Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

Game Company Bad Behavior Profile Page: ZeniMax Media Inc

.

Review:

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a First-Person Shooter that is a direct sequel to 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order, and picks up right where that game left off, with a severely-injured B.J. Blazkowicz recovering from injuries with his band of rebels aboard a stolen Nazi sub in the alternate-timeline version of America where the Nazis became a nuclear power and won World War II.

This version of the game has some noteworthy cutbacks from other versions of the game – the framerate has been halved from 60fps to 30fps (dropping to 20fps in some of the busiest areas of the game), and the resolution dropping to 720p at highest and even lower in places, with worse resolutions in handheld mode. On top of this, the Switch version offers none of the DLC added to other versions of the game, even if Switch players want to buy it – they’re stuck with what came with the base game.

Having said that, while the Switch version of the game is clearly not the ideal way to go, this is still a pretty good functional port of the game to Switch. Those who follow my reviews may recall I wasn’t fond of Panic Button’s port of Doom 2016 to Switch, and I feared this would suffer the same issues. Thankfully, perhaps because Wolfenstein II is a somewhat slower-paced game, it doesn’t suffer quite as heavily from the blurriness that plagued Doom. And while this version isn’t close to the graphical quality of other versions of the game, it still looks pretty good on the Switch. The Switch version of the game touts gyroscopic aiming too, which is always good to see in a FPS.

As for the gameplay itself, this is pretty typical FPS fare, although to the game’s credit it does a good job mixing things up and making sure the gameplay has a fair amount of variety. However, while the action here is solid, it’s the story where this game shines.

Wolfenstein II’s story is… well, ridiculous, with all sorts of absurdities like Nazi aircraft with tentacles, ungainly power armor, and robotic laser drones… in the 1960s. In addition, while Nazis are often portrayed as cartoonishly evil in the media (and rightfully so – they were pretty monstrous in real life too), here that cartoonishness is over the top, with the villains cackling maniacally as they behead one of your comrades pretty much right from the start. Likewise, you’re equally cartoonishly heroic, with the game’s first chapter seeing you shooting hordes of Nazis from the seat of your wheelchair as you cart yourself around a submarine. Yet all of this is played deadly-serious, as if no one told anyone involved with this game that this was a ridiculous joke.

It kinda’ works though, once you get into the feel of things, and that’s thanks to a strong, memorable cast of characters that are pretty well-acted, and the interactions they have with one another only add to the feeling that this absurd world of ridiculous evil and ridiculous heroism is a real, lived-in one filled with three-dimensional people.

A bit of a warning to those looking to get the game and considering whether to get it in digital format or physical. This game is a massive 21.9GB – one of the biggest games to grace the Switch. However, don’t think you’ll be avoiding this by getting the physical version – that version had a 23GB patch to fix issues in that version of the game. You’re actually saving memory card space by getting the digital version of the game, as odd as that may sound. However, whichever version you go for, be sure you have a good-sized memory card to accommodate it.

In the end, Wolfenstein II had to undergo some pretty severe cuts to fit onto the Switch, but the result is a game that’s still perfectly playable, with good action and an entertaining, albeit ridiculous, story. If you’re looking for one of the best single-player First-Person Shooters on the Switch, and you have plenty of space on your MicroSDXC card, Wolfenstein II delivers a solid experience.

tl;dr – Wolfenstein II is a First-Person Shooter that had to undergo a significant number of cuts to make it onto the Switch, but the result is still a solid game with good action and an entertaining, bonkers story. Just be sure you have a lot of space on your memory card if you plan to get this one.

Grade: B

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}