It’s hard to think of a better game for a community review. I can’t remember the last time my Facebook/Twitter feed was this polarised. Some absolutely love The New Order, going as far as calling it a masterpiece, and yet I’ve also seen comments along the lines of “What a hunk of crap.” Have your say below, so your fellow Kotakuers know whether this one is for them or not.
I haven’t played it myself, though I’ve seen it played. The little that I’ve seen seemed fairly standard fare for a shooter, with a story that I didn’t really care about and gameplay that tended towards the wacky. It certainly has some interesting imagery. But I’ll make no apologies for giving most of my attention to The Evil Within while at Bethesda’s E3 booth last year.
So this one falls to you, dear Kotakuers. What kind of new direction is this for Wolfenstein? Is it worthy of the name? Is it so different it should be a different game? Is it too wacky, not wacky enough, or – as the third bear says – juuuuuust right?
Let us know below!
Comments
54 responses to “Community Review: Wolfenstein: The New Order”
🙂 Honestly a fun single player experience. I am only on chapter 6 so i wont be going to in depth but i recommend anyone who has been missing awesome single player games in the last few years give this a go. anyone saying it’s just a hunk of crap either
A) Haven’t made it past chapter 1
B) Haven’t played the game and are just hating for the following reason
1) It’s the internet
2) It’s not COD
3) It’s the internet
4) they are trolls and don’t know how to not hate anything
I’ve seen a few people say “the storyline is crap so I skipped all the cut scenes”…
I just finished it last night, and I personally really really enjoyed the story line. Some of the scenes hit me a lot harder than any game I’ve played before. Maybe some people thought they were forced, or just don’t give a @#$5 about the characters. But when I play a game like this, I really enjoy indulging in the atmosphere and letting myself connect with the characters and storyline; it definitely makes a game like this amazing to experience.
Haven’t really formed an opinion yet, only just started playing, been meaning to fire it up today, but I keep getting distracted by being on here all morning.
I’ve noticed @miketarno is pretty close to 1000 Gamerscore in it, so I think he’s doing an Uber playthrough now to clean up the last few achievements.
Ah! I’m on 900 but by mistake I started a new game to do Uber and it’s cleared my perks. So I got annoyed and returned the game. 😛
Got my money’s worth.
Shit, that’s gotta suck.
Bugger. I started a playthrough on 999 mode to see if it’ll unlock the difficulty cheevos, only ones I need, but I’ve had word that Watch Dogs arrived today so won’t be finishing it any time soon!
That’s my ‘problem’ too. Watch_Dogs is out tomorrow and I figured that after 2 playthroughs, including the first which I had OCD and checked everything, it was time to let this game rest. I really enjoyed playing it. Caught me by surprise.
It’s a good problem to have though. Story hit me harder than I expected. It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s well above the average shooter.
Yeah, well above. I was really blown away by the side characters, in particular Tekla and her views on determinism, consciousness and free will as well as J and the parallels he drew between the regime and what happened in the US.
It was really deep and though provoking – something few games have managed to do in recent memory.
Yeah I had the Tekla mission last night, where she explains her views on consciousness. Also J is definitely meant to be Jimi Hendrix, which I thought was cool.
“What’s that you’ve just given me?” OOOOOOOH LSD!
I have been rather surprised with it and I’m enjoy it a lot more than I thought I would, the setting is interesting and the story a little on the crazy side, I wasn’t expecting a lot just a great game just something good enough to hold me down till Watch dogs and that’s more then what I got
Love the older style (collect Armour and Health) it even has kickbacks to the W 3D, eating dog food, and nightmare mode 🙂
The world is far more immersive then I was expecting, the newspaper clippings, letters and the people chatting in the back ground here and there is really good to read and listen too.
I have heard it had weak AI, but I have found them working together to outflank me which has kept me on my toes, but I can see in parts where it does get weak (nothings perfect).
