I had to force myself to finish this game, so I can't recommend it.
Released in 2014 by Machinegames it was supposed to be a new start for the Wolfenstein franchise.

Sadly this start is butchered by game mechanics conflicting with each other and a rather complex storyline that tries too hard to be taken seriously while having one of the most ridiculous plotlines in a video game ever.

Let's start with what was good though, namely the characters and the artwork/artdesign.
The weapons are reimagined in a way, that makes them definitely recognizable from their real life counterparts, but have an added twist to them, to make them fit in this alternate universe.
The NPCs are distinct from each other and stand out visually. Many different characters that follow along your journey (or rather, you follow along their journey, as Blazkowicz is a rather passive protagonist), have a variety of different motivations as to what is their cause for fighting them nazis. While it's not necessarily the case that the companions are deep and complex by nature, they don't have to be. Which brings me to my main point:


Wolfenstein at its core is a FPS, which means the shooting should be the main focus of the whole game. Wolfenstein's roots go way back to the 90s, where id software first laid the foundation of what FPS actually means, especially with their later title DOOM (ya might have heard of it).
As John Carmack once famously said:

Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.

When I think of Wolfenstein, my main thought and goal is to shoot them nazi scum . Everything else is just an add on that should never hold me back from what I actually want to do, which is unrelentless violence against fashists.
So why is it, that this game does the exact polar opposite? More often than not, the game takes away all your means to rampage against the regime to show you how much this character loves that character, or how sad this NPC is and what their motives are and why and how and so on and so forth. It stops you right in your tracks, often after you just picked up momentum, just to show you some arbitrary story or character related thing.

This does not mean that the cutscenes themselves are bad, far from it, the voice acting is decent enough and the presentation is mostly kick-ass. I liked the cutscenes and didn't skip them.

What I wished I could've skipped though are the endless "fetch-quest" missions, which occur after you're back in your hub which is the main hideout of the resistance . You visit this hub a couple of times during your plathrough and it is used to break up the action to give you some breathing room. This in itself is a good idea, hell even the FPS-Perfection that is Doom: Eternal does this, but if your action is so limited and flawed (will get to that shortly) the sudden halt of the game flow that these hubs present, just become tedious and annoying.
Your time spent in the hub is mostly dominated by fetching your NPCs various items of minor importance. At one time you are forced to fetch a tool to one of your companions, because they have lost it somehow. This minor ordeal becomes a whole 10 minute fetch quest down a sewage and along many corridors. All while really nothing is happening and you sit yourself and ask "Why am I not shooting stuff? Who cares about your ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ blow torch, I got nazis to kill".

So when you do finally get to the fun stuff, there are other things that prevent the game from fulfilling its true potential. Let's get to the combat:

Wolfenstein: The New Order's perk system, stealth system and core shooting mechanics are bad.

TNO gives the player a sense of choice for a more personalized playthrough and gives the option to choose their approach.
TNO has a RPG style "perk" system, meaning you can essentially level up Blazkowicz however you see fit. The options that you have are so mediocre and uninspired and range from "faster reload" to "faster sneak" to "little bit more ammo". These rather uninteresting options make you question why they are in the game in the first place. I never bothered with this system.

There is also the stealth mechanic. While I'm perplexed as to why stealth has found its way into a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Wolfenstein game, I get what the devs where going for. Reach a broader audience, appeal to more players, meaning more potential buyers, etc. Also because it was 2014 and basically every shooter had to have some kind of stealth approach.
This wouldn't necessarily be a problem but TNOs stealth system is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bland, uninteresting and generic, it hurts to see. It couldn't get more generic if it tried: Crouch to sneak, kill with knife from behind, try to stay out of line of sight. And that's all. The AI itself isn't the brightest and sometimes even overlooks fallen comrades. No corpse hiding possible and the AI's routes are laughably predictable, to the point where the officers just walk up to a wall for you to be able to strike from behind.
"Hm, why yes Hans, zis wall does look rather interesting, does it not?"

Now to the CORE element of it all, the shooting.
With almost any weapon you have the crazy ability to dual wield.
Dual-wield pistols? Yeah, okay, seen that.
Dual-wield assault rifles? Oh, now you have my attention.
Dual-wield fully automatic shotguns equipped with shrapnel ammunition? HELL YEAH WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?!
Running around shooting the lesser dangerous soldiers is good fun, the gore makes you and the weapons feel powerful (as they should in this nazi-killing power fantasy). Sadly, this is where the good stuff stops.

