A history lesson isn’t necessary here, and neither is it wanted. Let’s just say that if first person shooters had a Mount Rushmore, you’d see B.J. Blazkowicz up there rubbing shoulders with the likes of Doom’s Space Marine and Halo’s Master Chief. One can always point to earlier examples, but id Software’s 1992 classic Wolfenstein 3D is something of a godfather to the modern FPS format. It laid the run-and-gun foundation for what Doom would perfect a year later. Since its earliest incarnation with Castle Wolfenstein in 1981, the series has undergone many changes, experiencing the various peaks and valleys that a franchise does. But it reached a new high in 2014 with the release of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Bethesda Softworks and the developers at MachineGames were able to breathe new life into a franchise that had largely been written off by the gaming world, heralding in the triumphant return of B.J. Blazkowicz.

Without spoiling too much, the game opens on July 16, 1946, with a sort of brief prologue purposed with setting up the rest of the story. B.J. Blazkowicz is taking part in an Allied air raid on a giant weapons facility in a last-ditch effort to thwart the Nazis in their attempt at world domination. In the process, Blazkowicz and a group of fellow soldiers are captured and held captive by the grotesque General Wilhelm “Deathshead” Strasse. While in captivity, Blazkowicz is forced to make a gut-wrenching decision that may or may not influence the events in the story to come. The surviving soldiers are able to make a death-defying escape, but in doing so, Blazkowicz suffers a head injury that leaves him in a coma for the next 14 years.

This is where the story really kicks off. The year is now 1960, and Blazkowicz has awakened from his vegetative state to find himself in a horrifying new world. The Nazi’s have won. Violence and death reign in a Europe now ruled under brutal tyranny. Nazi technology has advanced into science fiction extremes and damn it if they haven’t even set up a lunar base on the moon. (Oh, believe me. You’re going to the moon.) Blazkowicz escapes the asylum where he is being held with the help of his caregiver, Anya Oliwa. She leads him to the London underground where they team up with a group of rebel fighters known as the Resistance. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Resistance plots a series of guerilla style assaults against the Nazi regime. In time, they will topple the evil empire, and Blazkowicz will have his revenge against General “Deathshead.”

On paper, The New Order shouldn’t work. It’s a virtual grab bag of genres running the gamut from alternate WWII history, sci-fi camp, and horror. Not to mention a love story. Somehow, amidst all the action, there is a human element in The New Order that outshines all its other parts. Strategizing and fighting alongside the Resistance, you get to know each member personally. You understand their individual passions that drive them to stand up against seemingly insurmountable odds. They are reasons that go beyond the comfy, cozy black and white blanket of good versus evil. On a bleak canvas, these various backstories help to add shades of color to the story. Yet, it’s the budding romance between Blazkowicz and Anya that takes center stage. She cared for him as he lay nearly lifeless in a makeshift bunk for years on end. Chaos and fire consumed any purpose he had before. In a now hopeless world, she is his reason to fight.

The mechanics of the game are, for the most part, that of the standard first person shooter. It runs smoothly, but unlike Call of Duty or Halo, there is a little more emphasis on the
preservation of ammunition. In addition to that, the added mechanic of simply having to press the X button to pick up ammo or armor, (I played this on Xbox One), added a whole extra layer to the fun. That may sound like a hindrance, but this simple mechanic trained me to actively search environments more thoroughly than I most likely would have, allowing me a deeper appreciation for the various level designs and textures throughout the game.
It seems silly to say it, but Wolfenstein is here to stay. Having come and gone since 1981, its present form on the current generation of consoles is a breath of fresh air. As franchises do, Wolfenstein will surely reinvent itself numerous times as the years go on and gaming evolves. With The New Order, a new bar of quality has been set, and regardless of what the future brings, Wolfenstein is here to stay.

 Conclusion

With a wealth of genre elements, there is a human story amongst the madness that enables Wolfenstein: The New Order to shine.

Score:

     9/10