wolfenstein

Disambig-icon Wolfenstein has other meanings. See Wolfenstein (disambiguation) for other uses. Disambig-icon

Main menu music


Wolfenstein: The New Order is the ninth installment and soft reboot of the Wolfenstein series, developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the semi-sequel to 2009's Wolfenstein (however utilizes very little from the game and drops any direct references to veil or supernatural) and utilizes id Software's proprietary game engine id Tech 5. The game was released on May 20, 2014 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.

Unlike previous games, it does not have a multiplayer component.

The game is a single player first-person shooter developed by MachineGames based in Uppsala, Sweden; the studio was acquired by ZeniMax Media in 2010. Wolfenstein: The New Order was their first developed title. It is the ninth installment in the Wolfenstein series but only the first entirely without the ID Software label. It is developed largely by ex-members of Starbreeze, most known for The Chronicles of Riddick video games series and The Darkness.

Announcement

"We are excited to bring a new chapter of Wolfenstein to gamers everywhere; As fans of the series, working on this game is an honour, and our team is driven to create an unforgettable action-adventure experience that will make FPS fans proud."
―Jens Matthies, creative director at MachineGames[src]

The new game was first teased by the Bethesda Softworks twitter feed, before a trailer was exclusively released to GameSpot.com on May 8.

Gameplay

Wolfenstein: The New Order is an action-adventure shooter game played from a first-person perspective. To progress through the story, players battle enemies throughout levels. The game utilizes a health system in which players' health is divided into separate sections that regenerate; if an entire section is lost, players must use a health pack to replenish the missing health.

Players may take cover behind objects during firefights, using it as a tactical advantage and to avoid taking damage from enemies. Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies, and may run, jump and occasionally swim to navigate through the locations. Melee attacks can be used to silently take down enemies without being detected. Alternatively, players can ambush enemies, which often results in an intense firefight between the two parties.

In combat, a cover system can be used as assistance against enemies. Players have the ability to lean around, over, and under cover, which can be used as a tactical advantage during shootouts and stealth levels. The game gives players a wide variety of weapon options—they can be found on the ground, retrieved from dead enemies, or removed from their stationary position and carried around. Weapon ammunition must be manually retrieved from the ground or from dead enemies. Players have access to a weapon inventory, which allows them to carry as many weapons as they find. With some of these weapons, players have the ability to dual wield, giving them an advantage over enemies by dealing twice as much damage. Players can also customize weapons through the use of upgrades; for example, a rocket launcher can be attached to the side of an assault rifle, and a laser cannon can be transformed into a wire cutting tool.

Campaign

Plot

Nazi Germany was close to crumbling until new, highly advanced weapons based on unknown technology appeared on the battlefield, rapidly turning the tide of the war against the Allies. In July of 1946, with the Nazis on the verge of complete global domination, agent William "B.J." Blazkowicz, accompanied by veteran Scottish pilot Fergus Reid and an inexperienced Private Probst Wyatt III, takes part in a massive raid against a huge fortress on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The fortress is reported to be the hideout of and weapons laboratory run by Blazkowicz's arch nemesis, General Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse. After an infiltration attempt gone wrong, the three are cornered and captured by Deathshead and his Super Soldiers, where Blazkowicz is presented with a difficult moral choice: between Fergus and Wyatt, he must pick one of them to sacrifice to his nemesis' sick experiments or he will have everybody in the room killed. After the chosen squadmate's gruesome (albeit offscreen) death, Deathshead sets the room incinerator to burn and kill all of them anyway, though Blazkowicz and the remaining ally manages to work out an escape plan and flee the room before it explodes. In the ensuing explosion, a metal fragment strikes the back of Blazkowicz's head, rendering him paralyzed and vegetative as he plunges into the water below. [1]

Having survived the fall, Blazkowicz is brought to a psychiatric asylum in what used to be Poland, where he remains in a vegetative state, cared for by the asylum's head nurse Anya Oliwa and her parents, who run the facility. Blazkowicz watches as Anya's parents are regularly forced to hand patients over to Nazi authorities, who deem them subhuman for their disabilities. In 1960, fourteen years after Blazkowicz' admission, the Nazis order the asylum to be shut down, killing all the patients and executing Anya's family when they resist. Blazkowicz awakes from his vegetative state as he is about to be executed, killing the extermination squad and escaping the asylum with Anya.[2]

