Wolfenstein II has a really good gameplay core that is really dragged down by some other aspects, mainly for me the story and pacing.

For the gameplay, it is what we already know from its predecessor. Gunplay feels satisfying, with good feedback, where shots actually show results like gore or splintering armor.

There is a wide variety on weapons, with the ability to dual wield them and equip them with gunmods, where you can find the right weapon for every situation. For me especially the heavy weapons feel absolutely great with a real sense of power and damage, with the drawback of reduced mobility and limited ammunition.

There is also a wide variety of enemy types, where actually none of them feel really frustrating, all of them have their weakpoints, if you know where to shoot, so no real bulletsponges.

Furthermore both playstyles, stealth and aggressive, feel rewarding. Where you can avoid hordes of enemys if you get through a section stealthily but you don't get frustrated if you get cought, as shooting yourself through the aforementioned hordes is just as fun.

I also want to especially highlight the set design and worldbuilding in this game. All of the buildings and machines and enemies seem authentic and like there was alot of work put into detailing them. Something I want to highlight are the propaganda posters that are everywhere and if you can read german you get to appreciate how much work went into these.

But while we are at the topic of level design. The layout of these levels is sometimes really confusing, with not enough visual cues to give you an indication to where to go next. I got stuck several times, for a few minutes trying to find the exit into the next area of the level, as these are often times vents or holes in the floor. This can lead to slight unnecessery frustration.

The game also still suffers from bugs, even 7 years after it's release. I had cases where I simply got stuck on geometry, being thrown into the air or enemies did not register hits and were therefore invincible.

For the rest of this review I will spoil the story a bit, so be warned.

The main issue that I have with this game is, as already mentioned in the beginning, the story. I absolutely hate all the characters that we should care about outside of Anya. For me it is a bit hard to get motivated to fight for a cause, where everyone you fight for is just an asshole or a weirdo. They all seem to feel more like a caricature rather than characters. Super Sesh the weird conspiracy guy. Grace, who is just a bitch for no reason and the religious Hillbillies that you rescue from New Orleans. All of them create a tonal clash between real emotional moments, like how BJ really fears for Anya and fears to never get to see his baby twins, because he might just not make it back alive for that. Or the very real backstory of BJ's parents, where the visit back to his childhood farm really makes you empathize with William's torment that he had to go through. Or getting caught and executed by the Nazis, where you were waiting for someone or something to rescue you any second but that moment just never comes... until you get reanimated from the dead of course. But all of these great moments are kind of ruined by the complete lack of any sort of seriousness on the side of your "friends". I get that they were probably going for the comedic relieve, to not make the game too serious but as I said for me personally that creates tonal inconsistencies that were just disruptive in the enjoyment of the overall story.

Next the pacing of the whole campaign was a bit jarring. I absolutely hated to do anything in the hub world. You get to shoot your way through dozens of enemies in adrenaline pumping ways, just for you to come "home" and run around for the next 20 minutes to finish some meaningless tasks. I really, really just wanted to get back to the shooting part but no, I have to look for some other guys prosthetic arm for a few minutes, because it is so much fun to run around a hub world, where you can literally do nothing but walking.

Finally after finishing the main story, they want you to eliminate some other Oberoffiziere or whatever. Actually I don't mind them reusing some levels from the main story to create some side missions, I think these side missions are actually quite alright. What is not alright however, is the fact that you cannot complete all of these without grinding for Enigma Codes! Yes, you heard that right, they want you to farm a resource in a story driven first person shooter WOLFENSTEIN game. The game does not provide you with enough Enigma Codes during the main story and the side missions for you to unlock all other side missions, so the only way to unlock them, is to play side missions over and over again. Whose absolute briliant idea was that? When I came to the realization, that I would have to start grinding, that was the point where I quit the game, which is, again, frustrating, as I actually wouldn't have minded completing all of the remaining side missions.

All in all this game just suffers from it's lack of consistency, as in the story, as well as the pacing, as well as in technical issues. I would still recommend it for it's shooter parts but be ready to get frustrated every now and then.