Wolfenstein: The New Order (360) review

[I_Make_Big_Boom]

 

Well here's a little review of a game I had heavily coveted over the past months. I'm not really good a reviews, and I tend to cut to the chase without knowing it. Sometimes I'm mediocre. If you feel like I delivered a "Meh" review, feel free to tell me. I'm not really a reviewing kind of person. lol

Now that I've got the game... well read the review below.

New Game Box Contents:

 

 

 

 

Contents

(I activated the Doom Beta code already, you freeloaders...)

 

 

Box Cover Art

 

 

 

 

 

• Box case, with plastic cover
• 4 Game discs
• "The Evil Within" advertisement sheet
• Doom Beta access code sheet (I already activated it you free-loaders)
• Game Manual

The 360 game requires 8 gigs of download space to run. From my knowledge the PS3 version does not require a download, and only has 1 disc. I do not know about PS4, but I know that Xbox One requires you to download the whole game, and only runs on 1 disc.

Please note that this is a BRAND NEW game I have, and not a used version. Of course a used version will probably lack some box contents.

It really gets annoying to have to constantly switch discs to play the Campaign. The other consoles don't have to deal with this.

Synopsis:

Wolfenstein: The New Order, while being a sequel to the 2009 Wolfenstein game, is more of a reboot.

Box Cover Synopsis:
"The year is 1960, and the Nazis have won World War 2. War Hero B.J. Blazkowicz must launch an impossible counter-offensive against the monstrous Nazi regime that has conquered the globe."

The story plays out fine. There were moments where things just completely dropped, and it left me like "Wth?". Other then that it's fine.

B.J. Narrates pretty much all the story in a deep whisper like voice, and it makes things pretty epic. Though later on in the game I feel he falls short a bit, but it's still good none the less. It may get annoying to constantly have to hear him whisper though, but I didn't get that feeling. Even though he whispers in the Narration, B.J. talks normally in most of the cutscenes, and game.

Gameplay:

You play as B.J. Blazkowicz the whole game, and it's up to you to save the day.

- Menu, and Missions

Like Doom 3, when you load up Wolfenstein's menu, you immediately get hit by slow chugging Guitars. Very Doom metal like (see what I did there?). But going though the menus in playthroughs after the initial listen, and having to listen to the same theme over and over can get annoying. The soundtrack to the game is good, but nothing I don't think will blow you away. I did really enjoy the Main Theme (Menu Them) with the guitars for a bit, but the flavor kind of died. I had the similar feeling to Doom 3 BFG edition with the main theme.

The Missions are arranged in 2 different slots: I won't spoil it for you, but a very important decision you make in the first mission unlocks either Mission tree. From my knowledge they both have the same missions, but the decision you made causes them to be pretty much in different realities. They each have their own story that is slightly different to accommodate the decision you made, but they both end the same way.

When you start out you can pick 5 different difficulties. Each of them has B.J.'s face in a different expression. I think they are named like this...

1. Can I play Daddy? (B.J. is shown wearing a Baby hat, and Pacifier lol )
2. Casual (B.J. looks surprised)
3. Normal (B.J. Has a regular look)
4. Hardened (Stern look. Somewhat angry)
5. Uber (B.J. Has a maniacal smile, while having blood on his face)

Some of the Missions have secret rooms that have different ways of getting into. I know that one of the missions has a secret Return To Castle Wolfenstein Easter Egg, that puts you in the retro castle fighting the old pixelated enemies (but you look exactly like you do in campaign).

- Gunplay, Health, and etc.

Wolfenstein has similar gameplay to RAGE, and Doom 3, but unlike Doom or RAGE, you get the option to Dual wield most Loadout weapons on the fly by pressing < on the D-Pad. And like RAGE and Doom, you carry all your weapons with you. Like Saints Row 3, you access the weapons using a Weapon Wheel menu. But at the start of every level, you lose your weapons, and have to find them by picking them up from dead Soldiers. The only guns that I know of that stay with you at all times, is the Microwave-Gun, and Pistol. Respective Missions start you with different loadouts based on the situation at hand. But all your guns still have their unlocked attachments, and perks even if you start a new Mission without them.