Remember how cover based shooting was popular back when this game was released? Yeah, this game has it too. It actively discourages you from dual-wielding, which in itself is a cool concept, and forces you into cover and wait for your health to go up again.
This gameplay loop of "shoot a bit, cover and wait, shoot a bit, cover and wait, etc" is pace-breaking and bites itself with the dual-wielding mechanic. I mean, why are you giving me this ability, if you force me into cover anyways?
Now the cover system itself is not bad, you walk up to any wall and lean out from it, but also manually lean in any direction. This is decently made, but then again, isn't really fun if you mostly just have to hide and wait.
And you will do a lot of hiding and waiting in this game. One boss fight is even wholly centered around that very concept. It is also one of the worst boss fights I encountered in this game and none of the boss fights were particularly great, rather jarring .
If you encounter a Supersoldat, or a big mech, be prepared to dump magazine after magizine (leaving you with barely any ammunition to fight... again, in a Wolfenstein game? wth) with barely any damage feedback into them, as they are nothing more than slow bullet sponges that force you into hiding.

So the perk system is uninteresting, the stealth system bland as well and the shooting can be fun but also heavily flawed. That it?

Not quite, the music is a positive mention. Mick Gordon composed the music for TNO and did a great job as expected. As someone having played Doom 2016, the music immediately told me who its composer was. Mick has his own unique style that would later develop into one of the best soundtracks for a game ever created Doom: Eternal, baby! .

The graphics are okay, for 2014 they were in the mid range in terms of quality. Sadly, the heavy amount of post-processing effects made it look worse and at times reduce needed visibilty to almost 0.
Final Score:


There was definitely potential under the hood for a good FPS game. But a convoluted storyline, coupled with conflicting and uninspired game mechanics makes this game a husk of what it could have been.

