All Articles: Wolfenstein: The New Order
New Releases: Wolfenstein: The New Order, Drakengard 3, Mugen Souls Z, More
In Wolfenstein: The New Order, the Germans managed to win World War II through a combination of mechs and mutants. Now it’s up to William “B.J.” Blazkowicz to turn the tide and make this alternate 1960 a very Nazi-unfriendly place. Wolfenstein: The New Order was developed by MachineGames and will be available for almost every current platform including the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
PS3-owning RPG fans will find a pair of interesting new games on store shelves next week as well. Square Enix will bring Drakengard 3 to Sony’s system while NIS America will release Mugen Souls Z.
Finally, a few re-releases round out next week’s batch of new games. First up, Grasshopper’s Killer Is Dead will make its way to the PC as Killer Is Dead: Nightmare Edition. Also next week, Nordic Games will re-release a few of the games they picked up from the THQ auction including the Darksiders Collection on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360; the Red Faction Collection for the PS3; and Red Faction Complete for the PC.
A complete list of next week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Wolfenstein: The New Order launch trailer enters House of the Rising Sun… and the moon
Caroline Becker: “Blazkowicz! What’s your status?”
B.J. Blazkowicz: “Well… I’m on the mother****ing moon!”
Bethesda Softworks and MachineGames have given us one last look at Wolfenstein: The New Order before it launches this Tuesday, May 20, and they decided to go big… like, really big. Bang, zoom, straight to the Moon big.
B.J. Blazkowicz’s final foray against the Nazi forces of General Deathshead is set to the strains of “The House of the Rising Sun,” which was a big hit for The Animals in 1964. Of course, in the universe of The New Order, there was no group known as The Animals, so the song is in German. Just one of the many things Blazkowicz and the rest of the Resistance are unhappy about.
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. And if you pre-order it in the next few days, you’ll receive access to the Doom 4 beta (PC, PS4, and Xbox One only.
Wolfenstein: The New Order will take 20 hours to complete and include an “alternate timeline”
Jens Matthies, the Creative Director of Wolfenstein: The New Order at MachineGames, opened himself up to the world this morning as part of an Ask Me Anything on Reddit. The developer refused to answer multiple questions asking if Mecha Hitler will be part of the game, but he did have several very interesting things to say.
On the subject of the campaign’s length, Matthies said that the game is about 20 hours long “if you collect everything and explore everywhere.” But the developer also revealed that the “vibe of the story” can go in radically different directions depending upon a choice the player is forced to make early in the game. Matthies didn’t want to spoil it, but if you’re interested in knowing, please highlight the black bars below:
During the 1946 prologue, B.J. Blazkowicz and his squad (Scottish commanding officer Fergus and a young private named Wyatt) are captured by General Deathshead. Offering a devil’s bargain, The General tells Blazkowicz that he must choose whether Fergus or Wyatt will die, which will allow the other to live. Attempting to defy Deathshead results in the execution of both prisoners while Blazkowicz is brutally beaten to death (which you experience through a first person view). As Blazkowicz, you MUST choose which character is murdered by Deathshead. It’s an absolutely horrifying moment in game that is already pretty horriffic.
Matthies said that the team considers each playthrough from this moment as an “alternate timeline” but it does more than just change the closing cinematic. In addition to the “vibe,” it “affects the tone of the whole game a little bit” and “alters the gameplay somewhat.” Of course, if Wolfenstein: The New Order does well, Matthies and his team will have to choose one ending as the official one as he also said, “We would love to do a sequel and we have lots of ideas.”
Ideas like… Mecha Hitler? Wolfenstein: The New Order will released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20.
The PAXpocalypse List: The Best of PAX East 2014
PAX East 2014 was a different type of show than in years past. Some big publishers, such as Nintendo, skipped the show completely, while others, like Microsoft, only brought a handful of unreleased games. This shift in the show floor allowed the indies to take center stage, and the majority of our PAX East 2014 PAXpocalypse List reflects this year’s status quo. But that’s not to say the big publishers skipped PAX East 2014 altogether. Towering displays from 2K, Bethesda, and Ubisoft dominated the exhibition hall map, and we definitely had some fun with a few games that will demand your time during this Summer and Fall.