Blazkowicz and Anya drive to her grandparents' farm, where they inform him that Hitler's Germany has won the war by forcing the United States to surrender in 1948 with the use of nuclear weapons and that the members of the ensuing Resistance were captured. Blazkowicz interrogates a captured officer from the asylum, learning that the top members of the Resistance are imprisoned in Berlin. Anya's grandparents smuggle her and Blazkowicz through a checkpoint in Stettin before they travel to Berlin.[3] On the train, Blazkowicz encounters forced labour camp commandant Frau Engel and her companion Hans "Bubi" Winkle. Engel appears to subject Blazkowicz to a racial purity test, which he seemingly "fails" before the officer reveals it was all just a joke, discarding the results and letting him go. After the encounter with Engel, Blazkowicz and Anya enter into a romantic relationship.

When they arrive in Berlin, Anya helps Blazkowicz break into the prison, where he rescues the teammate he spared fourteen years prior.[4] The survivor leads the two of them to the headquarters of the revived Kreisau Circle led by Caroline Becker, who was left paralyzed due to the gunshot she received from Hans Grosse in 1943.[5]

Main Menu B.J

Main Menu B.J. Blazkowicz overlay

Inspired by B.J's return, the Resistance step up their activities by attacking a research center in Nazi-occupied London, stealing secret documents and prototype VTOL aircrafts.[6] The documents reveal the Nazis are relying on a heavily improved version of concrete, allowing them to build cities in weeks, but that a saboteur has been tampering with their mixture, causing mold to grow and the material to eventually crumble. Cross-referencing the timeline of the tampering's with a list of resistance fighters detained during those times, the Resistance find a match with Set Roth, a watchmaker who is imprisoned in Frau Engel's forced labour camp in Belica.[7] Blazkowicz infiltrates the camp and meets with Set, who tells him that the Nazis stole and co-opted technology developed by him and a secret society of Jewish scientists called Da'at Yichud to produce the machines that won the war, and offers to help the Resistance in return for the destruction of the labour camp. Blazkowicz agrees and finds a battery that can power a remote control secretly developed by Set, but is captured by Frau Engel, who recognizes him from the train. As Blazkowicz and Set are about to be executed, he secretly hands Set the battery. Set uses the battery to remotely control the camp's largest robot, which then proceeds to disfigure Engel before freeing the two, allowing them to destroy the camp and liberate its prisoners.[8]

B.J

B.J. Blazkowicz as main protagonist (3D Model)

With Set's expertise, B.J. and the Kreisau Circle hijack a U-Boat and discover one of the secret society's technological keeps. They use this technology to intercept a top official of a Nazi lunar base, where decryption codes for the U-Boat's nuclear cannons are stored. Blazkowicz kills the official and takes his place, stealing the codes from the lunar base. However, he returns to Earth to find that Frau Engel has raided the Resistance's main hideout, capturing Anya and Set. He evacuates the Resistance hideout with Caroline and Fergus/Wyatt, escaping to the U-Boat.

After 3 months of preparation and wait, in 1961, Blazkowicz uses a Da'at Yichud device known as Spindly Torque as a distraction as he one again, enters Deathshead's Compound since 1946. In the process of Blazkowicz's assault, Bubi ambushes Blazkowicz only to be viciously executed as Frau Engel watches in horror from a remote camera. After rescuing the captured resistance prisoners and evacuating them, Blazkowicz makes it to the top of the fortress and reaches Deathshead's laboratories. Deathshead greets Blazkowicz, revealing to him that he possesses the brain of the soldier that Blazkowicz chose to die, and puts it in a robot. The robot comes alive and assaults Blazkowicz, who defeats it and puts his friend to rest by destroying the brain. Deathshead then attacks Blazkowicz in a larger robot.

Blazkowicz defeats the robot and drags Deathshead out of its cockpit. However, as he is about to execute Deathshead, the general reveals a hidden grenade that explodes, killing Deathshead and mauls Blazkowicz. As a gravely wounded Blazkowicz crawls towards safety, he watches Caroline, Set and Anya evacuate the prisoners from the beachhead below.[9] He likens Anya holding an electric lantern to the Statue of Liberty, recalling the famous lines of The New Colossus before the survivor requests permission to destroy the fortress with the U-Boat's nuclear cannons. Blazkowicz confirms the order, and the screen cuts to black.