Story is rather crazy but that’s just wolfenstein, hell it had zombies with chain-guns and MECHA Hitler in 1992
I haven’t had a chance to play this but was anyone else sort of blindsided by this games release? I honestly don’t think I heard anything leading up to it and now it seems to be a surprise hit. I’m even starting to see bus stop posters so there must be a decent marketing budget to go along with it.
its got like 5 different trailers and even website for a fictional record studio
http://www.neumondrecordings.com/en-gb/site
I knew it was coming out but had automatically written it off because the last few Wolfenstein games weren’t worth caring about. So I’d basically ignored it and not really paid attention. Hadn’t realized that it was being developed by a bunch of guys from Starbreeze that worked on the Riddick games and The Darkness, which were all things I enjoyed immensely. So it’s gone from being off my radar completely to being very interested. Not $60+ interested yet though.
This game is ace!
I’m up to Chapter 10 and find myself constantly wanting to beat the chapter I’m up to just to find out what happens next.
Things I love about the game:
– The semi-open levels that usually let you tackle at your own pace and in your own style; also if you are playing stealthy and get caught you don’t feel like you have to start again, you just improvise and keep playing ‘loud’.
– The fact that the game is broken up into missions and not one run on “super-mission”, I feel like this offers more to replay-ability.
– The gunplay takes the best parts of old school gameplay and cherry picks great things about modern games (I’m particularly a fan of the lean mechanic that not only lets you lean left and right but also means you can lay on the ground and get BJ on his tippy toes.
– The setting and story. It’s weird that a game where you can blow away 50 + bad guys in a mission can have such a grounded story with realistic characters but it just kinda works. It helps immensly that the dialogue and acting are great as well.
All in all what makes Wolfenstein work is that it takes it’s own path. While playing I’ve never thought “This part’s a bit Bioshock-y” or “oh they took this element from COD”.
Great game, I’m loving it. I think it might fit somewhere in my top 10.
Loving it…. i’m loving that the character with a Scottish accent was given subtitles for “foreign languages”.
I’d expect if KotakuAU ever do a video feature that it would come with subtitles for @markserrels contribution.
I kid my mums scottish….
Wolfenstein The New Order is how singleplayer FPS should be done, plain and simple.
I’ve played enough to discover that for me at least Wolfenstein is just another generic fps with some wow moments and a bunch of dead nazis.
I didn’t care for the story (assuming there actually is one) and apart from the several epic set pieces you are treated to within the first hour of play, I found it more Michael Bay Fan Service then anything else. I get that it’s meant to be over the top but I reckon there isn’t much behind that aspect and as a result, the game is an exercise in tedium and monotony.
Nice to look at. Some wow. But otherwise pretty bloody average.
For the first hour it is a generic Nazi-killing game. The real story doesn’t kick in til after the second chapter.
So far its awesome. You need to pay attention at how BJ no longer has any idea about the technology from the coma and how he just makes no apologies for killing Nazis cause Nazis.
perfect reboot. Perfect pacing. Perfect aethetics perfect shooting controls.
Anyone know how long the game takes to beat?
Depends on what you consider “beat”. I finished one timeline on normal in about 12 hours, but I’m slow, like to read, and tend to stubbornly die a lot before I realise I should probably try alternate tactics. The devs encourage playing both timelines, tho, so that would theoretically push it to around 20 hours, and collectibles would bring that number up a bit. But, unless the other timeline is significantly different (which I doubt, considering it would mean separate collectibles), and as I don’t particularly care about 100%-ing the game, I consider the campaign finished in 12 hours, although better players could probably beat it in 9 or 10.
My wife has finished both timelines and advises me that the story is basically the same in both timelines but you’ll have some different characters with you (aside from the obvious).
