Wolfenstein- A Return to the Castle! Again!?

After a long, long break from this franchise it was nice to see it revisited. It certainly was a return to the past, massive nostalgia trips. For anyone who isn't familiar with the Wolfenstein franchise, it's basically an all you can eat nazi killing buffet. The amount of violence is almost horrifying in some ways. However, throughout the lifetime of this series, it has never dissapointed in delivering some truly fantastic FPS moments and this certainly is a well defined return of a king.

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This come back is a massive hooray for the industry. Which has long since been polluted by the  recycling of multiplayer FPS games, while nary giving single player campaigns the love and care they deserve. Believe me when I say I love my fair share of multiplayer FPS games, but the whole venture has become stagnated, boring, and repetitive. Most possible modes have been fleshed out and the only innovation that has happened within the last ten years is the update of graphics and bullet drop physics. Dissapointing to say the least and whilst companies continue to recycle these modes they continue to neglect something that people crave. That is a well crafted story with good sense of the term I'm a single player fps game.

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Story:
Wolfenstein returns the FPS genre to its roots, before multiplayer existed, it then proceeds to ram plenty of nostalgia up your ass. Amidst all the Nazi blood being spilt the story is never forgotten and the story that is presented is extremely well written. It is told in two perspectives one through Blazkowicz and the other through the environment. While the textures and models certainly leave a bit to be desired the rich, environment lore based storytelling that bethesda is familiar with shines out here. On the flipside, Blazkowicz's story while a literary masterpiece has its plotholes. I found myself falling in between cracks at moments as the story jumped from place to place without filling these aforementioned holes. There were also some particularly ludicruous moments that didn't really make sense, but I chalked that one up to simply Hollywood based theatrics. An unvisited plot point towards the end also leaves some room to interpret a possible sequel to The New Order. ( I won't spoil it.) For crafting a well defined albeit, ludicrous heroic story and revisiting plenty of nostalgia. I have to give Wolfenstein the New Order a 8/10. It's not perfect, but it is a fantastic example of what good story based FPS games can achieve.

TL;DR: you're a Nazi slaying badass with Captain America super human strength. You single-handedly destroy thousands of Nazis, Nazi super-humans, and Nazi robots without breaking a sweat. 8/10

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Gameplay:
I'm both satisfied and disappointed with this part of the game. Given how Wolfenstein is the father of all modern FPS games I had expected more from the company iD Software. The game feels highly influenced by Bethesda as the larger framework feels Bioshock-esque. However, there are game-breaking mechanical problem; Blackowicz has the strength to scale  two story buildings, but does not have the dexterity to get over a three inch high ledge. He is still his akimbo style gun toting badass that the previous generation and my generation have come to expect from this Nazi killing expert so the problems don't detract too much from the overall experience. The added stealth elements felt forced or impossible to perform. Also the Nazi's either draft brain dead soldiers or their Aryan breeding left their foot soldier mentally handicapped like Max Hass (character in the game). I don't know what to say about the AI, I commend iD for designing units that use flanking correctly for the first time, however, I have to penalize them for having soldiers that don't notice dead bodies literally within two inches of their feet. Switching weapons felt slightly clunky on mouse and keyboard, the game was clearly optomized with console in mind (Weapon wheel). A solid attempt at re-creating a much beloved franchise. However, brain addled AI, un-optomized UI, and last gen mechanical problems make it hard to give it high scores. 7/10

TL;DR: Not perfect by any means, but it was still fun. 7/10.

Graphics:
Again not perfect by any means. However, it gets the job done and quite admirably at that. On a custom high/ultra setting the game performs at a solid frame rate and never dips below the 30 FPS threshold. The last-gen graphics leave much to be desired. But this certainly is in no way a bad thing. It allows many users to experience the game without having to dial down the settings to experience the game. Environments are wonderfully done. and characters models are both inspired and interesting. Weapon models look like some kind of strange fusion of accepted 1940's weapons that doesn't exactly work all the time. Especially towards the end of the game. Lunar base weapons are reminiscent of star wars storm trooper guns both in appearance and functionality. Facial animations and character animations are exceptionally well done considering the graphical engine. Graphics that need more updating but are good enough warrants the game receiving a solid 8/10.

TL;DR: Top end last gen graphics are good but far from perfect. Weapon designs need a bit of help. 8/10

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Sound: Perhaps one of the best aspects of this game, the soundtrack fits. It doesn't take any influences from the period's music but it does veritably mix the best sound effects and soundtrack I've experienced in a while. Sound FX are spot on and impactful. Soundtrack is heart-pounding and well selected. Appropriate selections for battles and boss fights makes for a more immersive experience.I do have to comment that on a few cut scenes that there was a problem in lip syncing the character and voice dialogue. But, nothing too immersion breaking. The voice actors played out all of their roles well and each cast member has a unique personality and appropriate voice actor. This section a receives a 9/10.

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TL;DR: Was a pleasure listening to the dialogue due in part to superb voice acting. Soundtrack pretty good too.  9/10.

Overall the game didn't bring anything new to the table, which I had hoped for. It did however, revive an old franchise, build a benchmark for story telling FPS games, and all together provide a fun experience. It also added some reality check for humanity's history. It's not going to be the most innovative title you'll play this generation  but it certainly is worth playing Overall score receives an 8/10.

 If you haven't yet picked up the game and aren't offended by Nazi symbolism. It would be good to pick up and play this title. I've provided a link below if you've got the itch to play.