Having just completed a couple playthroughs of TNO, after playing the first couple hours of TNC I can't shake the feeling that the character models got worse. Like you would've thought that they would be the exact same since it takes place only 6 months later but they look different. Anyone else feel this way?

I understand there's something to be said for feeling challenged by a video game, but I honestly think this game benefits very much from a basic feeling of invincibility. Playing on either of the easiest two difficulties keeps the story beats flying at you at a quick fire pace and gives you that rush of dual shotgunning Nazis in the knees that, at least for me, I desperately needed this year.

Hi everyone! I've barely (if ever) posted on the forums before.. But man I'm so jazzed about the new Wolfenstein and I need to talk about it with people because my boyfriend hasn't caught up to where I am in the story yet. I'm pretty far into the game, though not at the ending yet, but this is one of my favorite games I've played in a long time from a story perspective.

I didn't play the first one (though I know enough of the story beats to not be lost going in), so I don't know how Colossus stands up to it, but I was constantly surprised at just HOW well the writing handles a lot of its heavier social issues and portrays its characters. I can't really think of a recent game that's caught me off guard with how well it was written as much as NC. It's not perfect, there were a definitely parts that made me wince but not as much as most games that try to take on heavier topics do.

Overall I'm just happily surprised by the writing in the game. Did anyone else have this experience?

I finished the game twice now, once with Fergus the other with Wyatt. The Wyatt ending was pretty awesome and much better than the Fergus ending, though the Fergus mishap during the party was funnier than the Wyatt mishap. Great game and I'm going to try to do Mein Leben difficulty :)

It's a hard 0/10 for me because of the camera bobbing. Literally Unplayable.

Finished today, here are some thoughts:

• The beginning is a slog and very much put me off of the game and onto Mario for a week or so. The flashback stuff is all good, but the first gameplay sequence (or two) is just not fun.
• As for how it plays, it's just a little bit under TNO in terms of feel. I play mostly in stealth, basically save-scumming whenever I break it, and that mechanic didn't feel as buttery smooth as it did in the last game.
• I would appreciate the difficulty much more if they tied it into the story the way they do with other mechanics. In an ideal world, they would have had you getting shredded by Nazis for the first half of the game when BJ thinks he's dying and relies on Caroline's suit, then ease way back on the difficulty once he gets a new body. I played on the third lowest difficulty, gonna bump it all they way down as a hunt for collectibles.
• Something I haven't seen a lot of people talk about: I LOVE the fact that this game, unlike TNO, doesn't have any boss fights. That was one of the most tedious and antiquated bits of the last game. Good riddance.
• I'll agree that some characters didn't have a lot of time to breathe. Horton and Co. specifically aren't done any favors.
• The story is very very good. It has at least half a dozen moments that I could call my favorite section of a game this year.
  • Sub-point: I saw someone say that they didn't think that that moment (the execution specifically, in this case, as [again] such a designation could belong to five or six different scenes) seemed like too big of a deal. I think it could have been re-cut in a way which would have made the sequence more interesting, but it's far and away the craziest thing to happen in this series. I think most of it is the fact that, despite little character moments and side-stories that thoroughly disprove this belief, I as a player was given the impression (through dialogue and the fact that this is a video game) that BJ is the be all, end all of the resistance. There is nothing without him. Therefore, you (I) start to believe that all other characters are just not skilled enough to execute such a coordinated and risky effort without his assistance. This is further reinforced by a thoroughly botched rescue mission just a few game minutes prior to the execution scene. Leading up to this scene, the writing does a great job of robbing you of hope. The pacing, juxtaposition of story beats, and hell, the very nature of games makes it a truly awe-inspiring moment. And it still may not be my favorite part.
• I don't understand people complaining about how abrupt the ending is. The penultimate level is basically waving giant flags that say "GET READY, CAUSE YOU'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THIS GAME." Both for story and scale reasons. They could have transitioned into the final mission a bit more smoothly, but that has little to do with how it's paced.
• There are also people saying that the ending isn't good and I just... can't fathom that impression. I thought it was pretty great. We get both the conclusion of a huge arc and a big promise of things to come should they ever close the trilogy. It doesn't get much better. I picked Wyatt, for what it's worth.

@nodima: its less that I need a hard challenge and more I feel the need to feel like I'm actually doing something. Sort of my problem with Destiny 2 and its end game. At no point, up until the Prestige Nightfall and the Raid, did I feel there was any challenge to that game whatsoever. In Wolfenstein it is the opposite where I feel there's no progression to challenge; its just really hard out of the gate...but less that its hard and more that I found it cheap. I'll get to the game at some point...maybe I'll play it on easy when I do, even though I hate doing that.

Just after finishing the game and I really enjoyed it. Yes, the ending is a little anti-climatic but I did enjoy the build up. The game had some amazing moments that I wasn't expecting from the execution scene, the flashbacks of BJ's childhood to Hitler and the actors.

The writing and storytelling in this are simply brilliant and the best I've seen this year. Also, it really nails that fast-paced action that Doom had last year. I love the level design and even the hub level is beautifully laid out.

Really hope that MachineGames get to make a third one.

I had pretty high hopes from this game considering the hype that Brad and others were giving it but came away from the experience very underwhelmed. I felt as if all the awesome moments that were spruiked ended up being pretty mundane. Outside of the audition scene I felt as if everything else was pretty run of the mill for a pulpy story such as this. My main issue however is with the message of the game which left a pretty nasty aftertaste to be honest. If you cut through the ridiculousness and bombast you have a game whose central message is really about nationalism and violence. The final address to camera is a little sickening as the characters spout patriotic slogans like; "you fucked with the wrong country" while stomping around in the viscera of the dead general. It's assumed that we, as the audience are all good with this because....well fuck Nazis.

Now, don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting a nuanced treatment of the subject matter but reducing Nazism to a caricature of evil malevolence does no justice to the past or service to the present. People seem to be latching on to this game as they see it as catharsis for the time we are living in. This outlook belies a fundamental misunderstanding of what Nazism was, how it developed and how it consolidated power. These sorts of simplistic and blinkered views are only aided and abetted by representations in pop culture such as this. Inglorious Basterds did something similar but was still light years beyond this game in terms of its treatment of the subject matter. I found that being directed to relish in the violence and patriotism of it all simply because it was "right" and "justified" to be deeply uncomfortable as a player. I have no doubt that Hitler saw his wholesale embrace of violence and patriotism to be "right" and "justified" also.