Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

When I finished my playthrough, I sat watching the credits roll with a huge grin on my face, quite convinced I hadn’t played a better first-person shooter in years. I’ll keep coming back for a long time thanks to bountiful epilogue missions, plus an alternate-timeline playthrough that grants access to another side character, scenes, and weapons. But these things are just gravy. On its own merits the campaign is unbeatable, packed to the gills with unforgettable story moments and fantastic combat sequences.

Improving in almost every single aspect of the original game -and its stand alone expansion- The New Colossus takes many bold steps with its story narrative and delivers and unprecedented gaming experience for the genre that will be much talked about in the years to come.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a remarkable title, the best Wolfenstein game yet, and one of the finest singleplayer FPS titles ever created. With so much recent chatter about the death of the triple-A single player game, here comes BJ Blazkowicz with two middle fingers pointed directly at that idea. And with such a lengthy campaign, the lack of multiplayer isn’t even missed. The thrilling action, tight controls, incredible variety of tactics, and a surprisingly emotional, thought provoking, hysterical story make this one not to miss — the fact that it brings timely commentary on undesirable aspects of American society is even more icing on this Nazi-stomping cake.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus has become the new benchmark for single-player shooter campaigns. The sheer amount of freedom that players have to go along with the excellent gunplay make it one of the best shooters in years on those merits alone. Add in what is one the year’s most compelling, important narratives and you have a recipe for an instant classic on your hands. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus isn’t just 2017’s best shooter, it’s a game that will be looked back upon as one of the standout titles of this generation when it comes to an end.

I had high expectations going into Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, but MachineGames managed to outdo them in every way imaginable. They've created one of the most ridiculous video games ever made, and one that is never afraid to be clear about its message of equality & justice. While it's easy to focus on the over-the-top story beats and memorable scenes, The New Colossus is carried by an incredible amount of heart from start to finish.

In sum, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is exactly what I was expecting given what we saw in the previous Wolfenstein titles by Machine Games. It’s a AAA quality guns-blazing romp to be sure, but with a very quality story and characters that not only invites players to get invested, but gives them ample reason to.

Yeah yeah it's a sequel, it's more of the same yadda yadda yadda, it's nothing more than a simple shooter... But y'know, screw it: I've had so much fun with The New Colossus, that I'm going to give it a 92. Not everyone will agree with it, but those people can kiss my politically incorrect *ss.

Even and without the absence of a multiplayer mode, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a great FPS that offers a fantastic, deep and really well told story. If you love the genre you should not miss it.

A fantastic single-player shooter, but what really got me invested was the brilliantly written characters and the performances of its cast. BJ and his crew are full of spirit and personality, and General Engel is as memorable a nemesis as you’re likely to find in games. Machine Games has once again turned the well-worn act of mowing down Nazis into something to get excited about.

Wolfenstein II is not a subtle game, nor is it for the faint of heart. Watching comrades getting decapitated as Mick Gordon’s hyperactive electronic metal shreds in the background is not easy, but neither should it be. If anything, it amplifies the rare moments of quiet reflection on board Eva’s Hammer and drives home how important friends and family are in the face of adversity. In turn cartoonish and visceral, there’s an eerie prescience about Wolfenstein II’s narrative that feels uncomfortably close to home, but as an experience it’s nothing less than essential.

Wolfenstein II's stealth, gunplay, sprawling levels, and different abilities offer plenty of scope for a variety of player approaches, while its excellent writing and voice acting serve a great story that successfully manages to blend an often serious tone with moments of levity and pulp. It's an affecting yet cathartic title, and one of the very best games out this year.

The best part about Wolfenstein II however, is a combination of the story and the cast. This game is truly BJ’s story. He’s coming up to 50, having spent most of his life fighting, and he wants nothing more than to stop – except he’s such a stand up guy that he can’t. He’s incredibly likeable, and incredibly easy to root for. It’s constantly touching. with a range of funny, quirky and believable characters just trying their best in a harsh world. Most of your bad guys seem to be a little bit over the top, and while well written, come across as caricatures. Then again, they are literal Nazis.