Also in one timeline you have the ability to pick locks and you collect armor upgrades that make it so armor pickps count for more, in the other you hack electronic keypads and collect health upgrades that (once you have them all) give you a max health of 200.
thanks for the reply. Sounds like a good length. To be honest these days if an fps has a storyline that goes for longer than 20 hours I get bored because it’s usually artificially enhanced with long stretches of boring tasks. I’d rather a game be around 15 hours with a good story that doesn’t drag and extra collectibles for those who want more out of the game. I’m not a 100% guy for these kinds of games, I’ll just play the story and enjoy it then move on until I feel like replaying it in a couple of years. Might have to pick this up soon.
Awesome game! I’ve been addicted since I turned it on. Finished it last night and sad it’s ended. It’s just a really fun game and a great story
Does pressing “MLI” all at the same time work any more?
I’m having fun with it. Good old fashioned gameplay for a shooter which is refreshing in this age of modern-day shooters. It’s also great at how a big release FPS can still be single-player only with no tacked on multiplayer diluting the experience or even worse, it’s not a multiplayer FPS with a tacked on single-player mode.
Recommended
Killed a giant nazi robot then looked for moldy concrete.
10/10
Ive been having trouble explaining how i feel about the game, ive finished it at about 16 hours.
Pro’s:
Story and setting are amazing hands down epic.
Game looks beautiful
Most characters are very well done and add so much to the game.
one of the BEST lines form a video game as well (Warning language)
“Don’t you dare die you magnificent c#*t” (spoiler tags not working)
Con’s:
Boss fights feel a little like Deus EX HR (mainly because i sneaked through the entire game, next play through will be loud and nuts)
Very little indication of how to take down bosses, its pretty much Shoot until you see something change then get close and hope you survive long enough to work it out.
And BJ’s random comments of melancholy that have no context or place in the area they appear make the game a little disjointed, almost forcing his feelings down my throat.
Overall tho very good game, not sure id pay full price if i had the option again, but well worth if you can pick it up for $50 or so.
Oh, don’t get me started on that last boss… juvpu V nffhzrq jnf zber pbzcyvpngrq guna “fubbg vg hagvy vg qvrf”, orpnhfr vg gbbx fb sernxvat ybat gb qb fb. V whfg ungr jura gur znva qvssvphygl bs n svtug vf pnhfrq ol birevasyngrq urnygu.
Gur tvnag zrpu jnf njrfbzr, gub, svtugvat sebz gur ghaaryf, crrxvat bhg gb uvg gur rlr, haybnqvat nf zhpu qnzntr ba gubfr zvffvyr onggrevrf, gura syrrvat onpx vagb gur ghaaryf.
Definitely agree – good game if you can pick it up for $50 (which I did, thanks to GMG), but not really worth full retail RRP, especially not in this country.
EDIT: ROT13’d cause potential spoiler.
I literally just finished it. I thought it was awesome. Its been a long time since I’ve said that about a fps, but this kept me engaged, made me laugh, cringe, smile, vent and most weird of all it made me feel for BJ.
When I first bought I thought I’d probably wasted the money on another generic game, but I very much enjoyed the entire experience.
This is pretty much my feeling too. I was apprehensive about buying and the first level does nothing to reassure you. However once you get to the end of that level it’s basically all gold.
I’m playing on PS4 and loving it. The crouch/lean system is fantastic, I actually can’t think of game that’s done it better. The way you can lean around/under doors and crevices and stuff adds a surprising amount to the shooting. And the shooting, oh it’s wonderful.
But for me the standout moment was the scene getting coffee on the train. Just excellent, it’s parts like this that I just wasn’t expecting at all from this game, it feels like it was lifted from something far more highbrow than a wolfenstien reboot. It could have been a scene from inglorious basterds really.
