Hands-on with More Wolfenstein: The New Order

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a highly enjoyable hybrid of old and new-school shooters. Of course, it”s primarily about shooting but there”s a hefty dose of narrative in there as well. Starting out in a 1946 fighter, I found myself rushing between the sorts of jobs that you would worry about in heavily damaged fighter plane – putting out fires, dumping cargo with my trusty combat knife and of course, shooting – William, B.J. Blazkowicz is a capable turret-handler for mid-air dogfights. The story is told through a mix of mostly-skippable cutscenes and in-game action, so even the most impatient gamer should be able to follow the plot.

Playing Wolfenstein feels like very much like you”re in an inhabited world. Yes, a world where Nazis are in charge and have filled it with extremely hostile robot dogs, but definitely more a world than a series of shooty corridors. Much like Dishonored”s guards that stop to chat to one another, you”ll find soldiers doing more than simply patrolling routes. Sneaking around a castle, I came across two guards that were lugging a machine-gun turret to a new location, using a hand-drawn cart. Coming up behind them, I crept onto the cart, ripped the machine gun from its moorings and made mincemeat of the pair before they even knew to turn around.

In another section, you”re asked to disable a cannon so that your squad can infiltrate the building. Clearing the building methodically, you”ll eventually come across the cannon. Kill everyone in sight and ta-da, it”s disabled. You don”t have to stop there, however. Hop into the firing seat and you can shoot out the ships that are patrolling the distant background coastline. Rather more of a challenge is the humongous robot that”s trying to kill your men outside the castle. Kill it before it gets you and you”ll watch it topple slowly to the ground in a sad pile of smoking metal. Actions like this make no difference to the game”s overall outcome but I love these sorts of details, especially when Fergus”s voice crackles into my ear asking “Was that you?” Yup, it was me. I”m amazing.

The game is full of other secrets that do affect things: Enigma codes are hidden everywhere – in ammunition stores, down destroyed corridors and lying openly on office desks just off the obvious path. Collect all the folders on a level and you”ll unlock new game modes, which are yet to be revealed. You can also access secret corridors that allow different approaches to well-defended areas and often have Nazi gold waiting for you to collect. One secret route that I missed would have allowed me to bypass a frontal assault straight into a well-placed turret. I accessed another by investigating a crooked sword on a stone statue. Straightening the sword let me into a hidden corridor that was obviously designed as against a way to fight castle infiltration. Pulled a few blocks out of the walls revealed a clear, protected shot at the guards patrolling the room next door.

Dual wielding nbso online casino reviews assault rifles and taking everything head-on is a also valid tactic but it”ll make things much harder for yourself. Every group of enemies has a commander and if he”s alerted, he”ll bring in every soldier in the area to hunt you down. He”ll also retreat to a safer position, forcing you to fight (or run) through hordes to reach him. A much better way is to take the commander out first, bearing in mind that there may be more than one in an area. You can find silencers to mod your guns, or sneak up close for silent knife kills. Without a commander, the soldiers will fight but be unable to call for reinforcements.

Blazkowicz does auto-heal but only to the top of the current health stage, stopping at every 20 points of 100. You”ll need to find health packs to heal beyond that and picking them up when you”re at full health will put you in temporary overcharge. For example, picking up an extra 40 points will give you 140 health points that will tick down every second until you”re back at 100. A better way to boost yourself is by grabbing the armour from dead enemy soldiers. Rather absurdly, you can stack enemy helmets to rack up your own armour count but hey, that”s videogames.

The game also has a series of skill ladders to upgrade, each unlocked through your play style. Stealth killing a commander will get you the first stealth perk, while getting enough headshots with a certain gun will unlock the Tactical ladder. Get 10 kills while dual-wielding any of the guns for Assault abilities or kill two enemies with a single grenade for Demolitions.

I enjoyed these first two hours with Wolfenstein: The New Order. There are plenty of nooks and crannies within each level to make exploration feel rewarding and it”s impossible not to feel awesome as you charge down a corridor firing dual assault rifles or watching gibs spray through a door after you toss a grenade inside. It”s gory, its explosive but there”s a lot more to it.