After the credits, an explosion is heard followed up by thunder and lighting as a helicopter is heard approaching.

Chapters

Name Full Preview
Chapter 1 - Deathshead's Compound Chapterselect c01p1
Chapter 2 - Asylum Chapterselect c02p1
Chapter 3 - A New World Chapterselect c03p1
Chapter 4 - Eisenwald Prison Chapterselect c04
Chapter 5 - A New Home Chapterselect c05
Chapter 6 - London Nautica Chapterselect c06
Chapter 7 - A Mystery Chapterselect c07
Chapter 8 - Camp Belica Chapterselect c08
Chapter 9 - New Tactics Chapterselect c09
Chapter 10 - Berlin Catacombs Chapterselect c10
Chapter 11 - U-Boat Chapterselect c11
Chapter 12 - Gibraltar Bridge Chapterselect c12
Chapter 13 - Lunar Base Chapterselect c13
Chapter 14 - Return to London Nautica Chapterselect c14
Chapter 15 - Under Attack Chapterselect c15
Chapter 16 - Return to Deathshead's Compound Chapterselect c16

Nightmare mode

Main Menu Wolfenstein London overlay

Main Menu Wolfenstein London overlay

There are also easter eggs in form of mattress located in kreisau circle where B.J. can sleep and dream of being a B.J. character from Wolfenstein 3D. Nightmare

Prequels

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

A standalone expansion was announced by Bethesda Softworks on March 6, 2015 titled Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. It follows B.J. Blazkowicz shortly before the events of The New Order, as he returns to Castle Wolfenstein to retrieve a folder containing the location of Deathshead's Compound, from Helga Von Schabbs.

Sequel

During September 2015, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, the Polish actress who played Anya Oliwa had "accidentally" revealed that she and MachineGames are working on a sequel slated for release in 2017. While she didn't explicitly say which game, it is presumed to be another Wolfenstein due to The New Order being the first and so far only game (aside from The Old Blood, which is an immediate prequel) the studio have developed that has possibilities for a continuity of canon. Neither Bethesda Softworks nor MachineGames had anything to say officially at the time.

On June 13, 2016, Bethesda teases the game called Wolfenstein: New Colossus at the begin of their E3 conference. It was unknown if it'd be a sequel or another expansion campaign like The Old Blood . Later Amazon Germany shown the game Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus in their listings.

At E3 2017 Bethesda Conference, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was officially announced, revealed and Bethesda published a trailer, which was shown at the conference. The conference presentation ended with a release date set for October 27th, 2017.

Characters

Main

Supporting

Nazi Germany

Kreisau Resistance

Weapons

Name Icon Icon (Dualwield?) GUI Icon Image
1946's Era
Knife Knife.png Knife dw
Yes
Combatknife.png Weapon knife.png
Plane turret
[NO MIDDLE-SLOT ICON]
-
Tutorial planeturret
Handgranade 1946 Handgrenade.png
-
Grenade Weapon handgrenade
Handgun 1946 Middleslot Handgun46 Middleslot Handgun46 dw
Yes
Handgun46.png Weapon handgun46.png
SMG Smg.png
-
Weapon smg
Assault Rifle 1946-T Middleslot Ar46 Middleslot Ar46 dw
Yes
Ar46 Weapon ar46.png
MG-46 Middleslot Mg46
-
Mg Tutorial reloadmg46.png
1960's Era
Handgun 1960 Handgun60 Handgun60 dw

Yes

Weapon handgun60 hg
Assault Rifle 1960 Ar60 Ar60 dw
Yes
Weapon ar60
Double Barreled Shotgun Oldshotgun.png
-
Old shotgun Weapon old shotgun.png
Handgranade 1960 Empgrenade
-
Weapon teslagrenade
AR Marksmen Markmen
Markmen dw
Yes
Weapon marksman
MG-60 Mg60
-
Tutorial rechargemg60
Laser Cutter Lasercutter
-
Weapon lc
Automatic Shotgun Shotgun Shotgun dw
Yes
Weapon shotgun.png
LaserKraftWerk Lkw
-
Weapon lkw
Herr Faust
[NO MIDDLE-SLOT ICON]
-
Tutorial herr faust

Perks

Perks are essentially a system of minor upgrades that enhances Blazkowicz's combat aptitude by increasing his maximum health, ammo count, and so on.

