Wolfenstein: The New Order PS4 Review: "A very polished and well designed first person shooter!"

Wolfenstein: The New Order PS4 Review

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Patch Version:  -- 1.01

Within moments of booting up Wolfenstein: The New Order and starting a new game, I was smiling to myself.  Why? Because there are five difficulty settings.  What’s funny about that?  Well, the easiest setting is called: Can I play Daddy?   What’s more, shows your main character wearing a baby bonnet with a dummy in his mouth! This amused me.  Clearly, the makers of Wolfenstein have a serious attitude towards first person shooters.   We will see.

I choose the medium setting, which reads: for the average gamer and press on.  Instantly we are greeted with a cutscene.  You’re dreaming, but the roar of something stirs you.   Quickly we are awoken as a nearby aircraft explodes.   The sky is full of planes and you’re in one of them!

Suddenly, part of your plane is on fire and your first task is to put it out, this portion of the mission, teaching you the basics of the game’s controls.  It’s action packed, for sure, and hardly holds your hand, most of the directions being fed to you, coming from the VO spoken by the pilot. There are objective markers but they are extremely subtle and only show up when close.

Having ‘landed’ at your destination, the action doesn’t end, in fact, if anything it intensifies, the battle having shifted from the skies to on the ground.  Your enemy? Nazis!  Nazis with a twist, your next task a daunting yet simple one, regroup with your team and kill the things preventing you from reaching them.

At this point all I have to use is a knife, and pick up wise, there’s been the odd torn newspaper clipping to read along with some armour, which basically is a like having a second health bar, damage done to you, coming off your armour before coming off your health, projectile damage that is.  There has also been some collectables along the way too, but I’ll talk about them later.  I press on towards my goal.

However, it’s not long before I’ve received my first gun, in fact, it’s not long before I’ve received a second, a third and surprisingly, the ability to duel wield those weapons, once you have picked up another of the same kind that is.  My task now though, to gain entry to some bunker and kill as many as these Nazi’s bastards as I can along the way, there are no objective markers though, but a handy map I can access whenever I like by pressing down on the d-pad.  It doesn't show me the way precisely, but it does give me a fair idea of the direction.  As I said, Wolfenstein: The New Order does not hold your hand!

Eventually, this whole mission ends with a choice, a choice I’m not ready or equipped to make.  My response, directly creating a different playthrough, the game, splintering down one of two timelines it would seem, as to if these paths and the story which will unfold is going to be different, only time and another playthrough will answer.

Initial Impressions:

Impressed, very impressed, I was not expecting the first two hours to be so enthralling let alone so polished.  The cutscenes are really well done for a start, which helps the story no end, especially because right now my only goal and motivation is to kill Nazis, but Wolfenstein: The New Order also early on introduces and allows you to get to know your characters, however briefly, which aids in making the story feel personal because you start to get attached.

The most important question though I’ll answer first.  How does the gunplay feel?  Well, I’m happy to report it’s very smooth.  The weapons feel meaty and have a decent amount of kickback, not too much, but enough to make the experience of firing them feel real.

I’ve also been treated to a good mixture of weapons, with multiple ways of selecting them.  The main function of which, being a wheel menu.  But you can swap between two pre-defined weapons of your choosing with the ‘Y’ button without the need to visit the wheel.  Furthermore, if applicable, a quick press up on the d-pad will switch your weapon to duel wielding mode, which sees you holding two of the same types of weapons, and firing them independently, using the respective left and right trigger buttons.

It doesn’t end there though; each weapon, so far, has also had two different fire modes.  For example, pressing left on the d-pad whilst holding a handgun will equip a silencer.  The same action on a machine gun will see it switch from rapid fire to single shot.  The sound effects for the weapons has also been impressive.  Wolfenstein: The New Order certainly doesn’t disappoint or fall short as a first person shooter that’s for sure.

Navigating the environment has also been very enjoyable, not only because the game looks gorgeous, to be honest, but also because it’s been designed extremely well.  Let it be on foot, flying or swimming, not a moment has been rushed.  Care and thought has been taken in its construction, a fact that is clear.   And as for how you move about, there’s everything you would expect.  Running, sliding, crouching, you can even peep over, around and under things by pressing and holding the L1 button whilst simultaneously pushing the left analogue stick in the corresponding direction.  This comes in handy, not only in allowing you to shoot from relative safety but also because it’s a nice stealth mechanic.

Speaking of which, Wolfenstein: The New Order can be played in two ways: run and gun, but depending on your difficulty will dictate how successful you are, and stealthily.  Not only because you have a silenced weapon, but because you have the ability to perform takedowns.

I was further impressed by Wolfenstein: The New Order’s takedown system when I discovered it was contextual, the system, showing you a different finishing move that will end your target’s life dependant on your positioning. This was rather refreshing, and considering the game is a first person shooter, I was pleased they went the extra mile when they could have easily just made it one kill with the same animation each time.

