Wolfenstein - The New Order

[Wolfenstein - The New Order, Bethesda Softworks, Machinegames, 2014]

A classic re-visited

The New Order is the latest in a series that goes back to 1981. Unfortunately, even though I owned a Commodore 64, I didn't play Castle Wolfenstein. It was available on the early system, among others. My first initiation with this classic was with Wolfenstein 3D on my little IBM PC in 1992. In it, you play as Captain B.J Blazkowicz, captured by the Nazis and trying to escape from one of their castles. It was available as shareware (a free game, for those of you born after 1977 unlike me) and is generally credited with being one of the first games to popularize the first-person shooter genre.

I spent weeks, neigh months playing this literal game-changer. It was my original experience with the first-person shooter and my memories are fond, to say the least. Therefore, you can understand why I was noticeably reticent when I heard that they were re-vamping the series yet again. A version of the series came out for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 2 in 2009 to mediocre reviews that generally left fans looking for more. That's why when a new version came out for the XBox One, I had my doubts. That said, I was generally pleased with the result. For one thing, Bethesda Softworks took the reigns. The publishers of personal favorites Fallout and The Elder Scrolls helped to put my mind at ease. For another, the premise is scrumptiously crunchable. It takes place in an alternate universe in which the Nazis won World War II by nuking the U.S. Who couldn't get just a little bit excited about this Tarantino-esque re-writing of history with twinges of childhood nostalgia thrown in for good measure? Only a true Nazi, that's who!

what kind of world did hitler create?

Hitler created a pretty awful place to live, to literally no one's surprise. It's mostly concrete and the Beatles sing neo-nazi ditties because it was that or go to the death camps. When returning as B.J. Blazkowicz, you have been in a coma for over 14 years. You went into the coma in 1946 and didn't come out again until 1960 when the asylum you've been living in is being "liquidated." The kindly old doctor and his wife were killed along with the rest of the patients. The only survivors are their daughter and Blazkowicz, who conveniently wakes up just in time to kill a few Nazis, save her life, and escape. 

You have to be able to suspend a little disbelief to enjoy this one, like forgetting that people who have been in comas for fourteen years can't walk, much less snap necks and fire automatic shotguns within minutes of waking up. However, if you can perform this minor feat of mental gymnastics, you're in for a good time. You eventually meet up with the resistance and take the fight to the Nazis and General "Deathshead" Strasse.

A good multiplayer decision

With nearly everything coming out these days having one including games that probably shouldn't like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, it is refreshing to see a game choose to put all of their effort into creating a quality singly player instead of spending time and effort to make a mediocre and unecessary multiplayer component. According to senior gameplay designer Andreas Öjerfors, the game doesn't contain a multiplayer due to a desire to create the best single player experience possible. "If we could take every bit of energy and sweat the studio has and pour all that into the single-player campaign, it gives us the resources to make something very, very cool, compared to if we would also have to divert some of our resources to making multiplayer." 

In my humble opinion, not enough games make this tough decision today. I realize that the replay-ability rises considerably when companies take this step, but not every game is designed for a multiplayer experience. In the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto, we all played the game with the same single character(s). It simply makes no sense for us all to take the protagonist(s) into a multiplayer game. The math just doesn't work. Even with number five's three main characters, it still felt awkward. With games like Call of Duty and Titanfall that have chosen up front to be multiplayer games, I say run with it. However, there are plenty of titles out there that have a multiplayer that feels tacked on. With these games, they should have just focused their time and energy on the campaign. Instead, you end up with two halves that don't make a whole and a game that feels unfinished. Sometimes adding a multiplayer just because you can takes away from the overall experience and simply shouldn't happen. 

the meat and potatoes

This game was a whole lot of fun. I don't see it winning any Game of the Year awards, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth picking up. The gameplay is solid. The graphics are impressive, if not mind-blowing. The alternate-history aspect of the story line is intriguing. All-in-all, this is a really good game. I won't go so far as to call it great, but I have trouble when trying to find any flaws in this one. Give it a look. You won't find a reason to be disappointed. 

the math

Objective Score: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 for the use of an alternate universe where the Nazis won WWII. Re-writing history is a winning proposition as proved by Inglorious Basterds.

Penalties: -1 for the need to suspend your disbelief on a regular basis. Once or twice is okay. Every two minutes is a bit much. 

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10 A mostly enjoyable experience.

First Impressions: Grand Theft Auto V

Well, it's finally here

Some of you have been waiting with baited breath for the next chapter in the Grand Theft Auto series. Others are waiting to see how it holds up before they buy the next version of the world's most infamous game. Count me somewhere in between. When GTA IV came out, I was blown away. The completeness of the world and plethora of options were simply staggering. The ability to follow a couple around and eavesdrop onto their very realistic conversation was a leap forward in the creation of a real-world feeling sandbox shooter. However, by the time I was finished with the game, I'll be quite honest, I was ready for it to be over.

the characters

 

The biggest change from previous iterations of Grand Theft Auto is the ability to play three different characters simultaneously. A single push of the D-pad allows you to jump immediately from one character to another. This wouldn't have been necessary in previous GTA games as they only had a single protagonist, but this one has three.