Copy/Paste from my TAY Post. All the mambo jumbo text is actually cyphered with ROT13 as it is spoiler content. Copy/Paste it in http://www.rot13.com to decypher it:
Well this was a blast…. started it Saturday night, and finished it Sunday morning… Reminded of me of the old school shooters… The storyline was quite descent, and the game was very Wolfenstine-Like. Machinegames did very well on this one…
Managed to completely gross out my missus on one part:
Jurer vg synfurf onpx gb jurer Qrngufurq pncgherf lbh naq gur bgure fbyqvre vf trggvat uvf onpx fyvprq bcra, naq uvf urnq trgf qevyyrq vagb, sbyybjrq ol uvf oenva orvat fhpxrq bhg…
Was honestly not expecting it to be as good as it was. Pitty there was no multiplayer
Gubfr zrpuf jbhyq unir znqr sbe fbzr njrfbzr znlurz naq qrfgehpgvba… be znlor fbzr bcf fglyr pb-bc zvffvbaf, jurer lbh pbhyq rfpncr sebz n cevfba jvgu qbtf naq anmvf nyy bire lbh…
Is there a new spoilers system running here?
spoiler tags arent working at the moment as i just found out today… go to http://www.rot13.com and put in the text you want to cypher or decypher and there you have it…
My skim reading strikes again
Dude, that’s awesome! 😀
What this game is, is a good old fashioned Nazi shoot-em-up fun time. What this game isn’t is a game with a deep story or strong characters, but the shooting more than makes up for the stories shortcomings.
A few minor nitpicks, some MAJOR spoilers so don’t read on if you haven’t played it yet.
Seriously dont… Major Spoilers and the spoiler function doesn’t seem to work so don’t read on unless you want spoilers.
My biggest issue is that the game just ends, you go through the game trying to defeat the Nazi’s and when you defeat Deathshead it just ends without knowing if you “died” a hero or your efforts were in vain. Considering the Nazi’s took over the world Deathshead defeat doesn’t really matter.
Second is that you get the sense that a lot was cut from the game, and the game needed more segments to make the game a bit more fluid, like how did BJ get from Berlin to London without being noticed? and the end of that chapter after stealing the helicopters needed a dogfight section. Plus the stealing of a U-boat and the Nazi’s not noticing and the Dead Space amour suit i do get that some aspects of the story needed to be cut but some moments feel random.
Third is that one day Anya was a nurse in a lunatic asylum next day she is a badass resistance fighter intercepting Nazi transmissions and investigating super concrete, unless she was already a secret resistance fighter this doesn’t make much sense.
sorry comment deleted, can’t get spoiler thing to work.
While spoiler tags are broken you can mask manually by using the rot13 cypher. 🙂
Lbh xabj va puncgref 9-11 jura Naln vf ernqvat lbh sebz ure fvfgre’f qvnel? V qba’g xabj vs lbh yvfgrarq gb gurz nyy ohg zbfg vs abg nyy bs gubfr Anmv-nffnffvangvat rkcybvgf jrer npghnyyl Naln, abg ure fvfgre Enzban (jub jr arire npghnyyl zrrg, vs fur rira rire rkvfgrq). Naln unq orra yrneavat gb xvyy Anmvf fvapr ng yrnfg jura fur unq gb nonaqba ure nepunrybtvpny fghqvrf gb orpbzr n ahefr va ure cneragf’ nflyhz naq pner sbe OW.
Ah, that explains that then.
I suspected there was more to that story than first meets the eye. I loved the 2 side characters and the philosophical/political chats they have with you.
Free will, determinism, consciousness… this game was deep.
Fucking excellent game. That is all.
It’s exactly what I hoped it would be when I heard it was Wolfenstein but in an alternative universe 1960s where the Nazis won.
I like it.
One of the few, rare games that as soon as I finished it I immediately started playing through for a second run. A fair bit of choice about how to play, while not open world there is more to explore than the average FPS…
Maybe it is an age thing (I played the original Wolfenstein back in high school), I think BJ’s comments (internal monologue?) for most of the game was a great mechanic that reflected how he was feeling about various situations. The voice acting was top notch and while the story was not highly original and earth shattering is was deep enough to be engaging and highly entertaining. I paid full RRP, sigh… but still feel it was worth it.
It is a great single player experience (I am soooooo over CoD and Battlefield, personal thing but shooting other people has become dull after all this time). I honestly don’t get why people are raging and calling it crap… if it isnt your cup of tea then fair call, but there is nothing crap about it.
