Wolfenstein The New Colossus Review.

Wow where to begin with Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, it's one of those games when someone asks you "hey what's that new Wolfenstein game like?" you ask yourself just what do I tell them. Assuming they have played the previous game it's very easy to give them just enough details to where they will want to jump right back in to the volatile concoction that this series has but if not then it becomes very difficult. The gameplay in Wolfenstein 2 feels like a bit of a step backwards from its predecessor whereas the narrative aspects of the game have been propelled to heights I would never have thought possible. Much like the first game it's the characters and story that steal the show in Wolfenstein 2 and they do not pull any punches here.

Wolfenstein 2 does not waste any time in getting back to the main story from the first game. It picks up right where The New Order left you and things are pretty dire. You get a very clear understanding of the state Blaskowich is in and this sets the mood for the next few hours of the game. I am not going to get into anything too deep story related but the state of Blaskowich' anatomy plays a very big part in the early parts of the game. You are on life support and this is represented by your health being capped at half the regular amount and this has a significant effect on the mindset of Blaskowich for the beginning chapters.

The main villain of The New Colussus is Irene Engel whom you will certainly remember if you are familiar with the first game. She is just one of the many highlights of the games character line up and her maniacal yet jovial tone walks the perfect balance of playful banter and genuine menace. The voice performance behind her is a large part of what makes her feel so lifelike and she is absolutely the star of any scene she is in. Characters are the back bone of The New Collussus and Engel is just the tip of the iceberg. The game is full of memorable characters both old, new and the writing along with the delivery goes lengths to make it feel more realistic than most dialogue and character interactions have been represented up until now in most games. There is one event in particular that really lets you see these characters just be themselves and it was one of many highlights the story has.

It's not just the sheer amount of over the top moments the campaign has that make it so memorable though. Wolfenstein2 does manage to cram in an entire sagas worth of incredible moments into one game but it's the way these moments are handled and shown that make them so important. Wolfenstein 2 tackles some very sensitive material and once you get past the initial realisation that it is in fact a Wolfenstein game pulling this off you can appreciate just how far ahead of the collective gaming curve the writing and performances are. One scene in particular actually made me laugh out loud to myself and I cannot remember any other game doing so in recent years. Games have made me chuckle every now and then or gotten a longer than normal laugh sure, but think about it, when was the last time a game actually made you burst out laughing to where you had to pause the game because you just weren't able to play? I'm going to guess it's been a while; or not at all even. Wolfenstein 2 also has some genuinely touching moments too which again is something that is often tried and just as often failed in the medium.

Now it's time for me to address the elephant in the room when it comes to Wolfenstein 2 and that is the gameplay and encounter design. It's not very good; I hesitate to say it's bad for two reasons. First being that this is an old-school style shooter where you have to conserve every single point of health you have and take note of where you have left behind supplies in any given level. Think of the original Doom and Doom 2 for a perfectly apt comparison. Back tracking through environments filled with dead bodied to hoover up all the odd bits of health, ammo and armour is something you will do plenty of in this game. The second is that it's not crazy to put forward the notion that after over 10 years of regenerating health, forgiving checkpoints, relentless instructions and extremely dumb enemies that a certain degree of rust has set in. Last years DOOM was also very much a throwback to this style of shooter but where DOOM succeeded in giving the player the tools and abilities to overcome anything the game could throw at it Wolfenstein 2 feels more like they gave you a Leatherman to build a picnic table. The tool can get the job done, but it wouldn't have been your first choice.

My first playthrough was done playing  one notch above normal mode and in hindsight that was a mistake. Knowing what the game is going to throw at you is extremely important to surviving and going through on just the regular difficulty would have helped matters here as I had to readjust to this style of shooter. However I did go back through the campaign on both harder modes and testing out the easier ones too and to my dismay the most significant change is simply the amount of damage dealt. There is a reason why you are weaker at the start of the game and become stronger later on so the reliance on borderline unfair damage output feels cheap and it's something that really highlights some of the badly designed encounters in Wolfenstein 2. In short encounters in open space can be extremely aggravating as the enemies never ever miss whereas your abilities are far better suited to fighting in an enclosed space. A lot of the issues can be fixed in this regard by simply adjusting the difficulty as you progress but this style of old school shooter was usually the most enjoyable when you cranked up the difficulty a notch and it's sad to see that not be the case here.

I want to make a point that I do not view the gameplay as bad in Wolfenstein 2. There is a just a significant adjustment required due to the way shooters have been crafted in the last ten years. We have become used to overtly obvious damage indicators, enemies that constantly peek out of cover just long enough for you to shoot them. We have become used to any gun being able to handle the majority of situations and more than anything we have become, maybe even without realising, too reliant on regenerating health. The classic Doom comparison I made earlier is reflected throughout the entire game and you cannot just go all out guns blazing on anything above easy.

Despite my gripes with the way Wolfenstein 2 plays it sets new standards for characterisation and storytelling that I genuinely think no amount of gameplay hindrances could take away from. Those problems do disappear for the most part on the easy setting too so while the solution to them might not be ideal it is present in the game regardless. If Wolfenstein 2 had followed in last years DOOMs footsteps and rebuilt its gameplay along with its narrative I dare say it would be a contender for one of the best games of all time. As much as I truly love the story and characters I cannot get past the fact that its gameplay is just not that fun. That said there has not been a single game that has managed to touch on as many emotions but also do so successfully so if the final piece of the puzzle for Wolfenstein 3 is them cracking the gameplay then that game can't come soon enough as I know I'll be revisiting this one in the mean time.