Tutorial/Game Mecanics

Game Renders

References to older games

Trivia

Reception

Wolfenstein: The New Order was released to mostly positive reviews. Metacritic calculated an average score of 81 out of 100 based on 23 reviews for the Windows version,[12] and 79 out of 100 based on 18 reviews for the Xbox One version and 73 reviews for the PlayStation 4 version. GameRankings assigned it an average review score of 84% based on 12 reviews for the Windows version, 82% based on 17 reviews for the Xbox One version, and 81% based on 48 reviews for the PlayStation 4 version. Reviewers liked the game's concept, narrative and combat mechanics.

In the midst of World War II, the Nazis drop an atomic bomb on Manhattan, settling their victory. Reviewers praised the use of this alternative history within the game.

In the midst of World War II, the Nazis drop an atomic bomb on Manhattan, settling their victory. Reviewers praised the use of this alternative history within the game.

Most critics and commentators shared the opinion that The New Order was better than they were expecting from a Wolfenstein game.[13][14][15] Jon Blyth of Official Xbox Magazine called the game an "unexpected gem",[16] while ABC's Walker said that he "never expected [to] enjoy [the game] so much".[17] The Sydney Morning Herald's Hill said that the game ensures that the series is "a relevant force again",[18] while Destructoid's Carter felt that the game "does wonders for essentially rebooting the franchise without rendering all the previous stories moot".[19] Edge agreed, calling the developers "brave".

Within a week of its release, Wolfenstein: The New Order became the second-best selling game of 2014 in the United Kingdom, behind Titanfall. The game also topped the weekly UK charts in its first week, totaling a quarter of all games sold in the region and accounting for 36% of revenue. According to MCV, it was the 22nd best-selling game of 2014 in the UK.In the United States, the game was the fourth and seventh best-selling game of May and June 2014, respectively. The game was also ranked the fifth and fourteenth best-selling digital PlayStation 4 game of May and June 2014, respectively. In its first week in Japan, the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of the game were placed on the charts at 15th and 8th, respectively, collectively selling over 11,000 units. By June 2014, the game had sold almost 400,000 physical units in Europe, equating to over €21 million.[20]

Gallery

Main article: Wolfenstein: The New Order/Gallery

See also

References

  1. Lavoy, Bill (May 20, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - Deathshead's Compound - Save Fergus or Wyatt. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 24, 2014.
  2. Lavoy, Bill (May 20, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - Asylum - Kill the Commanders and Save Anya. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  3. Lavoy, Bill (May 20, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - A New World - How to Choose the Right Pictures. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  4. Lavoy, Bill (May 20, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - Eisenwald Prison - Find the Key for the Coal Loader Room. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  5. Lavoy, Bill (May 20, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - A New Home - Find the Project Whisper Folder. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  6. Lavoy, Bill (May 21, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - London Nautica - Defeat the Giant Robot. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  7. Lavoy, Bill (May 21, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - A Mystery - Escape from Wolfenstein Castle Easter Egg. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  8. Lavoy, Bill (May 21, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - Camp Belica - How to Break the Cement Mixer. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  9. Lavoy, Bill (May 23, 2014). Wolfenstein: The New Order Walkthrough - Return to Deathshead's Compound - Defeat Deathshead - Ending. Prima Games. Retrieved on May 25, 2014.
  10. http://youtu.be/3H_6A9z4Fao
  11. www.cheats.us
  12. http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/714240-wolfenstein-the-new-order/index.html
  13. http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/20/wolfenstein-the-new-order-review
  14. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/wolfenstein-new-order-review---3800952
  15. ttp://www.forbes.com/sites/games/2014/05/23/wolfenstein-the-new-order-review-a-time-to-kill-robot-nazis/
  16. http://www.webcitation.org/6S2YISsq0
  17. http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2014/06/12/4023988.htm
  18. http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/wolfenstein-the-new-order-review-20140622-zsa3k.html
  19. http://www.destructoid.com/review-wolfenstein-the-new-order-274633.phtml
  20. http://www.gamespot.com/articles/wolfenstein-the-new-order-is-the-uk-s-second-biggest-release-of-2014-behind-titanfall/1100-6419896/

External links