There are a slew of different Weapons within the game. A Microwave-Like device that shoots charged blasts at people, and with upgrades grants a Scope. The Scope senses Enemies using Block-looking things, and shooting them while using the Scope results in an insta-kill for normal infantry (they blow up in a bloody explosion!). The gun runs on a charge though, and continuous use results in a dead battery. Using the Scope to kill people costs more charge. You can recharge it using Charge Posts scattered throughout the game.

Every gun has a secondary use by pressing > on the D-Pad. The Microwave-Gun has an alternate laser pointer that you can use to cut through specific wall, and floor plates (that have a distinctive marking) to get into different rooms. Most missions have a point that requires you to cut through plates to advance. When using the Laser Pointer, you can't kill anything.

The Assault Rifle has a Rocket attachment (that you unlock) that allows you to blow things up while using it. Duh.

The Pistol has the Silencer.

The Shotgun has Bounce-rounds (that run on different ammo that can depleat)

And so on and so forth.

Your Health is similar to Doom's health bar. You get a 1-100% bar of health. If you sustain damage the percentage will go down. It will eventually recharge back to 100, but only if your health remains at 80%. Below that, and your health will not recharge back to 100. The health recharge level stops every 20%. Like Doom, you can get Health packs laying around, and they will restore your Health. If you are at 100%, a med pack will overcharge your health past that point: but it slowly decays back to 100 over time.

You can also get Armor laying around, and it increases damage resistance like Doom. I don't remember an Armor bar being visible though.

- Stealth

The game on multiple occasions offers you the choice of going stealth, but there is no mission requirement to actually do so. The only thing you'll need stealth for is getting 8 perks: which unlock Achievements for each one. One of the Perks is a Mastery perk, and is worth 30 gamerscore. There are other perk trees, but I'll detail that later on.

Now relating to stealth... this game is harder to actually be stealthy than a game like Dishonored, or Metro: Last Light. In Dishonored you can peer around a corner, and you will absolutely not be seen. Plus in Dishonored you have that Outsider Promethean Vision thing, that let's you look through walls at guards. In Last Light, you have a LED Watch, that activates if you can be seen. As long as that light does not come on, you WILL NOT BE caught. Even if the guard is literally RIGHT IN FRONT OF you looking at you.

In Wolfenstein you get a peer-around-the-corner thing just like Dishonored/Medal of Honor, that you can use to Shoot people, or just scope out the area, BUT you can be seen if you peer around the corner. I think there is a slight musical cue that plays if you are seen, and a Guard will gasp and say "Huh?" or "What?". But as long as you stay out of sight the Guards will go about their business like you were never there: even if they momentarily saw you.

Plus you get the option to put a Silencer on your Pistol, use dual wield Knives, or Throwing knives to do take-down kills. You can also run up behind a Soldier and do a stealth kill. A throwing Knife thrown at ANY part of a soldier's body will result in an insta-kill: but you have to bring into account that the Knife will go down with gravity, so you have to be close to kill them. You can also retrieve throwing Knives that you've thrown, but I have had a knife get glitched under a Crate, or wall, and it becomes irretrievable. Silenced Pistols also are insta-kills as long as you shoot the Soldiers in the head. A regular pistol will sound the alarm.

But even with those, it's hard to keep stealthy. You will always face a room with multiple soldiers, and taking them all out without being seen is a pain. After you get the Perk Achievements, Stealth becomes an option that is no longer needed: but there is a con for actually going guns blazing...

In most rooms you face, there is usually 2, or 3 Officers present. The Officers broadcast a signal that you pick up, and the signal strength get's stronger as they get close to you: a respective "Signal Bar" will show up on your HUD that shows how far away the signal is, like "10 ft, or 30 ft" and etc. If they see you, they will immediately sound the alarm, and call in more Soldiers to attack you. If you can take out the Officers, and you get seen afterward, I think you can kill the remaining Soldiers and an Alarm won't be raised to call in more.

- Perks

You get an individual Achievement for each Stealth Perk you unlock: which there are 8 of them. One of them is a Stealth mastery perk I think, and offers like 30 gamerscore, while the others are either 10, or 15 gamerscore.

