*Author’s Note: This story contains spoilers for the ending of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Please take note and read at your own risk.*
In an interview with GiantBomb, MachineGames creative director Jens Matthies gave players the first hint of a possible sequel to the latest iteration of the classic Wolfenstein video game franchise, Wolfenstein: The New Order. Since the game’s May 20 release, it has sold well over 1 million copies globally, per VGChartz. I am not sure what targets Bethesda Softworks is trying to hit with the franchise; but hopefully, passing the one million mark is encouraging and MachineGames will get the opportunity to take another crack at the classic game brand.
Wolfenstein: The New Order felt like a fresh spin on the first-person shooter. It provided a robust single-player experience that was rewarding and fulfilling to play. While you see a lot of first-person shooters moving away from the single-player experience, The New Order appeared to reinvigorate it in many ways. I most enjoyed to ability to take any type of approach with the gameplay. You can try an aggressive, guns blazing approach, or a more strategic, calculated stealth approach. The game levels provide outlets for both. Getting to use the duel-wielding guns reminded me of playing the classic Goldeneye on the N64.
Plot-wise, the game is refreshing. The story features strong writing and multi-faceted characters. The game really puts you inside of the head of a blunt instrument like BJ Blazkowicz, and you ultimately come to accept him, warts and all, in his most darkest moments. Even seemingly innocuous characters such as Anya have their dark sides.
MachineGames and Matthies appear to be on the right track in doing a sequel. In the GiantBomb interview, Matthies talked about MachineGames learning “500 smaller” lessons rather than “one big lesson,” which makes sense. The game does not have what I would call one huge glaring flaw, but it does have little kinks that could be worked out and ideas I would like to see explored further. One such idea is that of alternate choices. The game provides one of these in the early chapters that diverts the game into two separate areas. It alters some of the play style in being able to hotwire a door open or lock-pick it. It creates some different cut scenes and determines who you will interact with during your game, be it J or Tekla. This is something the game could have explored a bit further, rather than its appearance in only that one single moment.
A sequel also needs to be made because of that gigantic cliffhanger ending. It is far from a bad ending, but it is rather abrupt. Somehow, our hero BJ is able to survive a grenade blast at point blank range. He then orders a nuclear missile strike on Deathshead’s compound. After that, the credits roll. That’s it. No coda. No denouement. Nothing. Well, other than the sound of a chopper at the tail end and the vague notion that maybe, just maybe, BJ was rescued before the big kaboom. However, seeing an explosion and nothing else, would have been less anticlimactic. It was an awkward moment for the game to go out on.
It is good to see that the interest and desire from MachineGames is there. If there is one game that deserves to get a big sequel made, it is Wolfenstein: The New Order. There is already a villain ready to go for the next installment with Frau Engel, so players definitely deserve the chance to rid the Wolfenstein world of Engel for good.
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