This is an FPS shooter worth every cent. Striking graphics, smooth gameplay, intense storyline and well tuned gunplay. From start to finish Wolfenstein: The New Order will keep you immersed into the life of William B.J. Blaskowitz and his fight against the Nazi empire in this timeline branch like story where the Nazi war-machine continued a successful domination of the world, during which, Blaskowitz is in a vegatative state over a fourteen year period. The world has changed and the war is now over, only relics of the world he once knew have been crushed beneath the heel of the Nazi Empire which now rules the world.
A well balanced array of enemies are encountered throughout the game, giving challenges to gunplay and keeping you, the player, on your toes during tough firefights. Through much of the game however, you're given the option to stealthily advance through many levels and avoid major complications. Through these missions you will have to find bits of armor and health pickups with only minor intervals of health regeneration; another more rewarding gimmick though, being able to find secret or alternate paths to find in-game extras or earning perks effecting gunplay.
On a more personal note, I felt reminiscent of the Half-Life series. Good well placed maps and enemies with modest AI, rewarding secrets such as health, armor and ammo and the flow of events. All good things which help make up a fantastic FPS worthy of many play-through.
Despite the sometimes sluggish AI, the occasional stupid AI are made up for in a good balance between when the AI knows it needs to duck for cover, not hide in the open or shoot at regular intervals. Though there are times when sneaking, the AI doesn't seem to recognize you or even see your there, despite being right in front of them on.
Did I forget to mention that you're an unstoppable Nazi killing machine?
DGraves, I appreciate and encourage your attempt to review video games.
I do think that you need to go into more detail in your review though. What I read seems like a synopsis to a full review, and it left me with questions.
What made the graphics striking? Was it the texture quality, the art style, was it imagery within the game, or was two or all of those? Did you have any problems with texture pop-in or tearing?
I'm assuming you called the game play smooth because there was a steady frame rate, but what kind of graphics card are you running? Informing the reader if you have a high end, mid grade, or low end graphics card will help make this more meaningful, and if you want to go the extra step, actually give the graphics card you are running so that people that want to can compare with their own.
What made the storyline intense? Was it the alternate history world they presented, or was it difficult choices given to you as a player?
Was the gunplay well tuned do to weapons having a good balance between them, so that you could choose by personal preference, and do the weapons have a good feeling of weight to them?
What kind of enemies are presented throughout the game? Use contrasting scenarios you ran into during your time playing the game.
You only mention stealth briefly. Is running and gunning more fun than sneaking through the game?
Do you think that the secrets are well hidden, or were the too easy or hard to find?
How did the game remind you of Half-Life? Was it aesthetic or pacing? Does this indicate that Wolfenstein has platform puzzle sections life Half-Life?
Perhaps I got long winded with this, but in my opinion you need to put more detail and explain why something is good or bad. Good and bad are extremely relative terms.
Also, your last line would have stuck out more if you had started out with a similar line, like "Have you ever wanted to be an unstoppable Nazi killing machine?"
Heh. I've never actually had anyone ask a question of any game review I've given, so to be honest I'm just short of speechless.
As for your questions... (in order)
(very mild spoiler alert)
Artfully done textures and characters. Everything had a gritty surrealistic feel to it, leaving part of me believing it but another part in disbelief that any of this has come to fruition. Facial animations were well done and synced; I found eyes to be very well done as well, which always seem to ping me in most games where eyes have this tendency not to fit in with the person, as if they don't quite belong tot he head they're in. There are a number of games these days which do a better job with eyes, but I digress... as for art, it felt well stylized for a gritty war start, but then you step into a hauntingly sterile world after the fourteen years after the Nazi Empire finished their domination. Great stone monoliths on skyline horizons, very imposing figures looming high in the sky down to the strange simplicity of roads, common buildings or other city infrastructure, also strangely sterile.
As in smooth, I wasn't referring to my FPS, but I will note that I encountered virtually zero frame rate drops.
Edit: I think my intel core is a quad core or something. I'm more savvy with computer software, not hardware. :P
I'm not sure if I've a high end PC or not to be honest. According to my receipts, it cost me exactly $964 (USD) initially. As far as I've seen, a GTX 660 is a fairly decent graphics card according to some pc forums I quickly checked. However, considering I have a max display of 16x900, I'm not displaying in the highest quality HD available, which I imagine leaves some breathing room in comparison to my rig, as to other lower end pc's.