The New Colossus is a sometimes absurd, over-the-top single player action game that revels in stupidity but is also whip-crack smart about its themes and is happily willing to silence its guns for an extended series of emotionally honest and beautifully acted moments. Some of the character models aren't great (though the voice work uniformly is), there are some graphical issues here and there, and the testosterone-injected guitar riffs that underscore the firefights seem at grating odds with the setting and story. Very minor quibbles aside, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus -- like a few of the fanciful animals in the game -- bolts the head of serious political and social satire onto the body of a shooter and it all works amazingly well.

Quotation forthcoming.

Wonderfully over-the-top and insanely brutal, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus pulls no punches and quickly turns into one of the best shooters of the year.

“Inglourious Basterds meets Fast and Furious” – a multicultural group of irreverent, colorful characters on a globetrotting quest to ruin Hitler’s day, week and life in a fantastic revenge fantasy setting. Brutal, absurd, clever, insightful and touching, The New Colossus is a rollicking adventure that has reset the bar for what first person shooters can, and should, be.

BJ Blazkowicz shows how great it is to kill Nazis, but Wolfenstein 2 has a lot more to offer: the world, the cast and the huge range of bizarre stories make this game a definite recommendation.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus brings together great storytelling with satisfying gun play in a unique package. You'll come for the Nazi killing but stay for the likeable characters and scenes that will constantly surprise you.

Whether it's delivering chaos or absurdity, grim drama or theatrical villainy, Wolfenstein II handles it all superbly.

By far the best first person shooter released this year. It is often brutal and totally unflinching in its depiction of the violence people do to each other, but it is also hilarious and moving and tells a very human story.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a rock ‘n roll rebellion that manages to blend thrilling shoot ‘em up action with heavy subject matter and a narrative that begs players to rage against the machine with as many bullets as possible.

Wolfenstein 2 offers slick shooting, plenty of spectacle, and heaps of fun characters to interact with. The plot is far from perfect, and levels are a touch dull, but overall it’s a must-play.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus jumps from breakneck bloodshed, to humour involving your endearing crew, with aplomb; a masterfully done sequel.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a quintessential single player shooter, and contains one of the best campaigns in recent memory. Rammed full of memorable moments and brilliant characters, it takes you on a horrifying yet fascinating ride through a Nazi dominated world that – as a result of real world events – feels a touch less like fantasy this time around. While the story is undoubtedly the star of the show, the viscera drenched combat, satisfying weapons, and rewarding perk system more than hold up their side of the bargain. The single player game is dead, long live the single player game.

We wanted more, and we got it. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus may not look as fresh as The New Order was back in 2014, but it's still a perfect old school first-person shooter.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a bold, badass statement about the power of single player games: a great, dirty and excessive story, an unforgettable cast of characters, that puts the game up there with the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Tarantino. The gameplay offers great freedom for the player, whether he likes mayhem or a more stealthy approach, and it's incredibly rewarding either way. A truly must-have for fans of clever, well-designed FPS action.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a snarling beast of a game. Both its action and story feel like riding a raging bull - it’s exhilarating yet terrifying. But that's also the point. New Colossus knows how to elicit so much emotion from the player because it absolutely refuses to back down in any sense. It knows exactly what it wants to say and what it wants the player to overcome, leaving an impression that won't soon be forgotten.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus lives up to its first installment and even surpasses it in many aspects. Another great triumph of the single-player resistance against the online empire.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a bombastic, absurdly enjoyable action romp packing a story that's part Ocean's Eleven, part Inglorious Basterds.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a fluid, brutal, and challenging first-person shooter and one that is insane and over-the-top from start to finish, but it is the unique cast of characters and the story they’re a part of that shines. B.J and his crew of revolutionaries add heart and humor to the otherwise bleak world and help create some of the most memorable moments in single-player focused games this year. Machine Games has built on what made The New Order great to produce one of this generation’s finest shooters.

The New Colossus never lets you forget who and why you're fighting. Nazi brutality is on full display, from the blown-out, irradiated remains of Manhattan to each of the resistance members, who all carry mental scars if not physical ones. You're never given a chance between cutscenes, missions, and even downtime on the U-boat to lose sight of the Reich's cruelty. Wolfenstein's tense gameplay elevates this further by giving you the power to truly resist--and come out of each battle ready for another fight.

Terror Billy is back and it is time for a revolution! Once again we hunt nazi's and it had never been as much fun as now. We get a story with humor and dark elements and the gameplay is a smooth but challenging ride. This is a must buy.

Some of the most fearless and idiosyncratic storytelling ever seen in a video game, married to one of the most viciously entertaining shooters of the generation.

