Nonstop action coupled with a powerful story
By: Ryan Ramakrishnan
Reviewed on Xbox One
“Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” is a glorified sequel, upping the ante with an intriguing and absurdly powerful character-driven story in addition to fine-tuned, high octane gunplay.
Picking up just months after the events of 2014’s “Wolfenstein: The New Order,” the sequel comes packed with memorable characters and brutal moments alike. Thanks to intense gunplay and an enthralling story with realistic themes, “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” is a fantastic shooter and follow up to to an already great predecessor.
Story
Taking place in alternate history of America, “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” sees the Nazis to be the winners of World War 2. William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz teams up with many new faces, as well as returning characters from the last game, all to spark a new American Revolution, finally overthrowing the technologically advanced Third Reich.
Blazkowicz is a brave, bold American hero with plentiful determination. As the main protagonist, I quite enjoy him for his admirable traits and actions but also his realism. Even the macho hero he is, Blazkowicz struggles both mentally and physically, always fearing his death to be around every corner.
Anya, the love interest of Blazkowicz returns and this time she is pregnant with twins. Even Anya has her moments of valor as well, despite being both pregnant and in the shadows of her husband.
Reminiscent of “Wolfenstein: The New Order,” the choice of Wyatt or Fergus is asked, leading to alternate story moments. Other characters like Max Hass and Bombate return; however, they ultimately fail to bring much to the table.
The sequel’s newcomers like the ridiculous conspiracy theorist Super Spesh and Grace, an incredibly driven rebel leader help shape both the dynamic plot and character interactions and relationships of “Wolfenstein 2: The New Order.”
Antagonists in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” fortunately standout for all their evil glory and won’t soon be forgotten. Rip Blazkowicz, the father of B.J. was both violent and racist in the most extreme manners towards his family, justifying him as a frightening and effective side antagonist. The main threat is the returning Frau Engel. She is truly bone-chilling. Every unnerving laugh at all of the pain she caused to others made Engel blatantly sadistic. The Aryan leader is evil in every sense of the world and the performance and writing of Engel make her an unforgettable villain.
Taking place in alternate history of America, “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” sees the Nazis to be the winners of World War 2. William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz teams up with many new faces, as well as returning characters from the last game, all to spark a new American Revolution, finally overthrowing the technologically advanced Third Reich.
Blazkowicz is a brave, bold American hero with plentiful determination. As the main protagonist, I quite enjoy him for his admirable traits and actions but also his realism. Even the macho hero he is, Blazkowicz struggles both mentally and physically, always fearing his death to be around every corner.
Anya, the love interest of Blazkowicz returns and this time she is pregnant with twins. Even Anya has her moments of valor as well, despite being both pregnant and in the shadows of her husband.
Reminiscent of “Wolfenstein: The New Order,” the choice of Wyatt or Fergus is asked, leading to alternate story moments. Other characters like Max Hass and Bombate return; however, they ultimately fail to bring much to the table.
The sequel’s newcomers like the ridiculous conspiracy theorist Super Spesh and Grace, an incredibly driven rebel leader help shape both the dynamic plot and character interactions and relationships of “Wolfenstein 2: The New Order.”
Antagonists in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” fortunately standout for all their evil glory and won’t soon be forgotten. Rip Blazkowicz, the father of B.J. was both violent and racist in the most extreme manners towards his family, justifying him as a frightening and effective side antagonist. The main threat is the returning Frau Engel. She is truly bone-chilling. Every unnerving laugh at all of the pain she caused to others made Engel blatantly sadistic. The Aryan leader is evil in every sense of the world and the performance and writing of Engel make her an unforgettable villain.
Gameplay
“Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” has rapid, violent gunplay with plenty of Nazis to put those weapons to full effect. Gunplay is fantastic in both how it feels to aim down the sights and pull the trigger, as well as the execution and impact of your bullets. I never found the shooting to be anything less than exhilarating.
The gun variety isn’t overwhelming but it is still packed with enough unique styles to keep things interesting.
There is a welcoming and oftentimes efficient new ability to dual wield any weapons. Running around with two shotguns is truly an unmatched feeling of superiority. Unfortunately, switching or even selecting my left-handed or second gun can be quite the hassle. It felt shaky trying to switch during combat. The select screen not pausing or even slowing down made things harder as well, leaving me better off with just one gun in the end.
Health, armor and ammo are spread out in the levels of “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus,” frequently available for pickup before and after larger encounters. Seeing my health hit 20 and my favorite guns’ ammo run low made these pickups very important.
“Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” does slow the pace down at times to allow stealth. Optional it may be, I found these moments to be exciting and a fresh change of pace, yet still ever-so nerve-wrecking. Throwing hatchets, stabbing from behind or picking enemies off with silence headshots all come with equal satisfaction to that of unloading bullets.
The sheer difficulty cannot go unmentioned. I played “Bring em’ on” which was about two difficulties above the easiest yet still died a whole lot. I don’t wish to put this game down for its intense challenge because it is quite fun to conquer the madness but this may not be welcoming to many. The action does however happen so quickly that you may not even know what hit you and without a killcam, it is oftentimes near impossible to know where you went wrong.
