The Wolfenstein franchise has been revolutionary in the gaming world, by starting a new trend with first-person shooters. The game has always been relatively simple, with complex level designs that stood out at the time. The Wolfenstein games have always been first-person shooters in the purest form. Were other massive shooters like Battlefield and Call of Duty use theatrics, and Hollywood-style set pieces. Wolfenstein relies entirely on gameplay to convey the story and themes of each game.
One of the reasons why Wolfenstein is one of the longest-running franchises is because of how accessible it is, for a wide net of players. The latest Wolfenstein games called New Order and New Colossus continue the tradition of having gameplay simple, yet fun, without having many bells and whistles. However, between New Order and New Colossus, it's rather tough to pick which one is great. Both games take the best of Wolfenstein, and in turn, make two amazing games. This list should help players figure out which Wolfenstein game is the best between the two.
6 Gunplay: New Colossus
While the gunplay in all the Wolfenstein games feels heavy and rich, New Colossus takes it to a new level. The fluidity of shooting through Nazis goes into a rhythm, and in turn, makes gameplay fun and easy. The gunplay in Wolfenstein is rather iconic and New Colossus leans more into that than New Order did. As players get in contact with more weapons, gameplay becomes much fuller, allowing them to do more. Because of that, players can easily master how both the gameplay, and gunplay work in New Colossus.
Plus, adding on dual-wielding, allows players to get even more powerful. The dual-wielding doesn't just make the player stronger, it also makes gameplay a lot more fluid. While dual-wielding can be done in New Order, in New Colossus this aspect feels more refined and more freeing. The best part is that dual-wielding can be done with any weapon combination, which allows gameplay to become even more versatile.
5 Stealth: New Order
While both games do well in this department, New Order comes slightly on top. That falls mainly on the level design of New Order, with wide-open spaces, but with nooks and crannies for players to use when sneaking around. New Colossus does have levels that feature these things but are few and far in between. Since a lot of New Colossus gameplay has stealth, the level design makes it harder to do.
This is why New Order is the best between the two, because each level has something to change gameplay, and the big one is stealth. Plus, as players use stealth more, the stealth skill tree grows, allowing them to get more fluid in this aspect. While this is featured in New Colossus, in New Order it's more rewarding since players can get around more and with ease. In New Colossus, players can move around undetected, however, there are not many options given to them.
4 Melee Combat: New Colossus
Players who play any Wolfenstein game will note that gameplay is mostly using a gun, even for the stealth areas. Mixing Wolfenstein's violent nature plus the melee, allows the players to become creative. While both games use the run-and-gun aspect for most of the game, the melee combat is where New Colossus shines. This allows players to change how they play, which can change gameplay entirely for them.
Plus, in New Colossus, as players use the melee, they get better with it, which makes getting through hordes of Nazis worth it. The melee combat feels much richer, and more impactful when players are engaging in that play style. While stealth can be a little harder to do, as mentioned before, the melee combat of New Colossus makes it somewhat easier. Because of the speed, players can get through those sections easily, and that can make New Colossus more fluid to play.
3 Boss Battles: New Order
The boss battles in Wolfenstein games are something of their own and make a large portion of the games. Unlike most first-person shooters, players will have a challenging time beating these bosses in both games. The Wolfenstein games have had some interesting boss battles, and that carries over to the latest releases. In New Order players will meet some very interesting characters, of which are bosses, and they are some of the best parts of the game.
How game makers have written these characters, allowed them to be compelling, because of that, beating them is rewarding. That makes the boss battle much more interesting in New Order, not just in how they play out, but also in how the bosses act toward the player. This allows the story itself, to be more vibrant, and players can feel the emotions of the characters as well.
2 Story Development: New Colossus
Both New Colossus and New Order have some of the best stories out of any shooter in modern gaming. But what separates one from the other is how the story plays into the player's feelings. New Colossus does this rather well, by showing what happens if the Nazis won on a full scale. Both games' settings are rather terrifying, but New Colossus pushes it. When players see how far it can go, the story becomes even more interesting. This can be attributed to the characters, the setting, and the gameplay, and if done right, the story will turn out well.
New Colossus does this well, making gameplay super simple, and the story the opposite of that. In turn, players can get through it easily. The subject of the game would be hard for some developers to do, however, Machine Games made it digestible. That was done by having compelling characters and making the story relate to the modern gamer.
1 Diverse Gameplay: New Order
New Order and New Colossus have many ways for players to get through each mission. However, New Order does it better, because the perks which are given to the player make this aspect more diverse. New Colossus does feature this way to upgrade, but players will get a better feel of those upgrades in New Order. These perks allow players to use other tools, other than their weapons. If players want to play with a more stealth approach, they can do that, provided they've leveled up enough.
The best part about New Order is that when players do those actions more, they level those actions, allowing them to change up how they fight. New Colossus does utilize the same features, but players will always fall back on using a gun. In New Order, players will almost always find themselves using other things, like melee, and the stealth elements to get through. This gives New Order the edge over New Colossus since it can be more rewarding in the former.