Interestingly, the game doesn’t have a skill tree in the traditional sense, what it does have though is four perk trees as shown in the above screenshot.   Stealth, Tactical, Assault and Demolition.  Performing different in game actions enough times will unlock new abilities and aspects to your character.  For example, performing five stealth takedowns will unlock the ability to pick up and throw throwing knives, and this is just one example of many.  It really adds something to the game, forcing you to do different things, but in a way that doesn’t feel forced because the reward you normally attain for completing the task is worth it.  I liked this approach immensely.

Mission wise, it’s actually been rather diverse.  I’ve not, as yet, felt like I was playing a linear game, and in truth, I’m not entirely sure if it is linear in a traditional sense.  And there are two reasons for that.  Firstly, certain missions in the first two hours have had two ways in which to complete them, or, at least, two ways in which to reach a certain objective.  And secondly, there’s the choice I mentioned earlier which sees you playing the game down one of two timelines. I have no idea what this means for how the game will play out, or if the game experience will be different because of the choice I made, a fact I will only ascertain by doing two separate playthroughs, but this is made easier because the game actually caters for this, your save, in essence, allowing you to playthrough the game down both timelines whenever you wish by returning to the front end and choosing which timeline you wish to continue on.

Which brings me nicely to the next point: Exploring the game world, something that is more rewarding than not, not only because you will find ammo, health and armour to loot, but also because there is a whole host of collectables to find.  Enigma codes, Letters, Gold, Concept Art, Characters, and upgrades that permanently enhance aspects of your character and their weapons.  Furthermore, these collectables are shared between timelines, and will even carry between saves, regardless of starting a brand new game, a very nice touch for those

who wish and like to 100% games.

The finding of these collectables is also made more enjoyable to boot, because once you find a map for a given area, you’re shown a clue in the form of a question mark as to where something of interest will be located.  However, this isn’t to say finding them is straightforward.  Wolfenstein: The New Order it seems has a few tricks up its sleeves in the form of secret puzzles and passages.  Knowing roughly where to look is only half of the picture I assure.  Like it or not, so far I have enjoyed this mechanic, it’s made me actively spend more time looking for things, where as in other games I’ve perhaps missed stuff because I did not comb every inch of the level in the hopes of finding something.

Archetype and A.I. wise, for the most part, the enemies I’ve encountered have given me a run for my money.  I imagine this is greatly down to the difficulty you decide to play on of course, but only once have I seen them glitch and get stuck.  They also seem to have a good set of behaviours and animations.  They will duck and use cover.  Slide and roll into cover.  The latter of these two things impressing me the most as it’s rare you see A.I. do either to be fair and on the whole hold up rather well in combat, throwing grenades at me to flush me out if I’ve attempted to dig in.

Aside from the standard soldiers, which seem to use the same behaviours, but have a different model, I’ve so far encountered armoured dogs that rush and leap at you, forcing you to savagely stab them to put them down, along with commanders.  These being unique in the sense that you get a radar warning telling you how close they are in order to track them down and kill them, something that is advised, because if they spot you, or hear combat unfolding, will raise an alarm and bring in more enemies.

In terms of bugs, I’ve only encountered one, but it’s a big one I’m afraid.  It’s not sullied the experience, but it’s a shame nonetheless.  And that’s when characters are talking (in game, not in cutscenes) they are extremely quiet, so quiet I can hardly hear them.  I can’t understand how this problem did not get raised before the game was released, so I can only assume a patch after release introduced it.

Still, it’s a shame, Wolfenstein: The New Order so far has been perfect in every other regard.  The before issue aside, I’m thoroughly enjoying myself with the game, and I’m going to enjoy it and the story as it unfolds I just know it.  A promising start, but whether it can keep me smiling time will only tell.

Initial Score after 2 hrs of play

Full Playthrough Score after 16 hrs of play

Overall Impression

Having completed two playthroughs, I’ll answer the question some of you might have been waiting for, and that is that on the whole, Wolfenstein: The New Order story, along with the journey, remains the same regardless of the timeline you choose to play.   This isn’t to say there aren’t differences though, they are just small differences, and to say otherwise would be a lie.

However, to go into specifics would perhaps spoil key moments, so I won’t divulge what they are exactly.  What I can say though, is one timeline will allow you to attain health upgrades, whilst the other has armour, and these upgrades are permanent and carry over to the other timeline too.

Another difference is in one timeline you can hotwire doors where as in the other you pick lock them.  This subtle difference does allow you take alternative routes at times in certain levels, which does make certain moments feel different.  But overall, if you’ve played one timeline you’ve pretty much experienced the other. What I will say is that for those wishing to 100% the game, you will definitely need to do two playthroughs.

One aspect of the game that I did find annoying though is that certain parts of the levels will become locked out in one way or another, the area or location behind that is.  This means if you forget an item or think I’ll go back for it later you can’t.  Wolfenstein: The New Order does allow you to replay chapters you’ve completed from the front end to attain items you've missed, but the fact the game locks you out from previous areas in the same chapter was frustrating.

