Wolfenstein: The New Order

Wolfenstein: The New Order is a first-person shooter developed by Machine Games and Bethesda Software, released in 2014 for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows 64-bit. It is a direct sequel to Wolfenstein, and ties in to Return to Castle Wolfenstein as well. It uses Id Software's id Tech 5 engine as used in Rage, in particular making use of the trademark "megatextures" where an entire level is rendered as a single massive texture.
The story begins in an alternate 1946; the genius Nazi scientist General Deathshead has managed to prolong the war, creating giant mechanical monstrosities and beefed up pseudo-fictional weaponry. After the failure of a desperate final assault on Deathshead's fortress by the remains of the Allied forces, BJ Blazkowicz is put into a coma by shrapnel. When he wakes up again, much to his horror, the year is 1960 and the Third Reich has the world in their hands. With the help of a Polish nurse called Anya, Blazkowicz attempts to find any trace of resistance within the world to fight the Nazis, while also fighting his steadily weakening sanity...
= Overview =
Wolfenstein: The New Order embraces many "old school" shooter concepts; it is singleplayer only, and the game features an unlimited inventory where the player character BJ Blazkowicz can carry every normal weapon in the game at once, and temporarily carry one mounted weapon. He can also carry a set number of grenades.
Almost every weapon in the game has an upgrade hidden somewhere in the campaign, some of which, like the laser mod for the AR Marksman, cannot be avoided, while others like pistol suppressors are more hidden. The standout weapon, the "Laserkraftwerk," a lumpy laser cannon, features seven different mods, though the last of these is strangely hidden, has no description and does almost nothing.
The game features a skill system with four skill trees; these are for the most part progressive unlocks which can be earned by gaining the skill immediately before them in the list and then fulfilling the displayed conditions. One ability available from the beginning is dual-wielding almost every weapon in the game, up to assault rifles and giant belt-fed shotguns. Unusually, it is possible to have different fire modes or ammo types selected on the left and right guns.
= Handguns =
== Luger P08 ==
The Luger P08, called "Handgun 1946", appeared in 1946 as a standard weapon of the Nazi powers. It can be dual-wielded and suppressed. BJ can also use it in 1960 in his nightmare, and a gold-plated version is the weapon of Frau Engel, one of the antagonists of the game. The in-game version incorrectly holds 10 cartridges in the magazine, contrary to the real Luger, which has 8. It's often found in the hands of resistance members.
600px|thumb|none|During a test to see if he is a "true Aryan" administered by villain Frau Engel, BJ has to select between a series of photographs. He also can take Engel's gold-plated Luger, but this just results in him being unceremoniously obliterated by the guard robot which somehow got into the carriage.
== Handgun 1960 ==
A retro-futuristic Luger with a bulked-up barrel appears as the main sidearm of the Nazis during the 1960s; seemingly just so it looks suitably "Nazi" it retains the Luger's complicated toggle-lock rather than switching to slide operation like the Walther P38. It fires in a three-round burst like a Beretta 93R and can also be dual-wielded and suppressed. When suppressed the gun becomes single fire and a special, permanently suppressed white version of the pistol can be found on the Lunar Base. Both versions hold 20 rounds, increasing to 23 with extended magazines.
Interestingly, prototypes of a fully automatic Luger P08 variant were produced near the end of WWI in 1918; this did not agree with the toggle-lock mechanism in the slightest and led to an excessively high rate of fire and frequent failures, and the project was scrapped. The Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer would prove a more successful attempt at the concept.
= Shotguns =
Oddly enough for a series that defined the FPS, The New Order is the first main Wolfenstein game to feature shotguns; the only previous entry to do so was one of the console versions of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. This is in keeping with the German dislike of shotguns following their experiences with the American soldiers using the Winchester Model 1897 Trench Gun in WW1: they actually tried to have the shotgun banned as a weapon of war, and the only shotgun ever issued by Nazi Germany was the extremely rare M30 Luftwaffe Drilling, which was designed for survival hunting rather than combat.
== Double barreled shotgun ==
William can use a Double Barreled Shotgun that is first found within the Asylum, then later within the sewers of Berlin. It holds 2 cartridges, firing one barrel at a time, and can be dual-wielded. It is effectively rendered obsolete as soon as the automatic shotgun is found, and more or less stops appearing at that point in the game. It has no mods.