There are also different combat Perk trees, with Explosives and Assault I can remember. They also have the same gamerscore template as Stealth, with 7 of them being like 10, or 15 gs, and the final mastery one being 30.

- Graphics and Sound

Good graphics these days are as plentiful as old pennies. Wolfenstein is no different. The Characters have extremely detailed faces. The Mechanical Enemies (that freaking Panzerhund) have very detailed parts and what not.

There are some things wrong with the graphics though. From afar things look fine, but most of the time close up views of some objects in game looks muddy, or pixelated. I have experienced Frame-rate drop due to too much going on within the game.

 

The weapon sounds, and dialogue are above-par. They are satisfyingly destructive, but still sound functional to the weapon at hand. Plus the voices of AI, and Characters are the result of very good voice acting. Didn't find much wrong with the voices during my playthrough of TNO.

- Enemies

Wolfenstein offers a moderate set of Enemies to fight. Normally you face off against Nazi infantry, and Robo-Dogs, but you sometimes have to face Super-Soldiers in Huge armor, Rocket Crews, Shotgun Dudes, Miniature Drones, Mechs, and crazed Super-Soldiers. Surprisingly there are no zombies or crazy mutants in the game. I was expecting something along those lines. For the most part you fight Nazis and Robots the whole game.

Occasionally you get ambushed by Panzerhunds. They are pretty much humongous Dog robots that can kill you instantly (at least early on in the game). I've had that moment where later in the game, one of them randomly attacks me in an open area, and I ran around everywhere to escape it. Come to find out a few shots from the Microwave-Gun, and it's dead. Its kind of disappointing to me really.

 

 

 

 

Panzerhund

 

 

 

 

There are some Bosses though, but I won't spoil it for y'all. c:

- Enigma Codes, and Collectables

The New Order features a crapload of collectables you can find in the Campaign. Golden Trinkets, Documents, and Enigma Code papers. Every mission shows the Collectables you've found inside of it.

Enigma Codes are a series of documents scattered throughout the Campaign. There are 4 alternate Game modes you can unlock by finding the Enigma Codes.

Verdict:

While the game is entertaining in some aspects, and has a good story, it kind of fell lower then my expectations. To me the game feels just... normal. Maybe a little above normal. I mean the story is better then most games, but it didn't really leave me blown away.

If you're looking for a decent game with a good story (one told quite originally I might add), with entertaining Gunplay, and cool robotic enemies... + killing them Nazis; then feel free to grab this.

 

8/10

 

Yeah it's a numbered review. Shoot me.


 

Edited July 20, 2014 by Self Destruct

[rrhuntington]

 "+ killing them Nazis"

That always attracts me to a game. Nice Review

[Elite]

Review invalid. Play it on Steam. £17.50, play it in FHD, normal resolution, uncapped FPS w/ 16x anti aliasing. >.<

 

I think PS4 uses blu-ray disks and Xbox still uses DVDs since it has no laser to read blu-ray/HD-DVD; Steam is a single download, a single DVD is tiny; a blu-ray is roughly 50GB with 45GB useable. Of course, the £100 for a 120GB Xbox hard drive could just be you a 1-1.5TB external hard drive xD

[I_Make_Big_Boom]

Review invalid. Play it on Steam. £17.50, play it in FHD, normal resolution, uncapped FPS w/ 16x anti aliasing. >.<

 

I think PS4 uses blu-ray disks and Xbox still uses DVDs since it has no laser to read blu-ray/HD-DVD; Steam is a single download, a single DVD is tiny; a blu-ray is roughly 50GB with 45GB useable. Of course, the £100 for a 120GB Xbox hard drive could just be you a 1-1.5TB external hard drive xD

 

This entire inquiry just made my brain implode. I don't get it at all. :c

 

Besides this is a review of the 360 version, not PC.

[VinWarrior]

4 Discs?!

 

Wow, on the 360 this must require a lot of power. I got one disc on my Xbox One.

 

Great review P34nut, I for the most part agree.

[Buns]

 

Great review P34nut, 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ heheheheheheheheh

 

 

Very well written review Self Destruct! Although now I have to shoot you with my two assault rifles for giving it a score :haha: