Wolfenstein: The New Order/The Old Blood (Legacy Review)

2014 was the year the Eighth generation finally started to pick up a bit, after an abysmal launch year for the Xbox One and the PS4. Showstoppers like Alien: Isolation, Shadow Of Mordor (RIP), and Dragon Age: Inquistion shaped up the end of the year to be a lot better than the disastrous 2013. Another gem though that came out a bit earlier in the year, May to be exact, wound up wowing quite a lot of people. That game was Wolfenstein: The New Order. Wolfenstein, a franchise that's been around since it was top down stealth game back in the early 80's, has gone through many iterations. However, other than the first two, the other six have been first person shooters or FPS. Wolfenstein 3D being the grandfather of the FPS as we know it. A lot of people don't know, but Wolfenstein 3D actually helped shape up Doom to be what it was 18 months later. Now Wolfenstein was bought up as a franchise by Bethesda from Activision after the flop of the slightly underrated Wolfenstein (2009), it sat on the franchise as a whole until Bethesda bought up a little unknown studio from called MachineGames from Sweden. MG was made up of some of the founding members of another underrated studio called Starbreeze Studios. You know them right? The guys and gals who gave us great stories, with solid action? Games like The Darkness? The Chronicles of Riddick games back in the day? Well they wanted to do more, and so they left the studio they created, and went to create another studio which became MG. MG was actually a rather big fan of Wolfenstein, so after being bought up by Bethesda, asked if they could work on a new trilogy with the franchise. Bethesda said yes, and here we are. So I never played any of the other Wolfenstein games prior to this release, but after seeing many trailers and presentations I was genuinely interested in this new game. So I can say now 3 years later after the release, that with this new direction with great storytelling, and fantastic combat, we have been seeing a great revitalization of the FPS. With this game, we had to wait 2 more years, but we started to get other games like DOOM, Overwatch, and Titanfall 2 that showed us FPS games still have great stories to tell. FPS has never been in jeopardy of being "fazed out" but I think a lot of people can agree that most didn't think it would really give us any more interesting or intriguing stories like they use to. Being really since 2012 since we got any solid stories, let alone any great ones. Quality going down hill with each version of the yearly Call Of Duty, or the hollow storytelling of the latest and greatest Battlefield. Battlefield has always been great in the multiplayer scene, but the lack of a great single player campaign since the likes of Bad Company 2 is disheartening. So with FPS becoming a more watered down single player campaign by this time in 2014, it was surprising and refreshing to get a game like The New Order with such an emphasis on it's storytelling, and giving us a lengthy campaign that made you want to come back for more. The story being told through great voice acting, and great cutscenes, I can say that this is one of the few games that I couldn't wait to get out of the action, and watch another well done cutscene. That's saying something when you're talking about a video game, the whole fucking point is to play the damn thing. The campaign on hard difficultly, or higher (And yes, there is much higher, there is like 5-6 difficulties total), will net you a gameplay time of around 9-10 hours. But there is a decision in the beginning of the game that impacts how the story plays out for the rest of the game. You'll see some different characters, as well as seeing some other unique cutscenes with some of these other characters depending on your decision. Which gives it great replayability, as well as with the collectables, health or armor upgrades (Once again depending on which choice you make at the beginning of the game), and other little tidbits stuffed into a game that focused on one thing. Giving a great story in a single player only game. I can't emphasis this enough, I'm sorry. For those who still haven't played this game, first off, shame on you, second of all, go do it. You can pick up both The New Order, as well as the Old Blood for like $30 bucks together. I won't spoil too much JUST in case, but for those that don't know, This new trilogy that is being helmed by these great people MG is one about where we, the US as well as the rest of the world, lost the second World War. Germany has taken it all over, from London to New York, it's under a one German rule. You're going to take it all back as B.J. Blazkowicz, the unstoppable Nazi killing machine that he is. You're going to use every tool you can, from duel wielding shotguns like you're straight from an 80's action film, to stealth killing and stabbing Nazi's in the face. The combat is fluid, and it's tactical, and it's a Hell of a good time. DOOM and Wolfenstein these last 3 years have given us some DAMN good FPS combat that I wish would inspire the likes of Activision with it's yearly Call Of Duty series. You can have a more quick paced game that's doesn't leave you feeling like a chicken with it's head cut off. Levels are designed for you to take on your enemies in a variety of ways. Whether it's from above with a sniper rifle, from below with your knife and stealth kills, or even if it's down a hall way with duel wielding shotguns, you're going to have a blast. The perk system is set up to match up to your play style, to give you more benefits to playing that play style, and are unlocked by completing certain objectives in 4 different branches. Stealth, Tactical, Assault, and Demolition. This seems like a "no-brainer" but you'd be surprised by just how many people don't get this. It adds actual immersion AND legit "choices" in the game and how you approach it all. The game as a whole? Gorgeous. The sights and the sounds as a whole are amazing, utilizing the ID Tech 5 engine to it's absolute fullest. The music? delightful, and to be honest, completely underappreciated. The guy who did the DOOM music, is the same guy that did the Wolfenstein music. A one Mick Gordon, who is fantastic and deserves your love. Weapons? We got those for you. About 6 different weapons you'll spend most of your time with, plus heavy weaponry that you can obtain later on. I'd say if the game really had a "weak" point, this would be it. Where I was hoping for more "future" weaponry in the alternate time line, we only really got one or two "futuristic" weapons. Listen though, if this is the biggest complaint I can really muster up, it isn't that big of a deal. The villains? Awesome. General Deathshead and Engal Frau are truly menacing here. Deathshead has been in previous titles that have been used loosely as a history for this current trilogy. These villains are cold, smart, and always feeling a step ahead, the villains in this story, as well as Nazism as whole, constantly feel like a hurdle you'll never get to jump over no matter how many bodies you pile up. Yet, with the jokes, the light humor, and the great cast of characters that haven't given up all hope, you don't feel overburdened dealing with the darker tones of the game. Once again, this is do to great writing all around. Where Old Blood doesn't have as many great characters, it serves up as a prequel to The New Order, and helps set up a bit more of THIS version of B.J. for the audience, and a must play as well. Boss design in both titles are great, there aren't many, but the ones you get are fun to learn to take apart piece by piece.

So I could go on and on about this game, but I do want to get to it's sequel The New Colossus that came out a few weeks ago instead, so I'll end this here. First before giving my rating, let me tell you this, go get this game. I mean, if you're weak to violence, than no, don't get this game, but if you love a great story, great characters, and great gameplay, than go get this game. But my final rating is... 9/10! Also, I'd recommend this game to DEFIENTLY be on your shelf. So that's it for this, when games start to come out less and less, I'll try to do more of these for games/titles that I love or have inspired me over the years. However, til than, I'm working on TNC which will be next, and than Battlefront 2, because...I do have a lot to say about that game too. Til than, I'll see you guys next time.