What I intended to mean as to "smooth gameplay" is levels are well designed, reaction between you and the game is split second and your actions are all you. The transitions between areas, being large areas as well, was very well done. The way you moved and how you moved rarely were hung up on invisible corners, collision detection or invisible walls.
The alternate history, as well as the journey Blaskowitz undergoes, is filled with intense action and dramatic moments, with some rather surprising character building for Blasko himself and those around him. As for choices, you only encounter one real choice to make which really made my brain tick as to what could have happened if I made the other choice; though the repercussions I did experience from my choice weighed very heavy on both Blaskowitz and myself when things came back around again. To add onto this, once again a highly stylized world comes into play. Basing off many theories and stories which delve into both the realms of fiction and non-fiction really bring the world to life, thus adding to the intensity of the story and the kind of people you encounter.
Gun-play was reminiscent of how a 90's shooter would play, but revamped to have a much better feel. Though the variety of weapons isn't high, it finds a nice balance between available weaponry and what each gun does and what its meant to do... plus the fun little things you can pull off. However my favorite aspect of this, is a passive perk system in place which really can make the player want to explore different options on how to use your weapons in different environments. Here's an example: Say you've got a few Nazi's on the other side of a pile of boxes, well, blast a hole through and hit them without taking out to much cover. Later in the game, you've a weapon which can cut through certain types of walls which can make for some fun ways to use cover to your advantage while still being able to hit your targets. Most important aspect though, is handling between weapons felt good and even, each one doing what I imagine they'd do.
You've basic enemies and a lot of them, then you have your heavier hitters who can act as bullet sponges, then there's essentially Juggernaut like enemies which can be slow moving but pack intense amounts of firepower. As for scenarios...
Save you've an underground train-yard and a number of basic enemies with a few sponges are coming at you. You've no place to hide and a Juggernaut just busted through a wall across the map, but in view. Basics will attempt to flank or shoot from cover with accuracy while your sponges will usually just come right at you, forcing your attention on them. The Juggernaut, being bulky and slow moving, can squeeze a few shots off, but can remain avoidable in many cases until your ready to just pour damage onto it. The game essentially makes you prioritize your targets a bit more as it starts off, eventually you adjust to enemies having a variety of weapons as well. Say you've a pair of sponges in a corridor and you've no where to hide; one with a short range weapon and the other with a long range. It seems simple at first, but forces a deadly combination when you've a bunch of grunts attempting to take your flank while fleeing from the heavier enemies.
As for sneaking... I'd say its a matter of personal opinion really. Sneaking is just as rewarding as running and gunning, but the rewards are a bit different. There are some cases where I question how much more difficult a level could have been however, if I didn't sneak through. In short, you'd face considerably more enemies if you were to gun your way through, however killing fifty Nazi's with a knife and nothing more is satisfying in its own special way. Though I wold like to note again, perks can make a player really explore the options given to progress through the game.
Many collectibles are revealed on an in-game map, though once you get an hour or so into the game, they may be marked on the map, but you have to find your way through something of a simple puzzle such as timed levers or disorienting rooms. This aspect is one of the things which reminded me of the Half Life series; attempting to locate collectibles and secrets gives you either an edge, interesting information on the world or characters and/or both. It's the ones you miss, you can ask yourself, "How the hell did I miss that!?" Which does lead to a mild challenge to find the secrets (and some Easter eggs in the game).
Now specifically how this reminded me of Half Life, I already stated about collectibles and secrets. But pacing and aesthetics took measure here as well. It really gave the feel of a true dystopian world, the atmosphere in and of itself oppressed down on the denizens and really left a remarkable impression. The design of levels as well, well detailed but once again somehow "too clean"; as if culture were eradicated and left with brooding reminders of what your told should be not what one thinks. Also, the actions of AI reminded me of the way AI would work as well. Mixtures of both scripted and unscripted AI left my replays through areas with a different impression, instead of the AI always taking the same positions and same maneuvers each time no matter what I did. The health/armor system felt almost based off this and the way the original Wolfenstein did back in the 90's. This being a common aspect of FPS, though I always felt Half Life was one of the most balanced. Finally, puzzles. This one is a bit different, only a single instance I can recall of platforming but there are a small variety of puzzles or minor skill based things to do in order to get an unlock-able of sorts.
Ha, I do agree I could have asked the question about being a Nazi killing machine, though I suppose either or would work, though I'd have to lean more towards your rephrasing and asking, "Have you ever wanted to be a Nazi killing machine?"
...and to reflect one of your comments, I hope I wasn't too long winded in that. Forgot to stop typing after awhile.