The New Colossus is a perfectly crafted FPS experience. It can stop your breath, slap your face, make you laugh and inject adrenaline. All of these within a single hour of gameplay. It’s a game built on emotions.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus repeats the formula of delirious shooter, excessive and entertaining, and able to put any player in trouble. But this time it has a better story, one with deeper and loaded with critical, uncomfortable and even politically incorrect messages. Secondary missions and hundreds of collectibles bring many hours of game to their fans and the technical and artistic work is great.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is easily one of the best shooters in recent times, improving on the previous installment and showing surprising humanity for a Nazi-killing gore fest.

Machine also brought the most amazing characters, quality storytelling, and well-paced gameplay to The New Colossus. You’ll want to spend time with these people and discover their fate — sometimes that will warm your heart and sometimes it will break it.

The New Colossus is the rare sort of shooter that sometimes even shines more when there's no guns involved at all. Especially in the friendships paved with BJ's comrades through the game's sometimes-silly pulp attitude. Especially in scenes with Anya, BJ's take-no-shit partner. A partner he doesn't need to protect, nor save. A woman who's on the front lines with a rifle just like the rest of the resistance—even with a super-pregnant, protruding belly. The New Colossus reminded me why I loved the quietly lifelike romance from the first game so much in the first place.

Killing isn’t all that Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus offers. It’s the rare first-person shooter that explores the first time its hero pulled a trigger; it’s the rare first-person shooter that is comfortable connecting with the primal, untamed parts of your brain while celebrating just how f.cking good it feels to lay out a Nazi.

The last work of MashineGames is full of great ideas, featuring extraordinary and satisfying gameplay. In our opinion, The New Colossus is an unmissable game, and it sets the bar for the other first person shooters.

While some people doubt if single-player is still a thing in the video game business, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus shows that it definitely is. The story is impressive with its drama and appropriate comic relief, and the gameplay is crazy and nerve wrecking, just how we like it.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus follows up on its predecessor with a bang. With a dynamic protagonist and amazing characters, this is an entry in the foundation of what modern shooters, if not narrative games in general, can be. The mechanics are as stellar as the guns are loud, and it'll leave the player itching for more even when it's over.

One of the most charismatic shooters of 2017, attending to screenplay. Other features aren't as surprising, but overall we have a remarkable action experience.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is an almost perfect sequel, an "old school" shooter with a terrific narrative and frantic gunfights.

There is so much to discover in Wolfenstein II. Collectibles, endgame missions and Nazi troops destruction. MachineGames has managed to create a superior sequel in every aspect. Plot and gameplay mechanics of The New Colossus entertain, and keeps you playing for hours, with that B series tone that knows what it should look like and isn't scared to put you in bizarre situations that seem to be written by someone who has a few screws loose. Not perfect, but will have its place among the best FPS games of this generation.

It’s hard to believe that both The New Order and The Old Blood have been topped, but MachineGames has done it again with The New Colossus.

Wolfenstein is back with its solid gameplay, its classic feel and some new features. A game you can't miss if you enjoyed the old-school FPS.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus delivers on its promises. It's more of the same, but there are more weapons, more tools, and more Nazis to kill. In some ways, it's slightly disappointing in that the mechanics aren't more creative to go with the excesses in the plot, but a safe sequel isn't a bad thing. If you enjoyed The New Order or its spin-off The Old Blood, you'll enjoy Wolfenstein II. It hits all the right marks of the original, and any flaws are minor and don't detract from the all-important task of blowing up Nazis. Sometimes, that's all a game needs to be.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a great first person shooter that mainly focuses on plot, characters and gunplay. It's not perfect, but fans of the series will be pleased with what MachineGames has accomplished.

Improving on The New Order while raising the stakes at the same time may seem like a daunting task, but Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus manages to do exactly that.

Wolfestein 2: The New Colossus is a gorgeous, fluid shooter with an delightful story and characters filled with good ‘ol Nazi killing satisfaction.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is an FPS that makes a ton of good to great decisions, but also a handful of poor ones. Tightly crafted gameplay is marred by adherence to genre conventions, and the narrative gets off to a slow start as the game decides what it wants to be. However, neither of those are enough to drag this down too much, as it is simply too well put together and has more than enough personality and fun to poke through the layer of seriousness draped over the first parts of the campaign. What is left is a game that can stand as a very fine example of its genre, if not quite a groundbreaking one.

