7/10
Jan 4, 2018·✓ Recommended
Beat·Xbox One
While Wolfenstein has always been a series happy to play with the facts of World War II, as a rule series protagonist BJ Blascowitz does at least tend to come out on top in the end. The New Order pushes us straight into the realms of full-on alternate history however, presenting a Nazi-controller Europe in the 1960s, into which BJ awakens and does the one thing he knows best - and it's a thumping good game to boot.
The first clue things are going to be a bit different is that we begin in the last year of the war - in 1946. The Allies mount a desperate last-ditch assault on a Nazi doom fortress and it all goes wrong. BJ falls into a coma, and doesn't wake up until 1960, where he immediately finds himself embroiled in a ragtag underground resistance against the Reich's rule. There's a surprising amount of care put into the storytelling here, both in terms of the wonderfully evocative environments we explore but also in our tiny group of fighters, all of whom know they're up against utterly impossible odds.
You're probably here for the gameplay first and foremost though. The New Order tries to offer players a balance, with lots of opportunity to sneak around and thin ranks or avoid major combat altogether by knifing enemies in the back, but if you're ham-fisted like me you'll inevitably end up in pitched gunfights. Thankfully, these are excellently done; weapons have a ton of kick to them, and there are some very fun options that take advantage of the magitek alternate history of Wolfenstein. At its gory best, it's a modern FPS with the sensibilities of a boomer shooter.
Check out my full review! The Almighty Backlog, review #2:
https://thealmightybacklog.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/off-the-backlog-wolfenstein-the-new-order/
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