Wolfenstein: The New Order was by no means a truly difficult game to really burn through–although there were some stealth-only sections that were tough for this stealth-hater–but getting help between checkpoints of the main campaign is not why I wish some publisher produced a print Wolfenstein: The New Order strategy guide. The New Order incorporated one instance where a choice does affect your game, in particular, your gameplay, and the game contained quite a number of collectibles. So yes, while I got through the game without too much trouble, it would have been nice getting a tip or twelve for the following things.
Maps
The HUD in-game had a decent map, but I’m talking about a map of each level that lays out the locations of collectibles, checkpoints, health/armor upgrades, and weapons. Exploring and finding the collectibles was half the fun sometimes, but dear Lord I can think of a few boss fights where it would have been nice to know ahead of time where armor and weapon caches were hiding.
Collectibles
Map markers are great, but do you know what else is great? Little call-out boxes mixed in the walls of text that highlight exactly where said collectible is and how you can get it during your trek through Poland, England, Deathshead’s Compound, etc. A screenshot would also be fantastic.
Strategy
There are several points throughout the game where running in guns a-blazing is not going to do you a darn bit of good. There was one spot in particular where no matter what I did, I could not get through the waves of enemies until I turned down the difficulty settings far lower than I was happy with. Perhaps there was a certain spot that was perfect for hiding that I never found, or there was a hidden weapon/health cache I didn’t know about (because some bastard shot me in the head). Either way, I never found the sweet spot to ensure my survival on the Normal setting on my own, as pathetic as that might sound.
So how could I have ever gotten through this game on Hardcore or Insanity? Oftentimes strategy guides will offer additional or special tips and tricks for surviving on the harder difficulties.
In addition, certain areas have commanders, and if they see you, they will raise an alarm. The only way to stop the alarm and the ensuing onslaught of neverending Nazis is to kill him, so it’s always best to kill them from shadows and quietly. Occasionally this is very obvious. Sometimes you step out and walk smack into one of them. You can unlock a perk that will highlight these sneaky officials on the HUD, but I never got the required number of stealth kills it took to get this perk permanent.
Perks
And speaking of perks, maybe a little appendix describing each perk would have been nice. Perhaps suggestions of the best places to try to achieve the perks, particularly the stealth and mass carnage perks.
The Choice
Early on in the game, BJ has to choose which one of his comrades lives and who dies. At the time, it seems that the only game differences you’ll see from your choice is who you will meet up with later on, but it affects slightly more than that. It affects other characters that BJ runs into, but most importantly, it affects the type of upgrades for BJ. The character I chose gave me armor upgrades. I learned that if I chose the other, I would have gotten health upgrades. As bad as I was at this game, having the health upgrades instead of armor upgrades would have been far more useful for my experience. I wouldn’t want the strategy guide to tell me everything that the choice dictates, but the types of upgrades available would be fitting and wouldn’t spoil the story.
At this point, I know that several online strategy guides for The New Order exist, but from all I looked at, none of them had these things mentioned here that I know a print guide would provide. It’s a downright shame that a print Wolfenstein: The New Order strategy guide does not exist, as I know it could have provided far more useful content than could ever be found in a free online strategy guide.
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