=="Automatic Shotgun"==
A fictional fully-automatic, belt-fed shotgun that appears to have the trigger group and pistol grip of a Sturmgewehr 44 and the receiver cover of an MG42 (apparently held shut with a pair of Luger toggles). First found in the Prison and can be dual-wielded, holding 20 shells apiece. Starting from the U-Boat level BJ receives "shrapnel rounds" in addition to the normal buckshot; these are a strange fictional round that coughs out glowing marble-sized projectiles which bounce off surfaces and do substantially more damage than one would reasonably expect them to. This upgrade also adds a selector and a second belt box to the weapon model.
= Submachine Guns =
== Thompson Light Rifle ==
Blazkowicz and his fellow troops use a variant of the Thompson Light Rifle simply called the "SMG" with a variety of extra bits and pieces (including sights from the M1A1 Thompson) stuck to it during the 1946 opening level. The barrel length resembles that of the Hyde Carbine M1944. Some versions of the Thompson seen in the hands of Allied troops have custom vertical foregrips; Blazkowicz's version never has this. It actually appears to eject small rifle casings, fitting with the .30 carbine cartridge it uses. It is weak to the point of being practically useless, and has no equivalent in the 1960s levels; it does not itself appear in those levels either, and it has no upgrades.
thumb|601px|none|BJ holds his vaguely updated Thompson as he ponders precisely what moving a unit back and forth between Scotland and Northern Ireland is going to achieve. The name in the lower right appears to be "Operation Algal Blooms," which is at least an appropriately dismal codename for the invasion of Scotland.
 
= Assault Rifles =
== StG-44 ==
A retro-futuristic (and more robust) StG-44 called "Assault Rifle 1946" (and thus presumably being the StG-46) is used by the Nazis during the 1946 chapter. It holds 30 rounds and can be dual-wielded. It also appears in 1960 in the Wolfenstein 3D nightmare, replacing the original "Machine gun" from the Wolfenstein 3D (which was an MP40). There is only one magazine model in the game which has visible rounds in it, which is used for dropped mags even if they are actually empty.
Both assault rifle variants feature a folding front grip mounted under the barrel, but this is only ever shown unfolded when NPCs are using them. This was apparently in keeping with its intention to give the weapon a more sinister, MP40-like profile.
thumb|none|600px|BJ holds his "StG-46" in the Wolfenstein 3D "nightmare" in 1960. This easter egg is the entire first level of Wolfenstein 3D, though sadly there is no bonus for using the secret exit. Note that among all the junk added to it is what appears to be a second rear sight. The bulges on the sides are apparently supposed to be "bullet acceleration tanks," whatever those are.
== Assault Rifle 1960 ==
A strange hybrid of the STG-44 and Heckler & Koch G3 is the main weapon of the Nazis during the 1960's. It holds 45 rounds in a triple-column magazine and can be dual-wielded. Like the StG-46, the StG-60 has a folding foregrip mounted under the barrel which is sometimes seen unfolded when enemies use it but is never used by BJ; some enemies also appear to use a burst mode which BJ cannot, the StG-60 being fullauto-only for him. Blazkowicz will sometimes fiddle with the weapon in idle animations, either checking the magazine, checking the gun is loaded, or adjusting the drum diopter rear sight.
During the Gibraltar Bridge level, BJ comes across the upgrade, a bulky drum-fed semi-automatic micro rocket launcher which lacks any obvious trigger mechanism or means of advancing its drum; the drum is held in place by side clamps and the whole thing is swapped out to reload. For some reason, mounting it also adds a strange guard to the right-hand side of the handguard which is only particularly visible on the left-hand gun when dual wielding it after this point. BJ picks up one, which gives him two, since dual-wielding shows one on each gun. The rocket launcher is one of the few weapons effective against armoured enemies and robots, and is used by Nazi rocket troopers.