The second part continues in the footsteps of its predecessor and does not bring any major changes. However, it brings a hectic, explosive action accompanied by an excellent, though sometimes too exaggerative story.

Shocking, silly and brutal, BJ's comeback spins an enjoyable, if tonally confused, yarn. Despite its issues, this is still a rollicking thoughtfully driven shooter. [Christmas 2017, p.93]

It’s clear the creative resources that weren’t used on overhauling the gameplay systems were used on a strong narrative. The writing, cinematography, and acting in Wolfenstein II have elevated the franchise from humble beginnings as a first-person-shooter reliant on compelling gameplay. Now, Wolfenstein is synonymous with enthralling storytelling, along with it’s invigorating gameplay.

A bold shooter that never fails to entertain. [Issue#194, p.80]

The New Colossus is a Wolfenstein game and it doesn’t deviate much from the formula. This is good and bad at the same time because the strong story is not backed up by evolution in gameplay.

Although there is not much improvements in the gameplay department, The New Colossus is still a solid, stunning shooter with breath-taking combats and never ending violence that will definitely satisfy every single shooter fan out there.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a continuation of everything that made Wolfenstein: The New Order work. A very strong character-driven war story, creative alt-history sci-fi setting and ultra-violent, immensely satisfying first-person shooter gameplay.

Part political commentary, part comic-book farce, completely batshit insane, and as primal as an FPS title can be, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is certainly recommended. It has a great cast, wicked visuals, breathless combat, and unforgettable story moments. It cannot be denied that there are flaws, and they are tough to ignore, but the game's wanton carnage and narrative head-fuckery help slice through them as cleanly as a hatchet through a Nazi's cranium.

A great follow up to The New Order, though it isn’t necessarily that much better. The gameplay presents a solid first person shooter while the narrative gives us a protagonist who bears scars of battle outside and in. There are some issues when it comes to how difficult the game can get at times, but fans of first person shooters and compact single player titles should definitely give Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus a shot.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus’ story and imaginative level design carry the burden of its quality on their shoulders, but they’re backed up by solid shooter mechanics and really cool guns. While the experience as a whole might be inconsistent and sometimes frustrating, it’s an experience worth having. After all, you get to blow up a bunch of Nazis. Also, did we mention the guns were really cool?

Wolfenstein II a fun, challenging, lushly produced, narrative first-person shooter that any fan of the genre would be remiss to skip.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a game that inherits many elements of the past, bringing them to future gamers to discover. There are few problems, but the structure is very solid and perfect for FPS lovers.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus delivers an enjoyable action packed first person shooter experience. The alternate take on history makes for an interesting story populated by characters who are easy to care about. The characters that the player is supposed to hate are quite easy to despise since the game doesn’t hold back about cranking up their despicable level. Some sequences are hard to sit through since they don’t shy away from racism, antisemitism, animal cruelty, domestic violence and just sadistic behavior in general, but this features Nazis, so expecting sunshine and rainbows would be a naive viewpoint. Overall Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus delivers a memorable experience that isn’t afraid to pull punches to get an emotional response but still maintains the over the top action movie camp factor. Most importantly, it delivers fast paced shooting action and explosive carnage which is what people typically want from a first person shooter.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus tries to take the series a colossal step forward and indeed manages to do so in many aspects. Its impressive story and characters deserve a TV series, the combat is exploding and wild and the perk system is really challenging and fun. However, Wolfenstein 2 climbs too high and eventually crashes severely due to extremely unbalanced difficulty levels and clunky stealth and health systems, that make it too difficult even for experienced FPS players. Get psyched for a real grinding.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus's story is a rich tapestry of violence, wild ideas and memorable characters, but when its excellent cutscenes end, its play struggles to reach the same heights. Mowing down Nazis is always a blast, but often those moments are undercut by the encumbrance of a counter-intuitive health system. New Colossus hosts some exceptional storytelling and unforgettable moments, but underneath all that is a shooter that never really excels.

Like its predecessor, The New Colossus is a stunning technical achievement and an unusually stylish act of videogame cinematography. Yet where the first game gleefully took a scalpel to what had come before, there's no old order for The New Colossus to overthrow: just a New Order that it struggles to live up to. [Christmas 2017, p.104]