the world if the Nazis had won WW2.



The gameplay is very responsive, very smooth (although the weapon wheel doesn't want to choose the weapon I highlight) and frantic. The guns feel balanced out perfectly. You don't feel too powerful nor powerless. Enemy A.I. is smart overall. They tend to draw you out of cover tossing frag grenades and tesla grenades right at your feet. Although, sometimes they'll charge you in the blink of an eye but can be disposed of with a proper melee attack. They'll sick robotic dogs (Panzerhunds) to make you run out of cover. I have encountered enemies hiding behind cover that was no longer there and sit there, allowing me to take them down. But not every encounter is all-out guns blazing. There are stealth opportunities for you if you are the silent type, which changes the pacing - in a good way, of course.



I will return with a finished review after I complete the Campaign and get 100% completion.



*Update 5/24/14*



After completing a larger portion of the campaign, I noticed that the enemy difficulty seems to spike (drastically). The Nazis seem to have double firepower and can take double punishment. Maybe it's because I am playing on the difficulty "Bring 'Em On!" but I noticed they seem to be more difficult in certain scenarios and extremely easy in others. The stealth sections are still fun and are beginning to get even more tense... not to mention the enemy sends out CQC Nazis armed with extra armor and a powerful shotgun (My advice, take out the Field Commanders first then take out the CQC hostile). Oh, and always check EVERY possible nook and cranny... weapon upgradrs and some other hidden goodies wait to be discovered to help aid you throughout the campaign.



The story is starting to take turns I didn't expect, to be honest. Some of it is good, others... kind of out of place, in my opinion. I'm just over the halfway marker and I'm feeling sorta down that the campaign is coming to a close... but I will be overjoyed to accomplish it (especially out of all the times I succumbed to being shot in the back). Also, the campaign has tons of collectibles scattered throughout its chapters. From Enigma codes, that unlock gameplay modes for the campaign to hidden records that are originally sang in English, now sang in German - which is pretty fitting, due to the situation of the story. There's concept art, character models/bios, and a couple Easter eggs to find. All are very cool and well done.

My next update will be my final verdice of the game. Cheers!



I have finally finished Wolfenstein: The New Order... and it was worth my $60!



First off, it's strictly a single player campaign. For those looking for a co-operative/multiplayer game, this will disappoint BUT there is a great deal of entertainment for just a single player game. The narration actually feels like it was developed by Tarentino. The developers really put A LOT of time and effort into the story, characters and gameplay. Note, this is the PS3 version, I am well aware of the graphical differences and extended load times, but those small detail didn't stop me from having an amazing time with Wolfenstein: The New Order.



Story: 4.0 out of 5

The Nazis have beaten the United States to the Atom Bomb and used it to win World War II. Now, you, William B.J. Blaskowicz and what's left of the resistance, must stop the Nazis from taking over the rest of the world and enslaving the rest of mankind!

I'm not good at setting the "mood" but that's the centre of the story, but not the main highlight. The main highlight (to me) was how the story connects you to the world and its interesting characters. It feels... different but in a good way. Anywhere from saving them from a prison, to meeting a resistance member. It's not Fallout 3 in-depth, but it's still there and not everyone is an emotionless robot.

(I forgot to mention that there a re a few parts in the campaign that seem to jump around and I thought it was a bit lazy.)



Gameplay: 5.0 out of 5.

The gunplay feels familiar and different. You can go classic Wolfenstein and duel-wield your way through Nazi forces like they're nothing. Then, you come to the stealth sections. These sections remind me of Splinter Cell: Conviction. You get caught, you're gonna have a ton of enemies barreling down on top of you. But you can avoid that by taking out the Field Commanders first. If they spot you and alert the rest, enemy reinforcements will continue to attack until the Field Commander is dealt with. There is also a perk system/tree that feels foreign (somewhat) but it feels natural at the same time.There 4 types of perk skills. Stealth, assault, tactical and demolition (I prefer tactical and demolition). You want to unlock faster duel-wield reload time? Kill a certain amount of enemies by duel-wielding assault rifles, shotguns or even snipers. Want to unlock extra grenade pouches, kill a certain amount of Nazis with a single grenade. I enjoyed this addition to combat. I felt like I had a more personal play-style than run-and-gun.



Difficulty rating: 3.6 out of 5.

There are 5 difficulty settings. Very easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, and über. I have only beaten it on Normal. But it still felt challenging due to random difficulty spikes that made me feel, sometimes, overwhelmed and helpless then extremely powerful and a total badass. Certain enemies can be a pain such as CQC Nazis, who are shotgun happy and very dangerous! Not to mention heavy gunners who tote around minimums firing at you without any hesitation. They're not 'too' hard, they each require different tactics on taking them down. You have cybernetic dogs who are very sensitive to hearing and and can rip your throat out if your not careful. They certainly don't feel like weak enemies like Call Of Duty's dogs, but once again, not too hard to take down.



Final verdict: 8.9 out of 10.0.



I'm not a graphics whore so that's why I didn't dive into the graphics components deeper. But there are pop-in texture and faded colors but, that's only on PS3 (that I know of). I'll update this page when the Doom 4 beta launches and I get my hands on it. I hope this helped in some way. Until the next review guys. Cheers!



Also, the soundtrack of this game... magnificent!