1. Gameplay
90s shooters were like 80s action movies. There was one lone badass fighting an army of terrorists or criminals or whatever. The hero often shot from the hip, used huge weapons, and said awesome (stupid) lines like “I’m here to chew bubblegum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubblegum.” 90s shooters were just like that. There was no such thing as “ADS”, the weapons were huge and, often times, unrealistic, the player was always alone against a mob of foes that were all stereotypically evil. Wolfenstein 3D was one of the most important first person shooters ever created and it followed this style of game perfectly. The protagonist, BJ Blazkowicz, is in look and personality an action movie hero. He uses big guns to fight the entire Nazi army (and wins). Wolfenstein: The New Order is the perfect reboot to this franchise. It keeps everything awesome from the classic Wolfenstein games and adds in all of the necessary mechanics to be competitive with modern shooters (i.e. thrown grenades, ADS, etc.). But, most importantly, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are frequent times when the game makes fun of itself in subtle ways. This wasn’t a game trying to make me feel awesome, it was a game that tried to make me have fun. And it definitely succeeded. The way that I can tell if a game was really fun is how badly I want to play more of it. In the case of Wolfenstein: The New Order, I want more. I know there are going to be DLC packs for this game (certain key antagonists were left alive), and I am extremely impatient for them. Now that the developers have a good foothold on what makes a good game, I want to see what they can do. The core mechanics are built, the story is built, the characters are built, now run wild. This game has no multiplayer (which is a good thing, the developers spent more time focusing on their strengths). If you need that kind of thing, stick with Call of Duty or Battlefield. If you want a fun single player experience with smooth mechanics and some good twists, you need to play this game.
It took me around 11 hours to complete the entire campaign. However, there is a major decision early in the game which adds a decent amount of replayability. While I may not be willing to replay the entire campaign immediately, it’s a big plus to know that the story will change when I do replay it (even if it’s only in minor ways).
The only frustrating I came across in this game is with the “perk” system. There are four different styles of perks depending on the playstyle that the player wants to use. However, one of the four styles seems to require the use of explosives. This would normally fit with a number of the other classes fairly well, except that in order to unlock this perk tree (and start unlocking the other abilities within this tree) the player has to kill two enemies with one grenade. This wouldn’t be a problem except that the player only gets “tesla grenades” after a certain point, which can only kill mechanical enemies (which were surprisingly rare overall). Since I can sometimes be somewhat compulsive about completing these types of perks and challenges, I had to go back to the very first chapter where I got explosive grenades and kill two enemies. It wasn’t a fun experience. Once I gave up on the perk system, I started to have a much better time. 2. Parental Notices
Violence in this game is fairly high. While the severity of it can depend on how the player chooses to approach combat (stealthier kills are significantly less graphic), there will be a significant amount of blood and gore for all players. For most weapons, hits to any body part except the head will result in some blood but it isn’t particularly significant overall. Any non-projectile weapon (such as the laser rifles) will only burn the enemy. Unless they blow up into blood and chunks and stuff instead. That can happen. Headshots with a projectile weapon can cause the enemy’s head to explode into a small shower of blood and chunks, leaving behind a ragged stump. Grenades and other explosives will cause the entire enemy to explode into blood and chunks, leaving very little behind. However, this is often obscured by smoke, dust, and the explosion. The player can perform melee executions on enemies if he sneaks up behind them with a knife. These executions cause a bit of blood but no gore. Similar executions happen during cutscenes, but the camera angles and intensity of the action make them feel much more graphic. There are a few sequences when the graphicness of violence increases dramatically. The most notable of these is when one of the main antagonists has half of her face torn off by a giant robot thing. She then decides it would be a great time to come up to you and lecture you on how she is going to get her revenge (while bleeding all over the place). In another scene, the player sees a few bodies that have their flesh removed and opened, exposing their spinal columns. The only reason this section does not achieve the maximum rating is because stealth is so ridiculously easy to do that I tended to stick to it whenever possible. Stealth kills never involve gore and only involve minimal amounts of blood.
There are a number of sex scenes included in the cutscenes of this game. These aren’t subtle scenes either. While they are relatively quick and only included in key scenes, it is definitely a noticeable element. One scene happens on a train. After the scene plays out, the player wakes up next to the topless girl. The second scene happens inside of the safe house. While body parts are never shown, it is extremely clear what the characters are doing. There are a few other minor examples of sexuality, but for the most part they're not nearly as notable as the above examples. Is one audio log where the writer talks about how she killed a Nazi after having sex with him. The story gets a bit graphic.
One of the characters is designed to look and act like Jimi Hendrix. It could actually be Jimi Hendrix. Either way, Hendrix loves loud guitar riffs and drugs. In one scene he has the main character take a drop of what is almost certainly acid. BJ then goes on a serious trip. Health comes in the form of small packs or bags with green crosses on them. The player picks up the health and instantly uses it. There is no animation associated with healing.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools currently available for this game.
There are a few extremely minor religious icons in this game. Specifically, there are a few crosses in one of the rooms in the safe house. Other than this, religion is not a factor.
While the game starts out during wartime, most of the story takes place in German occupied territories. The player commits acts of sabotage and murder in order to topple the German government from within its own borders. While the story still portrays the main character as the morally justified hero, he is nevertheless blatantly fighting against the established rules and laws of the land. That being said, he’s still fighting against an evil government. The game makes it abundantly clear that the local authorities openly believe in eugenics and the superiority of the Aryan race to the detriment of everyone else.
There are a few scenes early on in the game where the player will have to jump from one plane to another while both are flying at full speed. Another chapter has the player diving underwater with a mini submarine. These types of events are rare outside of the first chapter.
There are no multiplayer modes for this game.
A number of the items and objects in certain chapters of this game seem to be magical in nature. While one of the characters explains that “these technologies are so far advanced they will seem magical to you”, he does nothing to explain how they work (beyond this sweeping statement to cover artistic license). As a result, I am unable to conclude that they are anything except magical.
Human Disfigurement In order to make the antagonists more stereotypically grotesque, a few of the key characters have or are given major disfigurations. While they are still human, their outer appearance is designed to give visualization to their evil personalities. Except for Max Hass, a lovable, friendly manchild who has half of his skull missing. He's a good person.
1 Comment
RealAlienPlays
11/27/2016 11:30:04 am
Is there are blood filter for this game carmine
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