Gerry brought me a big suprise!!: Wolfenstein The New Order and Old Blood

Sometimes, simplicity is key, and when I think of the new Wolfenstein The New Order; that is a perfect description.

I popped this bad boy in expecting a Nazi kill-fest, and in the same fashion as The Inglorious Bastards. BUT WAIT, THERE’S A TWIST! (You gotta play it, you’ll find out)

Considering it’s an integral part of the story, I’m going to touch lightly on it. Essentially, this isn’t your everyday, WWII recycled bullshit. Sure, you get the usual period fire arms and the usual Nazis playing god and effing with stuff enemies. But there is more.

Once the main plot kicks in and you meet new allies the game really takes new school gaming, with its focus on drama and storytelling with the same old school game that created the FPS genre.

During my trek, I came across letters and articles that flesh all of the spots that were not explained in-game during the cutscenes. Each display a valid emotional portrayal of wartime and post wartime life, which seemed to take inspiration for actual correspondence during World War II. Which I liked a lot and found it refreshing from the usual boring collectibles that are scattered in every damn game now.

Cutscenes during the game flowed well and even made one-dimensional characters like BJ Blazkowicz (the main character of Wolfenstein) feel real and someone I could empathize with. Hell, I even found the basic NPC ‘s to have some character to them, which was a nice touch! Rest assured, it’s a fun ride!

Gameplay was tight and fast, but had some spots of injected stealth that was optional, but almost unnecessary. What I did like, is that my player could earn abilities, by the way I played, which made progression natural and allowed me change my tactics from

Chicken+arrow_c67d9f_4912911 — To stealth………..daaayum!

This definitely reminded me a little bit of Dishonored’s progression tree. However, the games strengths aren’t with its attempts to reward versatile gunplay, but how it kept me on a somewhat straightforward progression of each chapter. (save for the few intermission chapters and gathering collectibles, that gave me the option to explore areas.)

Wolfenstein_The_New_Order_Screengrab — LOOK WHAT I FOUND MR NATZI!

Once I got through the main game The New Order, for $15 (or cheaper, I got it for 5 on a sale) there is The Old Blood. Which veers away from the storyline of the main game and focuses more on the original Castle Wolfenstein. This is a nice nod to the fans of the original and I recommend you try it out. However, a fair warning the beginning does draw out and there is a lengthy stealth section, before you get to the meat and potatoes of Wolfenstein. (Which is its gunplay)

One last thing I did notice, was that the game engine used for Wolfenstein reminded me of the one ID used to make Rage. Which seemed to run smoothly on the Xbox 360, when I played that way back when.

Overall, this was an enjoyable game that blended the Old/New school gameplay into a nice title that can prove to be very challenging. One last thing, FPS fans may want to try the harder difficulties. Personally, I found the “Bring it On” difficulty was still catering to casual gamers and was not as challenging as other games like Half Life 2, FEAR or Metro.