Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Preview
When I reviewed Wolfenstein: The Old Blood a little over 2-years ago I recommended the game to pretty much everyone. It was a rich shooter jam packed with a relentless amount of Nazi killing carnage. It was visually superb and just plain mindless fun. That said, it didn’t reinvent the franchise or really stray from what made Wolfenstein a success. After playing the 20-minute Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus demo at E3 2017 this past week I am left with similar impressions. Taking another thrilling journey with B.J. Blazkowicz is unquestionably a blast, but it does feel a little too familiar.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus E3 demo picks up almost right after the events of The New Order where our hero, B.J. Blazkowicz, looks like he got the living shit kicked out of him. The beginning of the demo sees Blazkowicz wake up from a coma with deep scars all over his body. He appears paralyzed (purely speculating) from the waist down and is seen dragging himself to a nearby wheelchair. Nazis have begun attacking a nearby naval ship, so BJ springs into action the best way he knows how; with heavy machine gun weaponry. But this time he is blasting them in a wheelchair. Yes, the entire demo sees us mowing down enemies in a wheelchair, which I admit was pretty cool.
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“Taking another thrilling journey with B.J. Blazkowicz is unquestionably a blast, but it does feel a little too familiar.”
While the characters, enemies, visuals, weapons and just the overall atmosphere feels familiar, I do have to hand it to the developers for successfully implementing a level where BJ is pushing a wheelchair with one hand, and shooting down Nazis with the other. It’s certainly entertaining but you also feel a little vulnerable at times as well. You see a wheelchair doesn’t move around so well and there was one occasion where BJ was completely thrown off his chair. Despite any setbacks, BJ always seems to rise to the occasion and in the demo he does just that.
Like preview entries in the franchise, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus never takes itself too seriously. It is absolutely ridiculous at times but the hilarity is what makes Wolfenstein so damn enjoyable. Its over-the-top nature was evident throughout the demo which unfortunately featured too much in the way of cut scenes. Granted, I understand the devs want to set up the story a little bit but I was more interested in blasting some enemies and getting a really good sense of the combat than I was watching 5-10 minutes worth of cut scenes.
I died a few times during the demo which spoke to the game’s difficulty. It’s a challenge and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus doesn’t waste any time getting you right into the action. Once again, several difficulty levels exist including the easiest which is “Can I play Daddy?” I would not blame you if you wanted to play on that difficulty.
Environmental traps, health and ammo pickups, and a variety of weapons are at your disposal in the demo. Everything you love about previous Wolfenstein games is back. Yet like most E3 demos, it was just too short and before you know it all came to a cliffhanger ending. I wanted to play more, a lot more. Needless to say, I am excited we won’t have to wait long before we get to kill Nazis again as Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus arrives on October 27.