+
Graphics are pretty tasty (good enough for me)
Gun play is tight and responsive.
Variety in game play.
Variety in pacing keeps things interesting without burn out.
Story is adequate to great in parts.
I liked the skills challenges, encourages some interesting ways to play and to engage with game mechanics like leaning out from cover rather than run and gun.
Nod to the old school fans.
–
Mashing the ‘collect’ key gets a bit tiresome. It does have a purpose though… collect the health now and go into over charge which will slowly count down to normal or come back later when wounded.
While a decent length in terms of play (it can go very quickly if you just blaze hard or last a looong time if you try to use smarts and find everything without using the internet) I feel it could have done with one or two more stages and one or two more whacky weapons (chain gun, I am looking for you).
I am happy I bought it and would recommend it if you are after a solid FPS.
well the chaingun is there? you dismount the turret off the stand… then there is also a plasma variant of said chaingun…
Best FPS single player I’ve played in ages.
Dig the story and the setting.
I absolutely loved it, the ending especially. Given that I’ve finished it now I am kind of sad there isn’t a Wolfenstein Enemy Territory multiplayer component to the game!
Same. I was contemplating on keeping the game for future DLC (if there is any) but might just pick it up again later once it’s all out or there’s a GOTY.
One more thing to add to my above post…
B J Blazkowicz is the Nazi era batman….. that husky voice and all….
So much fun. I loved every minute of it. I’ve played through both story lines and will play through my uber run once finished with watch dogs.
I am glad other people like this game and having fun with it but I am struggling to keep playing. Ok in small doses. I hate that fking weapon wheel. AI is terrible and pretty much half a dozen enemy types so far.
Nice design work but Id/Bethesda have been making the same game with different skins for way to long. Anyone else hate an archaic save system that makes you run around a get ammo if you are unfortunate enough to hit an auto save before a big fight and you are low on ammo.
Don’t listen to me though as I am not a shooter fan, dark souls,MGS and rpgs are more my thing. Thought I’d try a shooter again as there is so little to get for your PS4 but $100 is a complete rip off for a game that looks no better than an PC game and miles behind infamous due to the shitty graphics engine they are using.
I hate Nazi’s so shooting them’s fun I will push on and hope the story goes somewhere interesting.
This game came across as exploitative crap in the marketing materials but the end product surprised the hell out of me. I really thought it would be another Bulletstorm. It knows it’s cheesy, but the totally implausible premise and everything else actually gels and it becomes emotionally manipulative like a Rocky movie. Lower the sensitivity of your bullshitometer just a little and you’ll have a great time.
You expect it to be crap, but there’s humanity and charm in it and BJ turns out to be quite likeable. The story doesn’t pull its punches either. When the side missions are available at HQ, you feel obliged to do them because you know that BJ isn’t just a heartless meathead and feel invested enough to pursue those errands. When he gets planted in an oppressive camp, it’s like watching the Man With No Name enter town. You just can’t wait for him to meet the management..
The mechanics are superb and so is the detail. The developers have an excellent grasp of what makes a weapon satisfying in an FPS. It’s what Duke Nukem Forever should have been (sans the dark storyline perhaps). Someone should give these developers that licence. I expected this to be low-brow but I was genuinely surprised how smart the whole package was and the silliness actually seems quite measured and not the Tarantino homage that the ads suggested.
It’s a linear game with some minimal story branching, but the levels offer more exploration than we’re accustomed to in FPSes these days. More than any COD game. Most of the shootouts are in relatively open environments with countless ways and angles in which to thin the herd before starting a well-publicised assault. The replayability factor of this game is beyond what we’re used to.
I got this game and Watchdogs in the last week and of the two, I’d recommend this one by a long shot. I’m sure Watchdogs has some unique charms that I haven’t come to appreciate yet, but its on foot and vehicle control really stink in comparison to GTA 5.