Wolfenstein: The New Order Reviews
A fantastic yet violent romp through an alternate history as narrated by BJ Blazkowicz. It shows us what a linear FPS can be like if made properly. It still amazes and wows with it's fantastic gameplay and marvelous story.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is a surprisingly strong shooter that aspires to be more than its premise should allow. While it can only do so much with its cliché magnet of a story, and its graphics don't hold up to close inspection at times, it's easy to overlook these shortcomings in the face of everything else that it does well. As a result, the inspired but disturbing world, excellent roster of characters, and exhilarating action make it very easy to recommend this over-the-top rampage.
A triumphant return for the Wolfenstein series. Despite some lack-lustre boss battles, killing Nazis has never been so much fun.
Let's imagine an alternate video game story, in which Doom continued to sell millions of copies and the enthusiasm for Call of Duty died down inexorably. Wolfenstein: The New Order is like the son of this only imagined era, in which shooters are brutal, violent, direct, made of shots in the face and not headshots, and of gruelling clashes in which quintals of loaders are consumed.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Wolfenstein is a masterpiece of its genre. It does good shooting men. But it’s more than that, it’s an effortlessly melancholy adventure that doesn’t drown in its own bombast. It’s like finding out that a superstar footballer is a poet, or finding your dog pressing flowers. It’s a game with hidden depths that you’re invited to explore, but ones that never overshadow the thing it’s best at.
It may have a few inconsistencies that can otherwise hamper the fine action in front of you, but this is the Wolfenstein return that for the most part, manages to mix deliciously old-school violence with a new generation of visuals and storytelling.
Great level design, strong replayability, and beautiful graphics more than make up for a sometimes-disjointed plot. The New Order proudly exclaims that Wolfenstein is back, and this new entry should be played by all FPS fans.
Marred only by some barely-sentient AI, The New Order is 16-odd hours of beautiful destruction, and the characters get a look in as well. Recommended.
A clever, tightly constructed shooter which unfortunately struggles with franchise baggage. Someone should give MachineGames a real World War game to build.
All the requisite violence of the genre is there, but there's a well-considered style and grace that elevates it beyond its mindless, dime-a-dozen brethren.
Wolfenstein: The New Order is made up of some interesting parts, but is decidedly unspectacular as a whole.
We love the latest Wolfenstein for the respect it pays to iD's original, and for the ways it tries to take the series somewhere new. We're not so keen on some elements of the gameplay, and it must be said that not all its loftier ambitions quite pan out. What we're left with is a solid FPS that's always interesting - and one with an identity all its own - even if it can't make it up there with the best-in-class.
Throughout the story B.J. is constantly reminded that he is born to kill Nazis. As long as that too is your mindset going into this game, you'll get everything you want and more out of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Just don't take the alternate history, the characters, the plot, or really anything too seriously. And that's OK because not everything has to be so serious to be fun. Grab hold of your dual-shotguns, blast off to the Nazi lunar base, and just have merry ol' time shooting those damn Nazis. That's an order, soldier!
The New Order took me about 16 hours to beat on its normal difficulty setting, and I could see myself revisiting it in the future on a harder setting for a fun challenge -- but probably not for a while. It was a fun and bloody ride while it lasted, but it lacks anything special in terms of gameplay to make me want to dive right back in.
Aside from the poor sound editing and occasional lull in the action, this game is a surprising success. When a game is strictly single-player, the story needs to deliver. This story does, plus brings polished gameplay as an FPS. "Wolfenstein: The New Order" is a sleeper hit of 2014.
Ultimately, whether or not Wolfenstein works for you depends on your shooter preferences. If you're all about multiplayer, then this game is not for you. If you're like me and love a meaty campaign with a good story, however, The New Order delivers the goods. Add extras like the Wolfenstein 3D easter egg and the encouragement of a second playthrough and there's a lot to like here for lovers of pure shooters.
MachineGames have done a wonderful job capturing the essence of the old-school shooter while avoiding its pitfalls, and presenting it in a way that will attract new audiences. The result is a game that's as good as you remember its forebears being, even though it facilitates the player in ways that games from a decade ago didn't. This is Wolfenstein for the new generation, and it's worthy of the legacy.
As you would expect, Wolfenstein: The New Order is fun to play, but what you don't expect is the brilliant narrative that arises from its over-the-top story.
In Wolfenstein: The New Order there is tactics, exploration and freedom – things from which modern shooters weaned us. To be humorous, it can be said that it is a corridor shooter, in which the corridors are very wide and full of nooks and crannies.
Review in Polish | Read full review