Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus review
All Reich Now
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a game not inclined to fuck about. It’s a fact that it has no qualms making crystal-clear right from the moment you hit New Game and are dropped in exactly where the first game, 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order, left off. Longtime protagonist and damn-near superhuman Nazi-killer B.J. Blazkowcz has just managed to finally put an end to the ruthless General Deathshead, and allowed his resistance buddies to commandeer a massive Nazi U-boat.
He’s also dying. Grabbed by his mates in the nick of time, it takes him months to recover and the first significant action sequence has him blasting invading Nazis from the confines of a wheelchair (utilizing a roll/pivot mechanic that’s surprisingly effective in letting you aim freely while on the move). B.J. is eventually sustained by the ancient Jewish-tech power armour introduced in The New Order, but the voiceover — again excellently performed by Brian Bloom— makes no bones that B.J. knows that he’s essentially a dead man walking. While other developers might pay lip service to this condition but keep the hero as invincible as always, developer MachineGames commits to the idea by restricting the player to 50% maximum health for the first half of the game. This is, of course, is ameliorated by collecting armour, as per franchise tradition, but in its own odd way The New Colossus does more to comment on the limitations of physical disability than most AAA games would ever consider.
In fact, The New Colossus doesn’t just stop there with the surprises. It may have come from a franchise that started as being about shooting MechaHitler in his cyber-moustached kisser, but this is a game with a lot on its mind, and certainly isn’t afraid to get grim with it. In what be the greatest example of serendipity in the videogame production cycle yet seen, it turned out that since 2014, MachineGames’ wacky idea about a Nazi-friendly USA actually started to come true (case in point: some festering shitwaffles’ issues with the game’s promotion invoking the righteousness of fighting Nazis, a concept that, in saner times, was about as self-evident as not running with scissors, or eating the yellow snow). It’s clear that the studio has been paying attention to recent events too, with much of the world-building referencing Trump, Obama and the normalisation of fascism in the West. It’s garnered a bit of flak for the way it portrays its villainous character: at the start of the game, we see flashbacks to B.J.’s childhood, and more specifically his long-suffering Jewish mother and racist, abusive failed businessman father.
Seething with a pointedly familiar sense of indignant white masculinity, he beats his wife and son and, in one of the opening’s most harrowing scenes, attempts to force B.J. to shoot his dog. The player briefly takes control at this moment, and if you intentionally miss, he promptly kills the poor mutt right in front of you. While some have criticised these scenes as excessively cartoonish and mean-spirited, they work on several levels. At base, they ensure that the player feels the appropriate level of hatred towards the villains, but they also comment on the reasons ordinary people, such as the Americans who accept, and in some cases embrace, Nazi rule. Some, like B.J.’s dad, use it as an enabler for their own foul belief, while others, like main villain Frau Engel’s sweet-natured daughter Sigrun, are simply afraid and lack the confidence to resist — and if the game ultimately makes one point, it’s that while the former are damned, the latter can learn to think and act differently.
While The New Colossus is undoubtedly notable for its superb writing and political bite, it also retains the first game’s satisfying run-and-gun gameplay, with its limited but consistently effective selection of guns doing a fine job of making the Nazi gibs rain. These guns can again be dual-wielded in any combination you want, and some of the game’s most enjoyable gameplay involves running at the enemy, twin shotties blasting with abandon.
That said, the game is also not a full-tilt murder sprint like last year’s superlative Doom reboot. The New Colossus’ enemies are a ruthless bunch, and even on standard difficulty can shred you in short order if you get surrounded. It demands a slightly more cautious approach, taking out lone enemies one by one and then picking the right moment to jump in at close-quarters. Players can also take the sneaky route and go for stealth kills, though the generally cramped, corridor-based nature of the levels makes this particularly challenging. The game also retains its predecessor’s Elder Scolls-esque action-based perk system, encouraging the player to mix up their approach and keep honing B.J.’s abilities.
Despite its propensity for cramped spaces, the level design generally does a good job of throwing a bit of variety at the player, from the parade-choked, KKK-policed streets of Roswell to the nightmarish nuclear wasteland vision of New York and our heroes’ highly explorable U-boat base. As with The New Order, the levels are packed with a plethora of different collectibles, many of which providing further details about the world at large. These documents, be they newspapers, postcards or archaic tape-based emails chronicling the perils of Nazi middle-management, are wonderfully written and do a great job of not only expanding an incredibly well thought-out world, but also serve as a way to take the odd swipe at modern America (particularly Trump). It’s again worth looking around just for the vinyl records, which unlock period-appropriate Nazi pop and rock n’ roll songs, courtesy of the inestimable Mick Gordon (who also delivers another poundingly intense score).
The sound effects are probably the game’s weakest suit, but even then that doesn’t mean they’re bad — just not quite at the same level as the other elements. Still, the guns sound appropriately meaty, and the sci-fi elements throw up some suitably freaky sound design. The game also does well on a technical level, generally keeping to a solid 60fps on PS4 even in areas with heavy lighting and/or intense action. The odd bug did rear its head — the odd janky ragdoll here and there, and one instance where getting stuck in level geometry forced a reload — but by and large the game runs smoothly.
Again, the game lacks multiplayer, but there’s more than enough meat to the 20-ish hour campaign to justify a full-price buy. What’s more, once the story reaches its (incredibly satisfying) end, you can play further by hunting down high-ranking Nazi commanders, their locations unlocked by decrypting Enigma codes looted off officers. It’s a nice way of extending the playtime just a little longer in a way that’s tonally appropriate and not bogged down by grinding or loot boxes.
Our verdict:
While a lot of the hype around The New Colossus has revolved around its politics, it’s also one of the year’s most rip-roaringly fun adventures. MachineGames surprised everyone in 2014 by taking one of the most gleefully cheesy of 90s franchises and marrying it to strong storytelling and characterisation, and with The New Colossus they’ve raised the bar even further, making it yet another highlight in what was already a strong year for games. Besides, how can you argue with a game that lets you ride a fire-breathing Nazi robot dog?
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was reviewed using a code provided by Bethesda Softworks.
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