I killed them on the Apple ][. I stopped them in 3D. Now we have Nazis in America, both in real life and the latest installment of Wolfenstein. BJ Blazkowicz makes it clear, Nazis gonna die.
One of the first video games I remember is 1981’s Castle Wolfenstein. I played it over and over and over and over on an Apple ][. Wolfenstein may be the first game I ever finished. I never saw it as any sort of political message — killing Nazis was always ok. It is what Jewish American kids dreamed of. 36 years later things have really changed.
There is outrage from white supremacists over this game. Evidently, it is no longer accepted that killing Nazis is ok by rote.
Fuck them! Lets kill some Nazis!
I enjoyed killing Nazi after Nazi after Nazi. Wolfenstein II is dark and it is brutal. No longer the simple “Escape from the Nazi castle with your life, or the plans for extra points!” Decades ago Wolfenstein became the story of BJ Blazkowicz, proto-type video game hero. Over many installments, BJ chews a lot of gum, and kills a lot of German National Socialists. Now he is back, awake from a coma, in the 1960s and helping lead the American resistance against an occupying Nazi force. Only problem? A lot of American’s don’t seem unhappy with their new probiotic cabbage lovin’ overlords. BJ kills them too.
Gameplay is what I expect of an FPS. Killing Nazis is VERY SATISFYING. You do not have Destiny-like movement control, BJ is a bit more locked into the ground than other games, but the style is true to the wall-punching heritage of Wolf3D! You do remember looking for walls that’d move and expose secrets? Anyways, I find the gameplay doesn’t get in the way of the STORY and oh wow, you play this one for the story.
Gut punch after gut punch flys at you from this plot. It starts out so rough I would absolutely be uncomfortable having a kid younger than 14 or 15 even watch this game. It gets worse. I was near tears once or twice. Bethesda did not shy away from making a statement, and I’m glad it makes white supremacists skin crawl. There is no room for Nazism on the North American continent.
The characters are some of the most well developed in a game that I’ve met. The story never spares you, and never takes an easy out. I played the action sequences to reach the cut scenes.
If you felt Inglourious Basterds was a really, really good time — you will love Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.