Just played some of the prologue from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. I like that they had you start the game taking out Nazis while sitting in a wheelchair 
It’s probably too early to judge, but I got to the part where BJ surrenders to Engel and my immediate kneejerk reaction is that the game’s tone feels much more silly than The New Order’s. Granted, TNO was already pretty silly- the game featured a fucking Nazi Moon base after all, but it treated its world and characters mostly seriously
Engel was already a ridiculously exaggerated Nazi caricature before but here she’s a completely unhinged cartoon character. She was creepy and insidious in TNO but now she’s just really annoying, and her weird antics kind of rob Caroline’s death of its impact. Engel picks up Caroline’s head and makes kissy faces with it first at BJ and then at her comically fat and inept daughter that she’s constantly berating for being overweight even in the middle of this military operation, shoving the head in her crotch at one point. I’m guessing the daughter’s joining the resistance and getting a redemption arc
Gonna continue the game and see how it develops later, but first impressions are a bit mixed
Even outside of these stabbing QTEs there’s several points in The New Order where BJ gets repeatedly stabbed in the chest during cutscenes and… he just gets better. The guy’s just impervious to knives
I mean he’s still basically just Doomguy
Or is Doomguy just BJ Blazkowicz
spoiler
Or is BJ Blaskowicz just Commander Keen
Yeah I’ve heard they are all of one lineage. But i guess the 3rd game kind of fucked that up?
You’re spot on about the goofy tone of the game. That being said I did find the game to be overall more memorable because of that. Also, many of the gameplay mechanics are more fun, if somewhat under explored. If you can tolerate the sheer over the top story then it really is a good step from the first game.
I guess my issue is that the story and writing were unexpectedly my favourite things in TNO. I thought they struck a really nice balance between seriousness vs the inherently ridiculous dieselpunk Nazi robot alternate history premise and I wanted more of that. I specifically liked that the Nazi villains in TNO weren’t written to be too wacky or comedic which made defeating them feel much more satisfying
That makes sense. This one may miss the mark then
. I’d be interested in seeing your reaction to the game as it progressesI’m excited to see the stuff that made gamers cry about how the game was woke anti-white propaganda
The impression I’ve always had is the first game was inspired or evoking 60s war films like The Great Escape or Where Eagles Dare.
The second game has a more campy 70s feel, as if they were inspired by “Nazisploitation” movies like She-Wolf of the SS or silly grindhouse movies. I have a feeling this was intentional on the part of the writers and designers, or it was at least a thought.
I guess it’s also a question of how you follow up Nazi moon base and giant brain robots.
If the trend continues, they’ll reach the 2000s and the next one will be a 140 hour campaign about how brilliant the Nazis are and how they totally should have won like in pick any History Channel show.
If you thought a moon base was kooky, you’re in for a wild ride lol.
you got me excited. i thought there was a new shadow of the collosus
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although i suppose thats one of those games where if there ever was a sequel or “official” spiritual succsessor it would be an awful soulless cash grab with none of the same vibes. but. still
it’s extremely goofy and over the top in a good way imo, it’s quite a lib game but that’s to be expected
![[CW: Video game decapitation] The New Colossus is really goofy](https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/efeca68c-2e66-4988-9daf-e081b8c26cde.jpeg){kind=link}