Review:Wolfenstein: The New Order

Wolfenstein: The New Order is what quality single-player game should be.

The story is set in alternative history 1960s Europe in a world where the Nazis won the Second World War. You play as William "B.J." Blazkowicz from previous Wolfenstein games which surprises me on overall character development. Presentation of each character is really great. The ways BJ talked and thought. I could understand his feeling and motive as the story proceeded. Villains also have great setup and personality. Especially, the cutscenes are very polished which create strong telling and sense of presence. The more you play and discovered its details through notes and news, the more you get supporting details of game world. Only end-game part I feel bit rushed and some characters just hop-in and out to nowhere. However, big thanks to writing and top-notch voice acting. These elements push TNO to be one of most memorable storytelling shooting game.
The gameplay introduces very solid shooting mechanic. The combination of old school (pick-ups, health system, one man arsenal) and modern gunplay (regeneration, cover system, dual-wield) are well implemented. It keeps game fluid without losing its old school feeling. Perk system is like do challenge and unlock your upgrade which add additional gameplay and player’s motive as you can keep your upgrade for higher difficult (but you have to choose from chapter selection).

For gun blazing is very fun as each weapon give strong punch and solid sound. You can expect enjoyment and satisfying shooting as you leave the area with gore and remain of your destruction. 

Stealth is great additional advantage to locate the collectables (Yes, TNO has a lot of collectable even most of them are easy to find) and take out high priority threat.

Enemy A.I. is quite challenging with some noticeable frank strategy, but sometimes they just stand and wait for player which makes higher difficult less challenge.

What I love about TNO is timeline based gameplay. Your decision of beginning of the game will effect on your side characters, upgrade, and some pathway. Thanks to map design team that allow player to discover the change and choose their play-style.

What can I say about TNO soundtracks? It’s ROCK and match in each area you encounter or cutscene. OST gives strong taste of both story and gameplay.

IdTech 5 engine is also introduced in TNO with MegaTexture technology. It looks beautiful at the distance and well optimized even my desktop does not match with system requirement. However, the engine requires too much system resource and still gives poorly outcome. About 30 GBs of game space are texture files, but the textures are muddy and blurry in close-up and some texture popping issue like RAGE. I’m quite disappointed in this part.

MachineGames has proved themselves is this Wolfenstein. To be honest, TNO doesn't need to have next-gen elements, but it can provide very satisfying experience and superb storytelling in FPS that I haven’t played for a long time. TNO is considered to be one of my favorite single-player shooting and MachineGames now earn my trust for expectation of future quality game.