I had to force myself to finish this game, so I can't recommend it. Released in 2014 by Machinegames it was supposed to be a new start for the Wolfenstein franchise. Sadly this start is butchered by game mechanics conflicting with each other and a rather complex storyline that tries too hard to be taken seriously while having one of the most ridiculous plotlines in a video game ever. Let's start with what was good though, namely the characters and the artwork/artdesign. The weapons are reimagined in a way, that makes them definitely recognizable from their real life counterparts, but have an added twist to them, to make them fit in this alternate universe. The NPCs are distinct from each other and stand out visually. Many different characters that follow along your journey (or rather, you follow along their journey, as Blazkowicz is a rather passive protagonist), have a variety of different motivations as to what is their cause for fighting them nazis. While it's not necessarily the case that the companions are deep and complex by nature, they don't have to be. Which brings me to my main point: [h1] Why is this game so story-heavy? [/h1] Wolfenstein at its core is a FPS, which means the shooting should be the main focus of the whole game. Wolfenstein's roots go way back to the 90s, where id software first laid the foundation of what FPS actually means, especially with their later title DOOM (ya might have heard of it). As John Carmack once famously said: [i] Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important. [/i] When I think of Wolfenstein, my main thought and goal is to [i] shoot them nazi scum [/i]. Everything else is just an add on that should never hold me back from what I actually want to do, which is unrelentless violence against fashists. So why is it, that this game does the exact polar opposite? More often than not, the game takes away all your means to rampage against the regime to show you how much this character loves that character, or how sad this NPC is and what their motives are and why and how and so on and so forth. It stops you right in your tracks, often after you just picked up momentum, just to show you some arbitrary story or character related thing. This does not mean that the cutscenes themselves are bad, far from it, the voice acting is decent enough and the presentation is mostly kick-ass. I liked the cutscenes and didn't skip them. What I wished I could've skipped though are the endless "fetch-quest" missions, which occur after you're back in your hub [spoiler] which is the main hideout of the resistance [/spoiler]. You visit this hub a couple of times during your plathrough and it is used to break up the action to give you some breathing room. This in itself is a good idea, hell even the FPS-Perfection that is Doom: Eternal does this, but if your action is so limited and flawed (will get to that shortly) the sudden halt of the game flow that these hubs present, just become tedious and annoying. Your time spent in the hub is mostly dominated by fetching your NPCs various items of minor importance. At one time you are forced to fetch a tool to one of your companions, because they have lost it somehow. This minor ordeal becomes a whole 10 minute fetch quest down a sewage and along many corridors. All while really nothing is happening and you sit yourself and ask "Why am I not shooting stuff? Who cares about your goddamn blow torch, I got nazis to kill". So when you do finally get to the fun stuff, there are other things that prevent the game from fulfilling its true potential. Let's get to the combat: [u] Wolfenstein: The New Order's perk system, stealth system and core shooting mechanics are bad. [/u] TNO gives the player a sense of choice for a more personalized playthrough and gives the option to choose their approach. TNO has a RPG style "perk" system, meaning you can essentially level up Blazkowicz however you see fit. The options that you have are so mediocre and uninspired and range from "faster reload" to "faster sneak" to "little bit more ammo". These rather uninteresting options make you question why they are in the game in the first place. I never bothered with this system. There is also the stealth mechanic. While I'm perplexed as to why stealth has found its way into a goddamn Wolfenstein game, I get what the devs where going for. Reach a broader audience, appeal to more players, meaning more potential buyers, etc. Also because it was 2014 and basically every shooter had to have some kind of stealth approach. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem but TNOs stealth system is so goddamn bland, uninteresting and generic, it hurts to see. It couldn't get more generic if it tried: Crouch to sneak, kill with knife from behind, try to stay out of line of sight. And that's all. The AI itself isn't the brightest and sometimes even overlooks fallen comrades. No corpse hiding possible and the AI's routes are laughably predictable, to the point where the officers just walk up to a wall for you to be able to strike from behind. [strike] "Hm, why yes Hans, zis wall does look rather interesting, does it not?" [/strike] Now to the CORE element of it all, the shooting. With almost any weapon you have the crazy ability to dual wield. Dual-wield pistols? Yeah, okay, seen that. Dual-wield assault rifles? Oh, now you have my attention. Dual-wield fully automatic shotguns equipped with shrapnel ammunition? HELL YEAH WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?! Running around shooting the lesser dangerous soldiers is good fun, the gore makes you and the weapons feel powerful (as they should in this nazi-killing power fantasy). Sadly, this is where the good stuff stops. Remember how cover based shooting was popular back when this game was released? Yeah, this game has it too. It actively discourages you from dual-wielding, which in itself is a cool concept, and forces you into cover and wait for your health to go up again. This gameplay loop of "shoot a bit, cover and wait, shoot a bit, cover and wait, etc" is pace-breaking and bites itself with the dual-wielding mechanic. I mean, why are you giving me this ability, if you force me into cover anyways? Now the cover system itself is not bad, you walk up to any wall and lean out from it, but also manually lean in any direction. This is decently made, but then again, isn't really fun if you mostly just have to hide and wait. And you will do a lot of hiding and waiting in this game. One boss fight is even wholly centered around that very concept. It is also one of the worst boss fights I encountered in this game [spoiler] and none of the boss fights were particularly great, rather jarring [/spoiler]. If you encounter a Supersoldat, or a big mech, be prepared to dump magazine after magizine (leaving you with barely any ammunition to fight... again, in a [u] Wolfenstein [/u] game? wth) with barely any damage feedback into them, as they are nothing more than slow bullet sponges that force you into hiding. So the perk system is uninteresting, the stealth system bland as well and the shooting can be fun but also heavily flawed. That it? Not quite, the music is a positive mention. Mick Gordon composed the music for TNO and did a great job as expected. As someone having played Doom 2016, the music immediately told me who its composer was. Mick has his own unique style that would later develop into one of the best soundtracks for a game ever created [spoiler] Doom: Eternal, baby! [/spoiler]. The graphics are okay, for 2014 they were in the mid range in terms of quality. Sadly, the heavy amount of post-processing effects made it look worse and at times reduce needed visibilty to almost 0. Final Score: [h1] 5/10 [/h1] There was definitely potential under the hood for a good FPS game. But a convoluted storyline, coupled with conflicting and uninspired game mechanics makes this game a husk of what it could have been.