Buoy...Boo-ee...Silly word.

Here, give me your hand and let me sing to you the gospel for one of the best shooters ever made.


It's my current 2014 Game of the Year.

Three words to describe Wolfenstein The New Order: brutal and charming.



This game has consumed my mind ever since it came out. I’ve completed it twice on both timeline playthroughs (you can switch between each for extra characters, upgrades, rooms, cutscenes) on the Uber difficulty, and am currently on a 3rd “999 mode” run. That has never happened with me and any videogame. Probably an ode to how good the story is with both character lineups and how replayable the combat is. I need to get my full opinion down in writing as a reference point so I can finally give myself some peace of mind and move on to play other possibly worthy GOTY contenders.

This is a little preamble for a couple of paragraphs but I feel worth mentioning to understand how former Starbreeze people went on to make this game. Machinegames, as some of you might know, are former Starbreeze developers. I was expecting a good game from the start because of their pedigree on excellent narrative-driven first person action adventures (Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay + Assault on Dark Athena, The Darkness) but not necessarily on the gameplay front for a shooter. Starbreeze started some first-person shooting with Riddick and other than a cool laser dot system where the dot would become bigger when you got a headshot (back when CoD “X” hit markers weren’t the major trend) and enemies liking to move around with dive rolls, it was just serviceable. Riddick excelled when it was mainly a melee stealth game with the best cover/lean system ever (could even compare it to Thief). Then The Darkness came along and this was Starbreeze’s first FPS. While The Darkness was exemplary on the storytelling front, the awkward controls, inconsistent controllable ally AI, unwieldy powers, and forgettable encounter design made it one of those games that wasn’t as enjoyable to play through. I would rather walk (no sprint in the game) straight up to enemies’ faces for rad-looking melee executions and be done with it. It had dual wielding, too, which made the trudge bearable. Shooting didn’t seem like their forte. Darkness 2 (very underrated sequel) by Digital Extremes nailed the gameplay front down while also having an equally emotional narrative along with fantastic characters and some cool twists.

Then came Syndicate. Lo and behold, the shooting was truly excellent! The quality of the gun sounds, the feedback, encounter design, the hit reactions, the sliding, and slight dismemberment (w/ shotgun) came out of nowhere! I loved pretty much everything with the shooting mechanics in addition to the breach abilities. Very underrated shooter. However, it was purely corridors in the level design. The storytelling suffered with a rushed plot, undeveloped characters, and not being able to have character interactions, which reduced the adventure elements even if it had an appreciable nihilistic vibe to the world. When the lead developers left Starbreeze at the time of Syndicate and Machinegames was formed, people tried to reassure that we could still get a great game. I wasn’t that dismissive of the work on Syndicate, and if you looked it up, quite a few of the developers on Syndicate transitioned over to Machinegames to work on Wolfenstein The New Order [Read this excellent Polygon piece - "Machinegames: a fight club on top of the world"]. You know what that meant, hopefully the best of both worlds! So what we have in Wolfenstein The New Order that has been building up ever since Riddick: the best cover system, sliding, excellent shooting feedback/gun sounds/dismemberment, fantastic characters, well-realised world, top-notch voice acting, and that specifically Starbreeze cutscene look. It doesn’t have the laser dot reticule or hub levels but the lack of the latter is justified in that this is a globetrotting affair while The Darkness and Riddick were contained in single intimate locations.

Death at the gates again. Howling my name. Can’t greet you today. Got a war to win.

I don’t think Machinegames was content with just those returning elements. They wanted an old school feel to the overall gameplay package while still retaining those elements to give the game quite a novel feeling that you won’t get elsewhere. You can watch Jens Matthies talk to Geoff Keighley about this combat design philosophy back at Quakecon 2013. The best of old school and modern is amalgamated here. There’s been a recent trend of old school revival in genres and specifically for FPSs like with Shadow Warrior, Painkiller, and Serious Sam. Bringing back wider levels and having to pick up health/armour packs to move away from the whack-a-mole, raspberry-tinted modern warffair doesn’t seem as risky now, but keep in mind the previously mentioned games weren’t big budget, big publisher-backed projects.

