Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Producer: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: October 28, 2017
Platform: PS4, PC, Xbox One
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Die, Nazi Scum
Written by Jesse Seilhan
Nazis have always been the easiest villains. Backed by generations of real-life monsters, their ranks of funny hats and thick accents filled video game screens for decades until the fear wore off and people got tired of “old” warfare. A generation of modern military shooters took their place, swapping swastikas with Russian, Chinese, and nondescript Arabic symbols until everything old became new again and Nazis came back into vogue. 2014’s Wolfenstein reboot was the perfect game for that moment, granting disembodied head B.J. Blazkowicz an alternate history where the Germans bombed the United States, the Nazis won the war, and he & his rag tag group of rebels had to fight the power. That game was marvelous, bringing the genre back to its roots while pushing storytelling and character development forward. With The New Colossus, MachineGames has topped themselves, executing a dark middle chapter in what may end up being the best trilogy in gaming’s history.
Getting the subpar out of the way early, Wolfenstein feels a bit sluggish. The shooting isn’t as sharp as the Doom reboot or the myriad of modern shooters across the various eras and realities. Combat can become a slog as enemies seem to pinpoint their shots while you are cycling through weapons, leading to frequent deaths and frustratingly long loading screens. Luckily, the weapons are fun to shoot, the grenades wipe out entire rooms quickly, and the heavy weapons can eviscerate an enemy in a microsecond. Even lowering the difficulty can provide a stiff challenge, but each cutscene is worth pushing through as the stakes constantly get raised as the over-the-top story goes places no other game has ever dared.
To call this game bold is an insult, as BJ and his gang go to insane places on an hourly basis. It’s both a touching personal story about a father and son, a husband and wife, and a patriot and his country, as well as a bombastic adventure that takes you to the depths of the ocean and the far edges of space. Along the way you will meet two-ton walking robots, countless waves of mecha dogs, and, finally, Adolf Hitler. While the third game will host the final meeting between BJ and the Fuhrer, his cameo in this game is one of the most memorable and insane scenes in modern gaming. Frau Engel, the first game’s antagonist, is back with an even meaner streak, but she can’t hold a candle to her boss. The depths to which the enemies in this game will go to rile you up are unparalleled.
The game’s structure remains pretty much the same, with long missions that blend both stealth and combat until you hit the big red button and leave the level. Along the way you’ll use a range of devastating weapons and a few contraptions, new to the series. One lets you slink under low passageways to sneak around, a harness allows you to reach high areas and rain hell from above, while a tough chestpiece and shoulder pads makes smashing through barriers (and any enemy stupid enough to get in your way) possible. Only one is available initially, but side-missions open up later in the game that let you revisit old war zones and acquire the pieces you passed up.
To detail the ways in which this game passes its predecessor would be to spoil all the fun. Each mission ends with a bang, each new character adds a wrinkle to the fun, and nearly all of the dialogue is acted perfectly and powerfully. This game goes places, in every sense of the word. Games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Destiny aren’t even in the same universe as this gem. While playing the first game might help establish the canon, the recap at the beginning of the game helps set the table so newcomers can feel welcome. It’s a hard M, it gets away with a lot, but it pulls it all off with such craft that you can’t help but applaud their effort and tenacity by the end of the 15+ hour adventure. This game is not for the weak at heart, but if you’ve ever loved playing a game that pushes boundaries while drawing you in, you must play Wolfenstein II this year and leave the other holiday releases on the shelf.