Wolfenstein Series Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

Wolfenstein isn’t like your typical first-person shooter series; it’s bold and it’s relentless—a slap in the face to conventional FPS franchises. It doesn’t skirt around the common agenda of wartime storytelling, nor does it make an effort to “play it safe” with familiar tropes or traditional themes. Instead, it dares to be different—to knuckle in on propaganda and bloodshed, epic battles and cinematic drama. It’s still a representative of war, as is it a bleak reminder of a time that, frankly, we would soon rather forget about. Yet, it’s also a dark horse that favors big ideas and punch-drunk combat, which, in turn, translates into carnivorous expeditions that reject time-appropriate events and squeeze the throttle on glorious crescendos and oh-so-satisfying segments of toothy violence and bombastic battles of a bullet-brazen Michael Bay kind. That, in short, is where Wolfenstein finds its place on the wartime manifesto: in the eye of a frontline torn between epic battles and orchestrated chaos. And you know what? No other series in the world captures it as well.

Where a lot of wartime franchises have often fallen flat on a proper storyline, Wolfenstein has always managed to deliver captivating cinematic moments and organic characters, movie quality tearaways and excellent audiovisual effects, as well as genuine voice work and a lot of surprisingly memorable dialogue. It isn’t on par with Inglorious Basterds I’ll admit, though it has been perfectly capable of capturing the beating heart of a perilous world scoured by Nazi propaganda and its vast influence over the nations. More to the point, it has illuminated the disadvantages of being a small cog on a big wheel, so to speak. It hasn’t been fond of putting the allies in comfortable positions, and it has frequently shown through its one-versus-dozens combat systems and ludicrously uneven battles. It isn’t an unheard of concept, yet when it comes to the world according to Wolfenstein, it feels natural.

Before the franchise took a turn for the cinematic universe, Wolfenstein was once a powerful corridor first-person shooter that ran parallel to the likes of DOOM and Exhumed. Back then, ravenous combat and in-your-face bloodthirsty wasn’t all that common, yet it was with thanks to series like Wolfenstein that the genre became a force to be reckoned with. Was it the best of its kind? It wasn’t a far cry from the first, but it was, however, one that carried a tremendous amount of influence over its evolution. As for what came after—a web of quality campaigns with all of the signature elements of a staple war franchise—well, it doesn’t take a great deal to appreciate the significance of its past successes, to be fair.

While the campaigns haven’t been the meatiest of war-centric sagas on the block, each segment in the series has, rather surprisingly, brought a ton of great details to the playing field, with nitty-gritty ranged combat, close-quarter encounters, intense battles and memorable bosses all fleshing out each installment. Add the fact that each chapter has also taken full advantage of a grand-scale score and a bloodbath of thematic visual effects, and you have quite the series on your hands.

It isn’t all that often that you forge everlasting memories with characters in a war-based scenario, but with thanks to Wolfenstein and the chemistry between heroes and villains, companions and NPCs, it is surprisingly easy to form organic relationships with the world and its vast tapestry of kindred spirits. If it weren’t for the cinematic spells and movie-like tearaways, mind you, then a lot of these small details might have gone amiss. For Wolfenstein, though, organic storytelling and believable chemistry are two common themes that it seems to fit into like a warm glove. It isn’t a major achievement for most modern genres, but it does come across as incredibly impactful in the eyes of a war drama.

Given its influence over the world of first-person shooters, Wolfenstein more or less has the potential to span another dozen campaigns, perhaps not with the beloved B.J. Blazkowicz (thanks, Youngblood) but with a cast of fresh characters previously introduced to the fold. As for whether or not it can elevate its proudest achievements in future iterations is another question. For what it’s worth, though, it’s safe to say that Wolfenstein clearly has the breathing room to swivel in any direction it pleases.

Verdict

Wolfenstein isn’t your typical glamour-drizzled first-person shooter; it’s a bloody-knuckled cinematic saga that doesn’t mind including all of the grizzly details of a wartime feud in a somewhat satirical era. It is, of course, ridiculously absurd even during the best of times — but that’s a surprisingly good thing, as it adds just that little extra appeal to an otherwise dull and predictable experience. And I’ll be the first to admit that, while the post-Nazi yarn has been recklessly spun a thousand times over in recent decades, it’s Wolfenstein that adds its elixir of life to the existing formula to make it feel more unstable and unique. It’s still a good old-fashioned spin on war — but with a lot of additional cinematic frills and bare knuckle battles that will most definitely leave you itching your scars and bruises for another dip into the fray.

It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of Wolfenstein, but for argument’s sake, it’s worth taking the opportunity to sink your teeth into it, not just for its wildcard saga and cinematic experience, then for its painfully tough combat and lionhearted gameplay, its powerful character arcs and its oh-so-satisfying crescendos. In other words, if it’s a clone of Call of Duty that tickles your fancy, then you might as well abandon hopes of ever enjoying what Wolfenstein has to offer, for this is not your average war game; it’s of an entirely different league. To say that it’s a better franchise just wouldn’t be true. That said, it is worth noting that this isn’t the same story as those that you might have heard before. Take it all with a pinch of salt. At the end of the day, you won’t find a better cinematic war drama than Wolfenstein.