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The maps are complex, packed with meaningful collectibles and alternate routes that remind me of older stealth games such as Splinter Cell where you go “oh I could have gone through there the whole time”. Thankfully, the big touted location is open and a visual treat. It’s a bit disappointing that there isn’t some significant gameplay change here and it left me wanting more but I think that’s a good thing. Some levels aren’t as open which makes sense as the pace quickens in the story when you build up a reputation for the resistance from chapters 13 to the end.

It was out-of-the-blue when back at EGX London in September 2013, I realised I didn’t have to play the game like CoD in the case of avoiding aim-down-sights and adopting a more run-and-gun playstyle. There are no Call of Duty style “X” hit confirmation markers, a restrictive 2-weapon system (which is understandable for a pseudo-realistic military game), respawning perfectly accurate enemies, scripted trigger fails, follow the leader’s butt and wait for them to perform overdrawn animations, or overly tunnelling corridors (unless if it makes sense like in a submarine). There are no scripted weapon sections where an empowering weapon is given to you to take down a boss and is never used again.

Weapons GIF
Shotgun shrapnel GIF

All the weapons have alt-fire modes which makes for experimenting even if the game will explain the enemies’ weaknesses usually. There's a great kick to them helped by the boom and echo from the audio design that leaves an impact when it's all over. There aren’t really any bullet sponge enemies, even the heavies like the Shotgun Shrapnel, Heavy Robot, and Supersoldaten can be taken down by a few rockets, grenades, or charged LKW shots and are much weaker in the back (shrapnel dude can be taken down by two shotgun shots in the back!).

Why are the hit markers even worth bringing up?



That’s because the game already has top-notch hit feedback on the enemies when you shoot them and they display localised body reactions with dismemberment [GIF], decapitation [GIF], and sweet sweet gibs [GIF] glory. You don’t need a letter popping up on someone’s body to tell you if they’ve gone down, because they aren’t bullet sponges or indistinguishable against the environment.

Why bother with most of this stuff when you could just play it like CoD? That might be because the enemy AI is really good. They won’t charge at you like mindless cronies. They like to hang back and call others to flank you (this is all in German, too). If you’re hiding behind cover whack-a-mole’ing them one by one like a shooting gallery, they’ll flush you out with grenades or surprise you from the sides. Aiming down sights will make you a stationary target which you don’t really want with such aggressive Nazis. Even at the start of Chapter 14 in Return to London Nautica where you crash land via rope and Syndicate-style enemy takedown with not much of a weapon cache while being absolutely hammered via an ambush of a shotgun shrapnel dude and ten other enemies, it’s still advisable to move around. This thinking extends to the few boss fights that there are, too, where you're encouraged to use all your weapons.

On top of that, the stealth is fun to pull off thanks to the god-tier pistol (one of the best ever in a videogame and even gets a makeover in a certain location) and throwing knives.


In many sections, you’ll have a chance to go stealth with taking down any commanders in the area who are the only ones to set off the alarm for reinforcements. My way was to take out the commanders first, and then go dual-wielding on the town with the rest of them.

I nearly forgot to mention there is a destruction system! Yeah, most of the wood/concrete [GIF] and metal grates [GIF] can be shot off too with the Laserkraftwerk, which is great in rattling out the few stranglers of enemies but also nail-biting when you’re on the receiving end of giant turret wielding Supersoldaten or heavy robots wrecking up all your cover giving even more impetus to not be pinned down in one spot.

The fact that they pulled all of this off with nary a hitch in a big-budget, massively marketed shooter amongst a sea of risk-averse design is commendable. It’s the kind of risk taking that makes other developers not as wary in wanting to mix up the formula. Remarkable even, when all those disparate elements that other smaller games do only a few things of, are compiled here in not just the best-of-hits but also comes into a refreshing whole where even slideshooting dual auto shotguns hasn’t been quite done before.


Legs are like jelly. Fingers feel numb. Mother of all headaches.



