The New Order is kind of a miracle game. A reboot of a classic franchise that not only manages to live up to it's own legacy but also surpass it in so many areas, all while still maintaining it's unmistakable identity as a Wolfenstein game.
Shooting Nazi bastards has always been the core of the series but The New Order really goes the extra mile when it comes to setting up it's antagonist, depicting them with the level of evil and cruelty that would normally be reserved for a Saturday morning cartoon villan all while still maintaining a real sense of grounded tension that keeps things from flying off the rails.
And I think that this describes the game in it's entirety. The gameplay, the story, the characters all walk along a knifes edge with a realistic, grounded story about humans surviving in the face of unspeakable evil on one side, and over the top schlocky grindhouse violence on the other. But the truly amazing thing about this game is that it somehow manages to walk that razors edge all the way to the end without ever managing to tip to far onto either side (aside from arguably the moon level I suppose). The game can have a tense and shocking level take place in a concentration camp and end it by firing rockets out of a giant robot and it all feels like a natural part of the world.
And of course all this comes mostly in part thanks to the writing that I cannot sing enough praises for. It's an ensemble cast staring in a story that is primarily about the characters themselves and it's fascinating how even in a cast of characters this big, each and every one of them manages to share an equal amount of screen time and be memorable in their very own ways. This is without even mentioning the writing for B.J. Blazkowicz, who I genuinely believe in this game is one of the best written characters in the history of the medium. Somehow turning one of the most famous silent protagonists of all time and bringing him down the level of empathetic and tragic not despite, but because of the preposterous amounts of carnage you experience as a player.
And it's at this point I realize that I've gotten this far without even talking about the GAMEPLAY in this VIDEO GAME. It's a faithful adaptation of the old school shooter design with more weapons' than a truck can carry and more blood than a dozen slaughterhouses. There are a handful of stealth sections and the game manages to pull them off surprisingly well with each and every encounter feeling like a natural extension of every gameplay mechanic. If I did have one gripe however it would be that I think some of the level design and art direction can have a bad habit of blending in with one another making some locations feel more dull than other.
Again though any complaint I can through at this game feels kind of like a mute point in the face of everything I think this game does well. And It does just about everything well! I might even call this one of the best shooters of this generation! I've played through it 3 times at this point and am planning on an eventual 4th playthrough. It really is just a damn fine game, and if you haven't played it yet I can't recommend it highly enough.
Shooting Nazi bastards has always been the core of the series but The New Order really goes the extra mile when it comes to setting up it's antagonist, depicting them with the level of evil and cruelty that would normally be reserved for a Saturday morning cartoon villan all while still maintaining a real sense of grounded tension that keeps things from flying off the rails.
And I think that this describes the game in it's entirety. The gameplay, the story, the characters all walk along a knifes edge with a realistic, grounded story about humans surviving in the face of unspeakable evil on one side, and over the top schlocky grindhouse violence on the other. But the truly amazing thing about this game is that it somehow manages to walk that razors edge all the way to the end without ever managing to tip to far onto either side (aside from arguably the moon level I suppose). The game can have a tense and shocking level take place in a concentration camp and end it by firing rockets out of a giant robot and it all feels like a natural part of the world.
And of course all this comes mostly in part thanks to the writing that I cannot sing enough praises for. It's an ensemble cast staring in a story that is primarily about the characters themselves and it's fascinating how even in a cast of characters this big, each and every one of them manages to share an equal amount of screen time and be memorable in their very own ways. This is without even mentioning the writing for B.J. Blazkowicz, who I genuinely believe in this game is one of the best written characters in the history of the medium. Somehow turning one of the most famous silent protagonists of all time and bringing him down the level of empathetic and tragic not despite, but because of the preposterous amounts of carnage you experience as a player.
And it's at this point I realize that I've gotten this far without even talking about the GAMEPLAY in this VIDEO GAME. It's a faithful adaptation of the old school shooter design with more weapons' than a truck can carry and more blood than a dozen slaughterhouses. There are a handful of stealth sections and the game manages to pull them off surprisingly well with each and every encounter feeling like a natural extension of every gameplay mechanic. If I did have one gripe however it would be that I think some of the level design and art direction can have a bad habit of blending in with one another making some locations feel more dull than other.
Again though any complaint I can through at this game feels kind of like a mute point in the face of everything I think this game does well. And It does just about everything well! I might even call this one of the best shooters of this generation! I've played through it 3 times at this point and am planning on an eventual 4th playthrough. It really is just a damn fine game, and if you haven't played it yet I can't recommend it highly enough.