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Reawakening a Legacy: MachineGames, Romero, and the Spirit of Wolfenstein
Over a decade ago, MachineGames—a Swedish development team and subsidiary of Bethesda—took charge of reviving _Wolfenstein,_ following what was then the most recent installment under the same title developed by Raven Studios. This summer of 2025, not only did I play the game, I finished it completely, and I personally believe that *Wolfenstein: The New Order* now feels distant and somewhat forgotten, despite having been a nominee for Best Shooter and Best Narrative in 2014, rubbing shoulders with games that today are seen as milestones, like _Titanfall_ from Respawn and _Destiny_ from Bungie.But we can’t talk about _The New Order_ without looking beyond 2014... During the winter of ’91, following the release of _Hovertank 3D_ and _Catacomb 3D_, the small but talented studio id Software—made up of its four founding members: John and Adrian Carmack, Tom Hall, and John Romero—were brainstorming what game to develop next. Their goal was to make full use of the graphics engine created by John Carmack, while also distancing themselves from the image they felt had followed them after the success of _Commander Keen_, which associated them with kid-friendly platformers. They wanted to create something more visceral, violent, and bold—a punk-like vision, before Suda51 was even Suda51. That’s when John Romero proposed developing a new installment of one of the games all four of them had loved and played: _Castle Wolfenstein_ and its sequel, _Beyond Castle Wolfenstein_.
It’s curious how id Software’s cultural impact has become so ingrained that many of us assume _Wolfenstein_ was always their creation—but that’s not the case. One of their early concerns was whether they could publish the game under the _Wolfenstein_ title at all. As luck would have it—in heavy quotation marks—when they reached out to Silas Warner, designer of both _Castle Wolfenstein_ titles, they discovered that Muse Software, the studio behind those games, had folded in 1986 and the IP no longer belonged to Silas but had been auctioned off to a third party. id Software contacted the new owner and acquired the rights for a total of $5,000 USD just weeks before launch—and to top it off, Silas gave the project his blessing once it was released. Total madness. The entire development of _Wolfenstein 3D_ took just six months. John Romero had many ideas for the game, most of which couldn’t materialize. He envisioned a stealth system, where Nazi soldiers would react based on player actions—for instance, if one discovered the corpse of another, they’d enter a state of alert and start searching. Or that players could carry out stealth kills. But during development he realized something crucial: pacing. Why build a complex stealth system when the most fun part was running fast and blasting Nazis? And he was right—_Wolfenstein 3D_ became a cultural landmark and a commercial success. It also laid the foundation not just for _Doom_, but for the first-person shooter genre as we know it today.
And that’s something I loved about _Wolfenstein: The New Order_, MachineGames understood Romero’s creative vision and honored that id Software spirit from ’91.
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Gameplay and Style: The Mechanics Behind Blazko’s Struggle
In _Wolfenstein: The New Order_ we play as William "BJ" Blazkowicz—not a super soldier by any means, but a flesh-and-blood man, with all the vulnerability that implies. He’s far from being a demon-slaying super marine like his great-grandson. This detail is crucial, because the gameplay revolves around it. The core loop of _Wolfenstein: The New Order_ centers on stealth and survival. Its health system is peculiar and distinct: we start with one hundred health points and one hundred armor points. Armor doesn't regenerate, but health does—although unlike other games with similar mechanics, such as _Halo_ 2 or _Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare_, health is divided into five segments and only regenerates within that segment. For instance, if we drop from 100 to 76, it will regenerate back up to 80. But if we drop to 81, it will restore to the full 100. This detail matters because the game penalizes overly aggressive playstyles.The game also features a cover system. When positioned next to a wall or corner, it shows an arrow indicating which direction Blazko will lean toward when aiming. There's also a secondary button that lets us peek manually, even outside designated cover zones—and we can lie down on our back for added tactical options.
That said, the game doesn't force you into stealth or caution. It includes upgrades unlocked based on your playstyle. There are four categories: Stealth, Tactical, Assault, and Demolition. For example, in Stealth you can unlock the ability to throw knives by silently eliminating five Nazis. When I played, I made the mistake of trying to unlock everything in a single run—which isn’t ideal, since the game contains two alternate timelines. While they only slightly affect the narrative, they do impact health and armor upgrades. Depending on which timeline you choose, you’ll either increase your maximum health or your armor capacity.
There are five total difficulty levels. Personally, I think the highest one—Über—should be an unlockable. I made the mistake of starting the game at that level, and it felt punishing: enemies absorb bullets like sponges, ammo is scarce, and you can be wiped out with just a couple of hits. I played nearly the entire game that way and spent around 15 hours before lowering the difficulty to level three: “Bring ’em on!”—a mode I highly recommend for first-time players. Not only do you need time to grasp the gameplay, you also need to unlock Blasko’s abilities and explore the maps for collectibles, letters, and newspaper clippings that help deepen the alternate history world. I strongly suggest starting with this mid-tier difficulty, because once you've earned all upgrades and decoded the Enigma entries, you'll unlock additional game modes.
The first unlockable and, in my opinion, the most fun invites you to replay the campaign on Über difficulty but with 999 health and 999 ammo. It’s chaos. Enemies are tougher, more accurate, and more numerous—but the scaling is offset by the upgrades you’ve previously earned. You can also unlock IronMan mode, where you only get one life. This mode uses the fourth difficulty level, “I am Death Incarnate.” If you die, your progress dies with you. It's very reminiscent of _Diablo’s_ Hardcore mode: having just one chance makes it deeply immersive and surprisingly rewarding.
_The New Order_ tries to reconnect us with the roots of the genre through its gameplay—but with touches that make it fresh and modern. It also pulls us into its alternate-history narrative. There’s a reason it was nominated for Best Narrative at the 2014 VGAs.
The story envisions a world where the Third Reich succeeded during the 1940s and became the dominant force—politically and culturally—across the globe. We witness this, in part, through the perspective of Blasko, an American soldier. The Allies launch a coordinated assault to reach German territory and assassinate "Deathshead" (or "Totenkopf"), but their mission fails. Allied ships are attacked and forced to crash land; most of the squad is killed, and Blazko and his unit are captured by Nazi forces. Then comes the moral choice: Deathshead forces us to decide who to save—Wyatt Probst, a young American soldier with his whole life ahead of him, whom Blazko promised to protect—or Fergus Reid, a seasoned Scottish soldier and Blazko’s right hand. The game never hints at the consequences of your decision, but your choice directly impacts the game’s health and armor systems.
At first, I found the narrative weak and flat. But as I advanced, took my time, and reflected on the characters and events—as well as the optional content like letters and clippings—I started to reevaluate. It reminded me of _Metroid Prime_, where the game doesn’t bombard you with lore; it’s there if you want to engage, or ignore. Initially you might assume Kreisau Circle—La Résistance—are the noble underdogs, and the Nazis are just the villains. But as the game progresses, things aren’t black and white. They’re shades of grey.
It’s curious—Nazis are portrayed as authoritarian and rigid, but through their focus and discipline, they’ve managed to create a productive and functional society—powerful enough to explore and colonize the Moon by the 1960s. They’re depicted as cold and calculated, but in the final stretch we see Frau Engel humanized: her contempt turns to fear. Deathshead doesn’t treat us as lesser beings—he remembers us, and sees us as equals.
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Here's a PDF instead.
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