I’m not a diehard elitist when it comes to a certain brand of storytelling, but I do prefer when you can’t get everything from just a youtube playthrough. I like when not everything can be gleaned from just watching the cutscene library or listening to audio diaries or reading some supplemental materials. Remedy’s games (Max Payne 1 and 2, Alan Wake) are my absolute favourite mould where you still have dramatic cinematics but also there’s enough detail in the environment or through character interactions and pulpy noir inner monologues while you’re playing the game. There’s always something happening in your periphery. I feel this is how the influence of adventure games have carried on to qualify some games as truly action adventures. Which is all present in Wolfenstein: The New Order and what Machinegames set out to make.



NPCs talk to each other. About various things. This is no more evident than in a very Riddick-like level. They even talk about you if you’re far away but will stop if you come near them. You can come up to a character multiple times and they’ll acknowledge your annoying existence with varying lines of dialogue.


The environments are bolstered by stellar art direction as they are varied and a visual delight through varying mood colour palettes.





The best compliment I can give about the world building is that it feels like this actually happened. A world ruled by Nazis isn’t just detailed in newspaper clippings that range from really interesting alternate history to straight up hilarity like the death of fish and chips in the UK or the existence of the crocoduck. They even go to the detail of how the technology on the dogs changes through the years. There are difficult, mature themes that are brought up too. An overarching theme is of old warriors being unfit for a new world of evil presented through the older characters of BJ Blazkowicz and Fergus Reid, much like No Country For Old Men. In the other timeline, there is racism (spoilers) brought up with the character of J (you can tell which real life person this is based off). Blazko has to deal with keeping up hope in such a bleak and unrelenting world as his allies die off over the decades.



Machinegames could have avoided the elephant in the room, , but they dedicate a whole level to it with a very Riddick vibe. If you come up to the prisoners, there are dozens of conversations to hear upon that are quite heartbreaking especially one that explains you can’t survive if you start thinking about food. None of this is in your face, it’s there as an exploration reward if you seek it out. “Deviants” like the disabled, homosexuals, minorities, or anyone not with Aryan features are hunted down, and even citizens are encouraged to report them to the authorities such as tattling on a kid who likes to wear makeup.



I love when enemies converse with each other. It’s not a new thing at all, been in games since Thief and No One Lives Forever. Nevertheless, it’s an appreciable method that shows developers deeply care about how the world is relayed to the player. It characterises the cannon fodder with some humanity and hands you some regret when you have to murder them in the most brutal of ways. Previous Starbreeze games also had enemy conversations (ex: The Darkness enemy conversation, Riddick: Fucktoy conversation), and here my highlights were the heartfelt one about a commander’s pregnant wife and the hilarious one about fighting a concrete-induced cough with lemon coffee. One of the best has to be when you can pick up a phone and hear someone shit all over this Muller dude.

Even with the more predictable ways of environmental storytelling, there’s only one set of audio diaries and it’s absolutely crucial to figure something about one of the main characters. There are newspaper clippings that not only expand on how the whole world is affected by Nazi rule with some funny highlights like the death of fish and chips in the UK, but they also detail your exploits from previous missions just like Hitman Blood Money. Heck, I learned so much German just from the loading screens. The game even gets down to the meta detail of berating you for quitting the game.

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Starbreeze was employing performance capture before Naughty Dog was being praised for it. Since Riddick, the performances and voice acting in their games have been top-notch and nothing is changed with Machinegames and this new Wolfenstein. You will believe heart, charm, and vulnerability can be given to BJ Blazkowicz, who was just a musclebound action hero face in the original game. He isn’t infallible as other characters will berate him for his physique or intellect like Tekla and that’s done in a poignant way with J to make a point.



Nearly every single character is interesting and memorable in their own way. The villains are chilling and charismatic. I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, the four main female characters (Caroline, Anya, Tekla, Frau Engel) are pretty great too. Unlikely relationships are built between allies like between Max Hass and Klaus (father-son like), Wyatt and J (they both love music), Fergus (greatest Scottish character in a videogame) and Tekla, Anya and Blazko (most naturally presented romance in a game), or Set Roth and Caroline. It’s all backed up by faultless voice acting from top to bottom (even the enemies shouting in German).