However, I can’t praise the gunplay enough.  I had a blast switching between my weapons and picking and choosing which guns were best suited for which moments.  The fact that some guns have secondary fire modes was also useful and enhances the gunplay even further.  These secondary fire modes, for some weapons, made massive differences in fact.  For example, at one point you attain a very futuristic laser cutting torch.  Not only can this be upgraded through pickups as you play making it more powerful, but one mode allows you to cut through certain metals and chain link fences.  These moments are not scripted either, the game, giving you complete freedom to cut whatever shape you like.  Of course, the shape you cut out needs to be big enough for you to pass, but I loved this feature.   Its other mode turns the device into a laser projectile, a very overpowered weapon, but balanced because it practically can be fired once before the battery is depleted, so again, picking your moments when to use it I key.

With regards to the other weapons, I have not a single complaint, and can’t imagine a single first person shooter fan being disappointed.

The story was also another area that surprised me. You really start to get attached to your character and a few others too, and as stated in the initial impressions section, the cutscenes are beautifully scripted and animated.  Adding to the quality is the voice acting, which is superb to be fair.   However, there were a few moments that were a little far-fetched and did stretch and break my immersion.  For example, on two occasions, in scripted moments, you are stabbed over and over, and these are not light flurry stabs, they are deep and what I would kill fatal, yet your character it seems is some sort of superhuman that is able to withstand such attacks.  I’m being perhaps a bit picky, but only because everything else is so wonderful.  You could explain away these moments by saying your armour protects you.  But when an 8 inch knife is visually plunged into your chest down to the hilt, you have to question what the hell is that armour made of!

Yet another aspect that deserves praise is the environments you will visit while embarking on your playthrough.  Not only are they varied (let me stress varied) as well as being gorgeous, but the little details are amazing. I was surprised to be honest at how good they looked and that not once did I notice any frame rate issues.  Then again, the game is linear, and the areas relatively small, so there shouldn’t be any framerate issues.  However, not once did I feel constricted or confined.  The level design makes full use of the space in which you can move around in which definitely helps.  What’s more, there is often more than one route to a given objective, and there’s even the odd puzzle thrown in to test your grey matter too.

The mission system also works well and adds to the world design because it doesn’t overly guide you.  There are objective markers, but these only appear when you are close enough to see them.  There’s a world map of course which shows your key objectives locations, but as to how to get there, that's completely down to you.

Overall, there are 16 chapters in total, and it took me a little over 16 hours to complete my first playthrough.  Note though I was fully exploring the world trying to attain all the secrets and pickups as I went, my second playthrough was a lot faster, coming in at around 10 hours.

With regards to the enemies you will face, the game has a good mix in this department too.  And as you get deeper into the story, harder enemies such as armoured shotgun troopers, who not only pack a punch, can take a punch!  But you will also face mechanised units that will test you, these, half machine, half human abominations, thought up by the maniacal Nazi antagonist that your character is pursuing, will force you to use your wits for sure.  If you run and gun, death will be your only reward on the harder difficulties!

I was also pleased to see a few boss fights in the game.  Mostly they are simple affairs, these bosses being nothing more than a bullet sponge, but a couple of the encounters, including the end boss(s), did actually require strategy to combat them.  Knowing where and when to shoot is key, and utilising the environment will also be important if you wish to conquer these encounters.

The skill trees or perks as the game calls them, as mentioned in the initial impression section adds another layer to the combat.  And unlocking these abilities will further enhance your gameplay experience.  So paying attention to your perk menu is highly advised.

With regards to the game's collectables, they mostly unlock concept art that you can view in the front end, but it’s the Enigma codes that you will find the most rewarding.  Once collected and solved, these codes will unlock bonus modes.  For example:  crack code 1, and it will unlock a mode where you start with 999 health that slowly trickles down to your normal base, but resets each time you die.  As well as this, the mode also has unlimited ammo, but the game difficulty will default to Uber.   There are four codes in total, which means four bonus modes to unlock.

However, these bonus modes can only be played from a new game.  You cannot select a previously played chapter and choose one of these modes to play in.  This means, if you wish to play one of these modes, you will overwrite all your saved data, along with all the chapters you have completed.   And the fact the game does not allow more than one save at a time, dumbfounded me.  It’s a clear limitation that renders these modes pointless unless you either have 100% the game already or are not intending to.

Another limitation is that these bonus modes won’t allow you to collect any of the game’s collectables.

Overall, I cannot stress enough how much fun I had with Wolfenstein: The New Order.  It’s an extremely well-polished and designed game well worth the price of admission. The story, which won’t be winning any Oscars, does serve itself well and paint a picture of an alternative timeline in our history where the Nazis prevailed.  It certainly was a story that was better than a lot of other games I’ve played and will keep your attention for sure.  Not once did I find myself reaching for the skip button during any of the cutscenes, that I will say.

The challenge you will experience whilst playing will differ greatly on the difficulty you choose, but playing it on anything less than medium, in my opinion, would be a waste of what the game has to offer.

My only negative takeaway is that the VO in the game was too quiet.  There’s no setting to increase it either, so this was blatantly a bug, one that will jump out at you immediately.  However, this by no means spoiled my experience whatsoever.

If you’re a fan of first person shooters and are not averse to killing Nazis, Wolfenstein: The New Order is definitely a game you need to play.  Picking it up at any price post release will be worth your pennies along with your time.

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Wolfenstein The New Order: PS4 Gameplay

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