Wolfenstein: The New Order

There are two surprising things about Wolfenstein: The New Order: it has a focus on strong characters and story, and it has no multiplayer mode. It’s an extremely ordinary FPS otherwise, which makes the lack of multiplayer even more conspicuous – there’s no technical, mechanical, or thematic reason for its absence. The single-player content is perfectly competent; the graphics, audio, and shooting controls are solid, the level design is amazing, and the challenge level is agreeable overall, if a little inconsistent depending on the enemy types being faced. The old Gears of War tonal disconnect – “war is hell” drama mixed with ultra-manly one-man-army gameplay – still prevents it from ever really engaging, though. Additionally, just because there’s a focus on story doesn’t mean the story is spectacular, and The New Order’s suffers from major lapses in logic and a complete cop-out of an ending.