Bethesda recently released "Wolfenstein: The New Order," a stunning return to form for the "Wolfenstein" series of games.

The gameplay is relatively smooth and organic, there is not a lot of searching big maps for collectables. In fact Bethesda did a very good job of keeping the collectibles a managable/ not obnoxious size, (I'm looking at you "Assasin's Creed") with a few of them affecting gameplay (health/ weapons upgrades/ gameplay modes) Its closest analogous game for gameplay would be the "Bioshock" series, in that all the action is right up front in your face, the sniper rifle is all but useless (until you get the laser mod on the nazi moon base and it becomes a killing machine (albeit one that runs out of power frustratingly quick)). There are also a few sneaking portions, where one has to find a commander and kill them first before they call reinforcements. These aren't terribly hard, nor are they annoying, they are just a way to break up the "in your face" kind of action, but I wouldn't call this a sneaking game at all. 

"Wolfenstein: The New Order" is more of a panicky, deal with two small enemies and one big one all in your face and all at the same time, kind of a shooter. It most certainly is not a "play your style" kind of shooter. That said, your play style is really effected by the weapon you choose to prefer, some need battery charges, the others bullets. The "Laserkraftwerk" weapon was one of the first special weapon/ weird weapon types I have ever remembered enjoying using (I personally go for assault rifles almost exclusively), especailly useful after the site modifications, and charge modifications. It may be the star of the entire game.

The dual wielding was fun, especially with two shotguns equipped with bouncing rounds that can turn a hallway into a popcorn popper filled with lead. Still, one kind of wishes you could mix and match different guns for different effects. The developers also included a call back 2D mini game callback to the "Wolfenstein's" roots, which was fun. The campaign is about mid-length: can't beat it in a night, but you won't be playing it for weeks and weeks.

Story wise "Wolfenstein The New Order" was also an interesting take. If you haven't read Phillip K. Dick's (He wrote the book "Blade Runner" was based on) "The Man in The High Castle" stop doing what you are doing and read that now. This is where "Wolfenstein: The New Order" gets its premise from, basically what if Nazi's won WWII. Obviously: Bad.

The interesting thing that "Wolfenstein The New Order" adds to the alternate history of WWII trope comes from the characters. There is something very interesting being said about the power of broken people. From the crippled woman who gets a power suit to help her walk, to the ex-Nazi who was forced to allow his own child to die (super important character in terms of seperating fascism from just being German), to the mentally disabled man cared for by said ex- Nazi, who proves himself the strongest by refusing to fight (until the climactic ending of course), to the main character who has a tramatic brain injury causing him to loose large tracts of time. (This could also be seen as a kind of video game in-joke, in that the player isn't there for the time between missions, thusly the main character looses consciousness because he isn't being inhabited by a player.)

Honestly the brain injury trope could have been deployed more effectively, but the crazy/crazy smart character (there is always one of those) says some very interesting things about the nature of consciousness once it becomes discontinious (interesting though it may be, it is not well connected to the rest of the story, or at least the other characters make the game's main philisophical point better than the main character does, which may not necessarily be a negativism) 

The point I am getting at is that "Wolfenstein The New Order" makes a stunningly brilliant take down of the fascist ideology while making an interesting commentary on human nature with the notion that "broken people can be the strongest." In the same way that the skin of scar tissue is harder than all the other skin around it, sometimes it is the most thouroughly broken people that turn out to be the strongest, the deepest. That we as a species are defined not by our "perfection" but in our response to the soul shattering absurdity that is the random allotment of ill fortune. We all constantly resist things falling apart, we are all resistance fighters in that way. The game makes the point that the very notion of "perfection" no matter how strong the power behind it, is brittle because it has never weathered anything larger than itself.

All and all I was glad I shelled out the extra money to play this game right away. 8.9 out of 10