You call me Deathshead, I don't like it. I'm a happy man, you see?



Due to how rare it is to go for a multi-varied tone in videogames as opposed to films, I guess some critics find the game to be “tonally inconsistent”. I’ve said my piece here where I vehemently disagree as it’s evident that the game is going for a blackly comic tone and was present in the (excellent) marketing too from the trailers. It was brought up in that interview with Jens Matthies and Patrick Klepek that people should check out. This whole “Nazis ruling the world” premise is a black comedy, it is surreal. You need to let the edge off or then you’d fall into a pit of despair and confusion. I’m glad the game isn’t po-faced like other shooters or just a farce so you can’t take it seriously.



My few criticisms would be that Anya , the location is not used for more interesting gameplay, the sewer section is the weakest point, the performance on AMD PCs is not great, and the cutscenes do that Max Payne 3 loading thing although here they're still pleasant to sit through. Also, the audio mix is not so good even though the audio design itself is sublime.

In conclusion, Wolfenstein: The New Order is a lovingly crafted game made with a ton of heart and charm that I feel will have legs as more and more people try it out. It’s not radically innovative or revolutionary, but it does so many things to stand out in the current landscape that it doesn’t have to be. A brutal and charming adventure that doesn’t pull any punches but knows when to be light-hearted. The combat design and shooting mechanics are liberating while being supported by tough AI and fantastic weapons to shoot at them with, in more expansive levels that encourage exploration. Meanwhile, excellent storytelling through fantastic characters and the environment is happening all around you, rather than at you. Also, has one of the best soundtracks in a game with some of the most hard-hitting rock and metal with touches of industrial music that gets your blood pumping to fight for the resistance. It brings the best of the old and the new. It’s exactly what people who complain about modern shooters should play, to see it’s not all doom-and-gloom. Personally, it has set a new standard in shooters. It’s one of the best shooters I’ve played. If you want a game in the vein of Half Life 2, FEAR, Metro Last Light, Remedy games, Bulletstorm/Painkiller/Shadow Warrior, check it out.

Read all that and haven’t picked up Wolfenstein The New Order yet?

Snap out of it, and get to shootin’, stabbin’, stranglin’ some Nazis!

Very interested in this one. Sounds like an excellent game, look forward to playing it.

Also, do not judge this game after finishing first level. It gets much much better later on.

Nicest surprise of 2014 so far for me. Still need to get that one trophy for platinum :\

Aaaall right, sold.
Buying it this Thursday.

Just bought the game on PC yesterday. Playing through it right now, I would have avoided the game all together if it wasn't for the GAF OT. After reading impressions in there I had to get it at some point. Snagged the game for a good price yesterday and I have to say it is really great so far. Not sure how far I am but I just . No real complaints at all right now with the game.

FUCKIN' - A

*hugs everyone in thread*

(^____^)

Agreed.

This game went from a borderline confident pre-order, to best shooter since Bioshock. Every moment was an absolute delight.

I'm really looking forward to picking this up. Just have to scrounge up some funds.

This is the kind of thread the game deserves. I haven't finished it but I'm very impressed so far.

Wow. This dude really loved the game, eh? I just finished it yesterday and while I agree that it's a good game, it wasn't the second coming of Jesus as described here, to me.

Had some rough edges but man it's easily the most fun I've had this year with a game.

What a writeup, and well deserved. The game is truly one of the best FPS games I've played in recent years. The shooting is so dynamic, and truly opens up so many ways to tackle any scenario you're thrown in, and the stealth in the game actually isn't half-assed, since the AI is competent enough to not fuck you over or make it too easy.

The story was also excellent. BJ actually has more than one dimension to him, and made me want a sequel. Going by their recent willingness, we'll be seeing Wolfenstein 2 by Machine Games and I'll be there day one again.

The silenced pistol has perfect accuracy across giant rooms, one-shots most enemy types and doesn't alert enemies if you miss them by millimeters.

Also this game is basically the Riddick sequel you've always wanted. Buy this game.

Dang sweet game and I got the platinum a couple weeks ago. Hope the gunplay is as satisfying in Doom.