So if we were cut off from the outside and trapped within the walls of PAX East 2014, which games would we return to over and over again? Well… (more…)
New Wolfenstein: New Order trailer leaves us with “Nowhere to Run”
Bethesda has released a new trailer for the MachineGames-developed Wolfenstein: The New Order, which includes a short glimpse at some gameplay as well as another pass through the game’s Nazi-dominated timeline (soccer’s flopping problem has apparently been solved). And a little gunplay starts at about 1:56, giving us a look at some of B.J. Blazkowicz’s new weaponry. I spy a plasma cannon, a pair of dual-wielded machine guns, and a shotgun with a cutting torch attached to the front (perfect for punching out a makeshift murder hole).
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20. The game will also be playable at this weekend’s PAX East convention. And don’t forget, if you pre-order The New Order, you’ll receive guaranteed access to the Doom 4 beta.
Bethesda reveals more about the Doom 4 beta
Bethesda has revealed a few more details about the Doom 4 beta access that will accompany all pre-ordered copies of Wolfenstein: The New Order when its released on May 20.
According to a post on the Bethesda Blog, the Doom 4 beta will be only be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. A cross-platform game like The New Order makes financial sense in 2014, but I can see why Bethesda wants to get away from that by the time Doom 4 is available. So what does this mean for those who pre-purchase Wolfenstein: The New Order on the PS3 or Xbox 360? PS3 buyers will receive a PS4 beta invite, while Xbox 360 buyers will similarly receive an Xbox One invite.
Bethesda has also confirmed that an Xbox Live Gold subscription is required to join the Xbox One beta. Conversely, a PlayStation Plus subscription will not be required to access the beta through the PS4. Something to think about when making your Wolfenstein: The New Order pre-order decision.
More details about the Doom 4 beta will be available at a later date and, in case you were wondering, Bethesda doesn’t plan to announce anything specific related to Doom 4 for the foreseeable future.
Wolfenstein: The New Order will have a Nazi-Pop soundtrack of 1960s-style songs
Bethesda and MachineGames are definitely going the extra mile to ensure that Wolfenstein: The New Order‘s alternate timeline is as authentic. And naturally, a 1960 where the Nazis won World War II is going to be a very different place. For the game’s E3 2013 trailer, they mocked up images of German soldiers walking across Abbey Road and an astronaut giving the “Sieg Hiel!” to a Nazi flag on the moon. The pop music landscape is going to look completely different, but thankfully, they’ve got that covered too.
Instead of just ignoring the American Bandstand set entirely, MachineGames has commissioned a complete 1960s-style pop soundtrack (“We conquered the world, we conquered the moon, and we conquered rock and roll!”) for Wolfenstein: The New Order.
The song snippets found in the Neumond Recordings “commercial” above are great, but Bethesda has gone one better and created a website that includes full versions of eight songs. The Beatles are represented with “Mond, Mond, Ja, Ja” (a parody of “She Loves You”) and The Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville” has been repurposed as “Zug Nach Hamburg.” But my favorite might be “Weltraum Surfen,” which is clearly a superior version of The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ Safari.”
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20. And don’t forget, if you pre-order now, you’ll be guaranteed access to the Doom 4 beta.
Wolfenstein: The New Order launches May 20 with Doom 4 beta access
Bethesda has announced that Wolfenstein: The New Order will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20 (May 23 in Europe).
Wolfenstein: The New Order is in development at MachineGames and will skip the seemingly mandatory multiplayer mode for a renewed focus on the game’s alternate history storyline. In this New Order, Hitler won World War II through the use of “mysterious technology” and has goosestepped across the world, slapping swastikas on EVERYTHING. Enter B.J. Blazkowicz and the rest of the resistance heroes introduced in the new trailer above. Like Captain America, they plan to sock Hitler right in his stupid face… in a Mature-rated style, of course.
As a special bonus, all players who pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order will receive access to a Doom 4 beta test. Now known simply as “Doom,” Bethesda has promised to reveal more details about the fourth enrty in the Doom series at a later date. However, a beta FAQ is available at the publisher’s website.
Progress on Doom 4 has experienced several starts and stops since it was first announced in 2008. Last year, Creative Director Tim Willits said that id Software started over on Doom 4’s development because the game lacked “soul” and “personality.”