= Battle rifles =
== "AR Marksman" ==
A semi-auto marksman version of the Assault Rifle 1960 appears as weapon of the Nazi forces in 1960; it features a different, even more bulky and boxy upper receiver and has some features of the Walther WA 2000. It mounts a scope, and is the closest the game comes to a sniper rifle. It has a noticeably larger magazine than the StG-60 and due to the weapons high stopping power, it is very likely using 7.92x57mm Mauser rounds. No soldier ever uses one until the Lunar Base, however; before that they are simply strewn around the levels for BJ to use, including some odd occasions where the player can find ammo for it in obvious spots of levels that never actually give them the weapon. It also can be dual-wielded, but due to its nature is rather unwieldy; the low ammunition cap also means it is a very wasteful use of the weapon.
When the Lunar Base is reached it acquires an upgrade; flipping the scope aside retracts the barrel and somehow turns it from a marksman rifle into a fully-automatic laser, with the underside of the scope base acting as a charge indicator; like the Laserkraftwerk cannon and MG60, it gets ammunition from charging stations found around the game world, or by picking up batteries or the AR Marksman rifles found in the Lunar Base. Following this level, it can toggle between this mode and rifle mode at will. The science behind this is probably the same Nazi space magic that allows a brain to be preserved for 14 years using only a jamjar.
thumb|600px|none|Concept art of the AR Marksman. Note that the stock, like with the StG-60, rather impractically includes a spare magazine in the diagonal lower section and the magazine is smaller than it is in-game, being that of a StG-60's.
= Machine Guns =
== Machine Gun 1946 ==
A bizarre weapon called "Machine Gun 1946" resembling a massively bulky MG42 with a minigun assembly made of four barrels with MG42 barrel shrouds and conical flash suppressors. It appears in 1946, and can be picked up during a fight with several old-model Ubersoldats in a forgotten storage area found in 1960. It can be removed from its stand and carried around, but it has a small capacity and cannot be reloaded.
== Machine Gun 1960 ==
The MG46 minigun is then replaced by an equally MG42-like weapon in 1960. This version has three barrels and fires red lasers that offer more damage than the MG46; it can also destroy metal gratings and wire fences to open new areas or expose enemies in cover, and is highly effective against armour. Like the Lasekraftwerk and AR Marksman's laser mode, it is powered by a battery; this can be recharged by placing the MG60 back in its mounting or by using charging stations found in the game world.
 
 
=Grenades=
== Eihandgranate 39 ==
A Model 39 Eihandgranate is used by Wilhelm Strasse in a rather spoiler-tastic part at the end of the game.
thumb|200px|none|Einhandgranate Model 39
== Stielhandgranate 24 ==
The Model 24 Stielhandgranate is the standard issue hand grenade of the Nazi's in 1946. An updated version appears in 1960 as the "Telsa Grenade" that has the ability to temporarily short-circuit various mechanical enemies. 
thumb|400px|none|Model 24 Stielhandgranate
= Emplaced weapons =
== Browning M2 Aircraft ==
During the introductory level, the transport plane squadron is escorted by a flight of Rolls-Royce Mustang Mk. X fighters, a British experimental variant of the P-51 Mustang of which only five prototypes were built. None ever carried any armament. In the game they are equipped with four guns on their wings; since they are in US service, the smaller ones are presumably the Browning M2 Aircraft. M2-like guns are also mounted in the ridiculous 12-gun turrets of the transport planes; each one has two such turrets on the nose and two on the tail.
== Hispano-Suiza HS.404 ==
The larger guns on the Rolls-Royce Mustang Mk. X fighters appear to be some variant of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404.
==8.8cm FlaK 36==
During the assault on Deathshead's fortress, a number of very shiny FlaK 36s can be seen; it is possible for BJ to take control of two of them, one of which can be used to destroy the giant "Stomper" vehicle attacking the trenches, though there is no actual point to doing this. Two more can be found during the first phase of the final confrontation on the roof of Deathshead's fortress. As in more or less every game that features WW2 heavy weapons, BJ can operate the FlaK 36, which would normally require a crew of at least eight, by himself. They are fitted with an AA gunsight not resembling anything the FlaK series ever mounted: it appears to instead be based on the sights mounted on naval Bofors 40mm guns.
Category:Video Game
Category:First-Person Shooter
Category:War
Category:Science Fiction