This is on my short list of games to pick up once I get the funds together to get off my backup graphics card. Looks really great but I severely doubt my 5770 is gonna cut the mustard on this one.

Dat Messofanego hype.

Best current-gen experience out there. The game was just... so... perfectly fun.

Love it.

Rez said:

Also this game is basically the Riddick sequel you've always wanted. Buy this game.

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Awww shit, here I come.

I've already bought it but can't get it to run worth a damn on my PC that is more than capable of running it.

Best part of it is I got it while it was 30$ on Steam during the Summer Sale and only 4$ actually came from my wallet, the rest of it was money I got for selling TF2 items.

Yes! Really enjoying playing this right now... Haven't finished yet so I'm being careful for spoilers! I think the game started off a little janky with some of the cut scene transitions, but it's really come into its own (think I'm on chapter 3 or 4). Playing on PS4 but think the experience would be better on PC, since it's definitely old school in its gameplay. Unfortunately I think my PC is on its last legs...

Yeah after reading the OT for this game I picked it up and I am glad I did, it's fun throughout but gets even better as it goes on.

This has been taking up all my gaming time over the last week. Such a good game.

I liked that one bit in the 4th Chapter where The attention to detail is amazing to behold.

Also the shooting feels so good. No ADS BS. I can dual wield assault rifles and headshot dudes from across the room lol

The best FPS I've played since Riddick!

Awesome thread, this is best Gaf.

Loved this game. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Finished it 3 times and enjoyed every bit of it. It's just that good. Hoping for DLC or a sequel. Was happy to see it chart on NPD. Devs totally deserve it.

Looking forward to an even better sequel.

I didn't even need to read the OP to know that I agree with every single word of it.

I did read it, though. Great write-up.

EDIT: Oh, I don't agree with The Darkness 2 part, though. While they nailed the gameplay, I thought the narrative was vastly inferior.

I feel the same way. Support this game!

Support for this game means support for richer single player only shooters. You're still having all the fun of dual wielding auto-shotguns and gibbing everything that crosses your crosshairs, but the atmosphere is delightful and the world feels lived in.

Vote with your wallets!

I am loving the game to, i think its the sort of game Quentin Tarantino would make.

Yep I can definitely agree to the riddick vibe. Especially when I got into the prison.

The train level is one of the most tense ive ever played, and theres no actual gameplay.

Terrific game, real surprise, not groundbreaking but a solid 8-9/10, which for a guy who hates most FPS games, is huge for me.

I totally feel you. Wrote it down better than I ever could.
I usually don't play first person shooters. Only when its setting appeals to me or when it's praised a lot like this game. Wolfenstein has so much I want from a FPS: Shooting which feels satisfying, open levels, nicely written characters and a good/entertaining story. I'm haven't finished the game yet but I already like it more than Crysis and Last Light.
I do recommend this game aswell to all people who love FPSs of similar style.

Great thread OP and I couldn't agree more. One of the best games of the year.

40 bucks on Amazon right now.

Preach it!

Great game, and you're dead on with most of your observations.

I'm going through Butcher Bay for the first time right now and it's awesome to see how their design philosophy has both remained consistanf but has evolved as well.

It's so fucking good. That's 10 times more good than regular non-fucking good.

Here's my Steam review:

Easily -- EASILY -- (one of) the best first person shooter I have played since Half-Life 2: Episode Two in 2007. This is what shooters used to be and SHOULD BE. There is variety in almost everything: Weapons, their alt fire states, enemy types, ways to dispatch them, routes, collectibles, secrets, etc. It's easy to ♥♥♥♥ this kind of game up but this is not one of those cases. Very few developers remember that they're making god damn VIDEO GAMES; again, not one of those cases. "They don't make 'em like this anymore!"

