The biggest evil that has faced William “B.J.” Blazkowicz over the course of his multiple incarnations hasn’t been the onslaught of Nazi soldiers that trundle towards the end of his broiling gun barrel, but the time period in which the square-jawed action hero has been unforgivably confined to.
Whereas a decade ago dredging through World War II history was the de facto source of inspiration for the first-person shooter, the genre hasn’t looked back since advancing to contemporary battlefields and the creeping War On Terror. So, the question is: how do you make shooting Nazis relevant again? Well, you just make it bloody good fun, obviously.
Hence, Wolfenstein: The New Order unapologetically old school mentality to both its setting and heritage (avoiding implementing modish mechanics unlike its 2009 predecessor), which dispenses with the po-faced histrionics that have been unduly served to gamers in recent years. In short: it’s fun, fun, fun.
Time has been pushed forward slightly to refresh the concept. The war is over with Nazi Germany emerging victorious, leading to small pockets of resistance fighting back to topple to the Third Reich’s regime in 1960. This has little consequence on the fundamentals: it’s still Blazkowiicz pumping holes in waves of enemy soldiers to the cathartic putter-putter of antiquated military firearms. But it adds an engaging twist with pseudo historical artefacts from the reimagined timeline.
MachineGames has gone to extreme lengths to make its world credible. Here, The Beatles have been forced to sing in German under the name Die Käfer (with their iconic album Das blaue U-boot) and it was the Nazis that conducted the moon landing. As amusing as these incidental details are, in contrast with the narrative it highlights a major flaw. Clearly drawing inspiration from Inglourious Basterds, the game relishes in everything preposterousness about its hypothetical retelling and the basic boys-on-a-mission premise rockets along at a firm pace, but it sorely lacks the crackling dialogue of Tarantino and ultimately fumbles during its dramatic beats.
It was never going to be easy juggling musings on the psychological impact of war one moment and then chucking in a cheesy one-liner about Nazis walking on the moon the next (“fuck you moon”), and as admirable as the intentions here are, the result makes for an awkward tonal imbalance.
Comprised of ex-Starbreeze Studios devs (The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay and The Darkness), it’s encouraging that new outfit MachineGames has been founded on similar principles. The New Order is a gratuitous, gut-filled orgy of chaos and destruction, packed with as much action, spectacle and excitement into its sizeable campaign as the disk allows (or several if you’re purchasing the game for a last-gen system). A stalwart in quality franchise adaptations and reboots, the studio appears to be galvanised by the Wolfenstein licence and throws just about every idea at the wall to see what sticks.
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It’s an approach that would explain the game’s ill-judged opening. Set back in 1946, the game begins by setting the scene on, of all things, a plane. During this extended sequence Wolfenstein labours to engage players with its archetypal characters, presenting a set of objectives that requires little else but executing several mundane button prompts – one of its few concessions to contemporary genre norms. Yet, unlike most triple-a titles of its ilk, this doesn’t set the precedent for what follows. Instead, terra firma offers branching narratives, diverse set-pieces and a torrent of inventive enemy types.
But the greatest triumph is just how polished the mechanics are here. MachineGames has built a shooter that respects the series’ roots but, more importantly, has styled itself in the vein of seminal Nineties PC shooters. You’ll find that accuracy and recoil aren’t an issue and there’s almost no reason at all to stare down the scope. Instead The New Order presents a modest crop of hefty firearms that can be dual-wielded and upgraded to tear Nazi soldiers into pieces.
The weapons themselves aren’t quite so memorable as the impact that they have on enemies. There’s the assault rifle that unloads several rounds in a second and the laser cutter that eviscerates enemies into a blood cloud – and can also be used to cut through wire and metal to access concealed areas – but everything here performs to standard, nothing can claim to be truly iconic or particularly inventive.
But as you might expect that game doesn’t just rely on the arsenal (improbably) strapped to your back, with mechanised killing machines at your disposal and a quick turnaround on set-pieces to ensure that the ingredients don’t rest long enough to stagnate. Adding to that is a healthy amount of smarts to the enemy AI. While many of the environments are tight and claustrophobic like its predecessors, occasionally areas open up and enemies do their best to flank and strategise around your current playstyle.
Wolfenstein: The New Order has a lot of heart, reinventing a classic franchise with enough knowing influence and deft touch to make it feel relevant to a whole new era of gamers. While it’s a little rough around the edges both technically and visually – we were expecting a little more out of the PlayStation 4 iteration – the vibrancy is found in its stripped-back style.
Ignore the discordance within its narrative and get your way past the incredibly dull opening stretch: Wolfenstein is a brawny, gratifying shooter experience – the likes of which you probably haven’t played in some time. Consider it a history lesson.
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