Wolfenstein: The New Order Launches

Back in 1992, Wolfenstein 3D helped kick off the fledgling FPS genre. Today, the saga continues with Wolfenstein: the New Order. It's set in an alternate-history world where the Nazis won WW2, with hero B.J. Blazkowicz setting out to join resistance fighters. Unusually for a modern FPS, the game has no multiplayer element — it's single-player only. Early reviews for the game are generally positive. Polygon's says, "First, stealth is a valid option for extended portions of the game, with silent melee takedowns and a brutally effective suppressed pistol. There's also a form of progression in Wolfenstein: The New Order's perk system. Performing certain actions in combat unlocks new abilities and upgrades over time, which can make a significant difference in the way you can tackle firefights. You can also find weapon upgrades that further escalate the raw, over-the-top violence on display. This combination of old ideas and new hooks seems mismatched, but I was taken aback by how well it all worked together."

Eurogamer had some criticism: "Less impressive are the plot and the characters, which often feel like they exist only to amplify the opportunities for violence and sensationalism. ... I wouldn't say it's offensive, but Wolfenstein: The New Order isn't a very tactful game, even though it's often trying to be. ... This is a game that does everything it needs to to earn an 18 certificate but rarely manages to achieve a sense of either gravity or maturity." The game is out for the PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, and Windows. It's build on the id Tech 5 engine, and that's causing some graphics issues on the PC, much like RAGE did when it launched in 2011. The game's massive size (~50GB) is causing problems for PS4 owners as well.

Re:I'm curious what a FPS with "Maturity" is

[mythosaz]

Obligatory: http://begthequestion.info/ [begthequestion.info]

Re:50 GB??

[Anonymous Coward]

check out a video demo the ID Tech 5 engine. The whole concept uses a metric-assload of high detail texture data. tiles it and streams it to the GPU. You get awesome texture detail. at the cost of space...

-S

Not all games need a good story

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't played the game yet but I find it funny that there is the criticism of the story and characters. I know these things are expected of modern games but, given the heritage of this game, I would never expect a good story but i would expect some fun shooter action. Wolfenstein comes from a time when, "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."

Re:creepy

[Nemyst]

It's only an id tech game even. It's by MachineGames, who're basically a bunch of ex-Starbreeze developers. Now, Starbreeze did a few good games like The Darkness and both Riddick games, but they also made less than impressive stuff like Syndicate, so it's a bit of a mixed bag.

Even if Carmack were still at id (and he was for the vast majority of this game's development cycle, remember), he probably would've had little involvement. Not that I feel like it matters, though. Carmack is an amazing programmer and engine developer, but he's not very good at designing games from that tech (as can be seen by the fairly middling output id has had since shortly after its early days).

Re:50 GB??

[Anonymous Coward]

It's awesome until you get up close. Then it's a washed out 2d mess.

An easter egg based on Wolf3D!

[antdude]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... [youtube.com] from http://www.dorkly.com/post/632... [dorkly.com]

Castle wolfenstein was first

[Anonymous Coward]

"Back in 1981, Castle Wolfenstein by Muse software kicked off the Wolfenstein saga" -- There I fixed your error..