One major issue that is pretty major, actually, is that the some of the arenas you fight the bosses in have way too many resources and cover (pillars, crates, half-walls, clutter) or areas to hide in and their AI isn't great at all so it's easy to cheese those encounters. The quality of the AI seems to changes based on what state they're in. The AI was at their best when aggressive and the absolute worst when in their alert or guard phases. The encounters peaked in quality when there were multiple enemy types in aggresive states in medium and large areas. You can play the game stealthily but why would you when you can dual wield knives, shotguns and sniper rifles? Some of the level design can be kind of boring and linear but you'll appreciate that downtime and change of pace after some hectic battles.

Story? Characters? Writing? I'm not the best judge of that stuff but it was "functional", I guess. The best writing is in the form of BJ Blazkowicz internal monologues. Stuff like:

"Buoy. Boo-ee. Silly word."

The story took me 17 hours to complete on the highest difficulty and I ended with 53% completion. I can't recommend it enough.

"COP THIS JOINT! THIS GAME IS BANANAS!!"
-HipHopGamer, 20XX

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Just bought this today for xbox one, can't wait to start it up after hearing nothing but good things about it.

B1G_A1AN said:

I am loving the game to, i think its the sort of game Quentin Tarantino would make.

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The team took some inspiration from Inglorious Basterds if that's what you're noticing. The acting and voicework is pretty damn good too

Well OP convinced me to buy this game; good job.

I'm not 100% on where I place it yet (Metro Redux could match it if the improvements are good enough), but I'm feel pretty safe in saying it's a strong contender for the best pure FPS since the genre downfall started around 2008. I just hope it doesn't get screwed due to being AAA and only selling a few million rather than ten million.

dat megatexture on that knife

just kidding, anyway i feel you op game is freaking epic

btw, i really liked the whole look of it. reminded me of Killzone 2 in the sense that you always were thinking "This uniform/soldier looks fucking awesome".

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I'd say best shooter since half life 2. But the games got its flaws. No doubt fun game tho.

Definitely the best FPS I've played so far in 2014. Destiny will dethrone it though.

I loved this game and it would be my GOTY so far if the id Tech 5 engine wasn't so crappy. Broken VSync, no SLI support, weird performance issues even in high-end systems...

Besides, dat Divine: Original Sin. It rivals Wolfenstein in terms of polish, and then some.

You could write an essay on how Anna is one of the best written female character in any video game medium as well as one of the best and most realistic potrayal of love between her and BJ.

There's just so much to talk about in Wolfenstein, definitely one of the best FPS games we've had in years.

Messofanego, you're amazing!!!

Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm on my third playthrough and (despite being a bit tired of it because I've played it too much) it's just fantastic. The story and characters are fantastically written but the thing that keeps me coming back is just how fun it feels to play. I remember playing the original Wolfenstein and falling in love with Doom when it first came out and this has rekindled that.

I hope that the leaning mechanic becomes a new trope of FPSs too. I can't do without it!

It really is a fantastic game. So close to that platinum...

I agree with a majority of what you said, O.P. The game was wholly underrated by the press, in my opinion. While it does have its flaws, the atmosphere, storytelling, characters, and sense of style are in league above your standard FPS, and the overall experience is simply memorable. Also, the open-ended gameplay is well-done and supremely fun. It's just a great game on so many levels.

It's also worth mentioning that the game does what's now "the Batman thing": forgiving stealth encounters that blend into (hilarious) action sequences without making you feel like "you're doing it wrong".

Playing on hard really gives me an appreciation for what they did with the pacing. Early on, you're introduced to a small flying enemy. Oh no, I think. Now I need to deal with these every other encounter?! I enjoyed the combat as it was before. Well, it turns out, the developers were much smarter than I was giving them credit for at the time. That enemy type only shows up occasionally, and always in spaces that make sense (but the spaces don't feel like enemy-boxes, ala Dead Space 2's corner-hiders).

Within a level, there's usually a good series of tension->release built around exploring, stealth and regular shooter scenes. I can't understate how well considered it all felt. And! And and and: this style of gradual build->release isn't confined to individual levels. Even across chapters, different environments play into the larger ebb and flow of the game, often subverting expectations, giving you what you didn't even realise you wanted. Oh, you're on disc four and think you understand the general flow of the game? Fuck you, we're going to complete fuck with the expectations we've spent the entire game building and you're going to love it.