Michael Townley is a forty-something retired gangster living in witness protection in San Andreas (GTA V's Los Angeles and surrounding areas). He claims to be happy that he has survived the outlaw life and is living comfortably in relative wealth. However, that facade quickly falls apart as we learn that his wife is sleeping with her tennis coach, his son is a pot-smoking gamer burnout, and his daughter is a day away from starring in her own porn movie. 

Franklin is a gangster who is trying to work his way out of the life and make something more profitable and, more importantly, survivable for himself. Unfortunately, just like Michael Corleone, each time he gets out, they pull him back in. Franklin has done the dopeman thing. He's been a hustler. He's boosted cars. Franklin is pretty much the stereotypical gangbanger we all rapped along to in Snoop Dogg tracks circa 1994.Unlike those Death Row Records classics (Many of whom appear on the classic rap radio station), Franklin gives us some insight into the softer side of the gangster. We learn of his family problems, his drug-addicted friends, and his aching for a better life. He recalls Ice Cube's classic line from Boyz N The Hood. "They either don't know, don't show, or don't care what's happening in the hood."

Trevor is easily the most entertaining and unpredictable of the three protagonists. He's a died-in-the-wool psychopath with just the smallest shred of human decency still crawling around inside of him. He's a hillbilly meth cook and you don't want to play around with him. I'll be honest. I just opened up this character last night, but it was a memorable experience. He chases down gangsters in a rusty, old pickup, destroys a trailer park, then makes a deal to cook meth for what I think was the Japanese Triad. That's a full day's work for anybody! I can't wait to play the rest of his story line as I've read it's easily the funniest and most entertaining, and after my first experience with him I can see why.

is it really that good?

The game isn't revolutionary, so don't look for the next step in gaming here. However, it is possibly the best of the series, and that's really saying something considering this is the second-best selling franchise ever after Call of Duty. There are some cool new options, the best of them is the ability to play as multiple characters with a touch of the D-pad. Whether doing missions together or standing on opposite ends of the map, this addition really changes the overall feel. While it's still a GTA game, it feels like it has more depth and meaning than any of the previous four.

Unfortunately, I'm not as impressed as many reviewers were with the improvements in gameplay. I still hit everything in sight when driving. I still run around in circles trying to figure out who is shooting me or trying jack a car. The character movement that has been described as "tank-like" is still ever-present. That said, the writing in this game really puts it a step above anything Rockstar has done in the past. Unlike Niko from GTA IV, I actually care about these characters. I want Michael to sort out his family issues. I want Franklin to make something more of himself than just being your average dope-slanging gangster. I don't have enough experience with Trevor yet to speak to my feelings about him other than to say he maybe the funniest character ever created in the series. Hopefully reports about him weren't as overblown as the ones about the new driving and auto-aim features.

then why is it getting so much praise?

I really feel that the biggest change in this newest of Autos, Grand Theft is the mid-mission save points. It truly makes the game. I honestly couldn't tell you why they haven't thought of it before, but I'm forever grateful that they did. Let's say you're doing a heist. It's a 20-30 minute long mission. In past versions you would have had to start the entire thing over if you died, but not any more. The game does a fantastic job of keeping track of your progress and placing you exactly where you were when death occurred. For noobs this may seem like a small addition, but GTA veterans will know exactly what I'm talking about. There was nothing more annoying than getting 90% of the way through a mission only to die and stare down the barrel of another 30 minutes of death-defying. I turned off more GTA games due to that fact than any other I've ever played.

Instead, you pick up right where you left off. When you've been doing your best to cling to that last shred of green life bar, only to catch a bullet a few feet from escape, well, let's just say not all my controllers have survived the process. Now it drops you in seconds before your death if you aren't able to hang on. There are other small additions that help you enjoy the game. There's a Facebook knock-off called LifeInvader.com. There's an homage to Lethal Weapon when you use a truck to pull a house down the side of a mountain. There's even a stripper mini-game where you try to touch the dancer without being caught by the bouncer and kicked out of the club. However, it's this mid-mission save point option that makes this the best of the series, in my opinion. The writing is good. It's not Breaking Bad or The Wire, but it's solidly entertaining. However, the removal of the most maddening element in the previous games takes this to a whole new level.

Nevermind the fact that it's a truly beautiful game, and it is, the save points take away what made the other games so infuriating. If you were driven crazy by the gameplay and movement, you might want to skip this one because, for all their bluster, Rockstar hasn't created the next great control scheme. But if it was the length and repetition of missions that was keeping you away from GTAV, go ahead and pick it up. You won't be disappointed. It took me a while to get into this game, but now I've fallen in love with it and I can't wait to get home and play more. I hope you feel the same.