Beneficially, “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” comes with the option to manually save. Whether I was looking for new strategies or just no trying to start from an awfully distant automatic checkpoint, this manual save option helped me a great deal.
Sound
Like the graphics, the production value is quite good in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” in the sound department. The characters are all voice acted exceptionally well. Blazkowicz and Engel especially stood out and rightfully so as they are the main protagonist and antagonist respectively.
“Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” has rapid, violent gunplay with plenty of Nazis to put those weapons to full effect. Gunplay is fantastic in both how it feels to aim down the sights and pull the trigger, as well as the execution and impact of your bullets. I never found the shooting to be anything less than exhilarating.
The gun variety isn’t overwhelming but it is still packed with enough unique styles to keep things interesting.
There is a welcoming and oftentimes efficient new ability to dual wield any weapons. Running around with two shotguns is truly an unmatched feeling of superiority. Unfortunately, switching or even selecting my left-handed or second gun can be quite the hassle. It felt shaky trying to switch during combat. The select screen not pausing or even slowing down made things harder as well, leaving me better off with just one gun in the end.
Health, armor and ammo are spread out in the levels of “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus,” frequently available for pickup before and after larger encounters. Seeing my health hit 20 and my favorite guns’ ammo run low made these pickups very important.
“Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” does slow the pace down at times to allow stealth. Optional it may be, I found these moments to be exciting and a fresh change of pace, yet still ever-so nerve-wrecking. Throwing hatchets, stabbing from behind or picking enemies off with silence headshots all come with equal satisfaction to that of unloading bullets.
The sheer difficulty cannot go unmentioned. I played “Bring em’ on” which was about two difficulties above the easiest yet still died a whole lot. I don’t wish to put this game down for its intense challenge because it is quite fun to conquer the madness but this may not be welcoming to many. The action does however happen so quickly that you may not even know what hit you and without a killcam, it is oftentimes near impossible to know where you went wrong.
Beneficially, “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” comes with the option to manually save. Whether I was looking for new strategies or just no trying to start from an awfully distant automatic checkpoint, this manual save option helped me a great deal.
Graphics
Visually, “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” is a true marvel. With realistic facial expressions and actions in general, the game looks really good, only further pushing the impact of the story at hand.
The locations vary in both intentionally beautiful and dark and bleak, each feeling raw and telling their own stories.
The locations vary in both intentionally beautiful and dark and bleak, each feeling raw and telling their own stories.
Sound
Like the graphics, the production value is quite good in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” in the sound department. The characters are all voice acted exceptionally well. Blazkowicz and Engel especially stood out and rightfully so as they are the main protagonist and antagonist respectively.
The action scenes included some adrenaline-fueled music, perfect for the overall tone. Of course, the mundane, emotional and less wild moments in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” have their own fitting music as well, equally of good quality.
What I found to be out of place was the credits’ music. The song choice was way too over the top, even too hardcore of a metal song for “Doom.”
ContentOnce the credits roll in a linear single player game, the fear is always the lack of incentive to play more. I was pleased with the post-game content available in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus,” making it worth playing after the credits concluded. It isn’t overly complex or content-heavy but it is nice to see more to do besides the main story.
The wide array of collectibles could easily provide for some time wasting for the collector and trophy/achievement hunter in us all.
What I found to be out of place was the credits’ music. The song choice was way too over the top, even too hardcore of a metal song for “Doom.”
ContentOnce the credits roll in a linear single player game, the fear is always the lack of incentive to play more. I was pleased with the post-game content available in “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus,” making it worth playing after the credits concluded. It isn’t overly complex or content-heavy but it is nice to see more to do besides the main story.
The wide array of collectibles could easily provide for some time wasting for the collector and trophy/achievement hunter in us all.
Of course Fergus and Wyatt are interchangeable, leading to another playthrough inviting you to see things differently.
I am happy to say my save file is only completed 35 percent, after clocking in just over 20 hours, assuring me at least a few more hours to happily kill Nazis.
Conclusion
After killing hundreds of Nazis and marking my territory as both an American hero and killing machine, I can confidently say I had a blast with “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.” The characters, especially B.J. Blazkowicz and Frau Irene Engel, are unforgettable and complement a compelling and dynamic story, one that appropriately tackles everything from hate groups, freedom fighting and heroism to alternate history, mechanized warfare and more. The intense challenge and glorious, brutal gunplay of “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” make for an extremely exciting time
Was “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” better than “Wolfenstein: The New Order?” Did you find it to be too difficult? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
After killing hundreds of Nazis and marking my territory as both an American hero and killing machine, I can confidently say I had a blast with “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.” The characters, especially B.J. Blazkowicz and Frau Irene Engel, are unforgettable and complement a compelling and dynamic story, one that appropriately tackles everything from hate groups, freedom fighting and heroism to alternate history, mechanized warfare and more. The intense challenge and glorious, brutal gunplay of “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” make for an extremely exciting time
Was “Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus” better than “Wolfenstein: The New Order?” Did you find it to be too difficult? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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