an undercurrent of remarkable
intelligence beneath its crass
veneer. It’s cunningly self-aware,
and it immediately reminded me
of the criminally underappreciated
Bulletstorm, which has me worried
that it’ll share a similarly cruel
commercial fate as that title. And
that’d just be an absolute travesty,
because Wolfenstein: The New
Order is an excellent game.
The overarching premise is
this: at the start of the game, the
Allies launch a last-ditch effort
on the compound of General
Wilhelm “Deathshead” Strasse.
Fans will recognise Deathshead
from Wolfenstein’s past, so it’s no
surprise that returning hero William
“B.J.” Blazkowicz is included in
the assault force. It’s quickly made
apparent that the Nazis have gotten
their hands on vastly superior
technology that makes short work
of most of the Allied forces, but B.J.
and company persevere regardless.
At least until Bad Stuff inevitably
happens, and B.J. is left trapped in a
coma for more than ten years. Fast
forward to the ‘60s, and he awakens
to find an alternate history where
the Nazis used overwhelmingly
powerful technology to win World
War II and cover every corner of the
globe in cheerful swastikas.
The most surprising aspect of
this new Wolfenstein is its story. I
was fully expecting some juvenile,
mostly useless excuse for a
narrative, serving as nothing more
than a feeble enabler for unbridled
mayhem. And while the narrative
Issue 30 | 2014 The OverClocker 49