Enlarge / BJ is a wanted man in Nazi-overrun America for some reason. Probably because he has killed thousands of Nazis. (credit: Bethesda)
Wolfenstein: The New Order pulled off a pretty neat trick in 2014. Spiritually, the shooting-game surprise felt like a lost gem from the late ’90s era of first-person, single-player shooters, yet it had all the bombast and polish of a solid modern game. Its levels found the right balance between linear and complicated, its guns were both familiar and powerful, and its plot offered depth for those who wanted to pore through optional books and letters. At the same time, it was ham-fisted enough for anyone who just wanted to violently kill a crap-ton of Nazis.
Nobody saw such quality coming from Wolfenstein, a series that had always lagged behind its more technologically advanced sibling Doom. So what happens when a game that surprised everyone gets its own sequel?
The bottom-line gist of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is easy to sum up: more of the same. The game’s underlying 3D engine has gotten a new coat of paint, and the world has expanded with more characters and lunacy, but this by-the-books sequel will neither disappoint fans of the original nor convert anybody unmoved by the 2014 game. And if you’re showing up to this year’s Wolfenstein party because, for whatever reason, you have an itch to shoot guns at virtual Nazis as of late, be ready for some issues and pacing problems on your way through a solid Nazi-stomping quest.
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