![]() ![]() Reunited with this Resistance, Blazkowicz, Anya, and either Fergus or Wyatt (depending on who the player chose to save) launch a series of missions to undermine and fight the Nazi regime, hidden in their base at the heart of Berlin. This technology was sealed away to prevent its misuse, such as how it was used by the Nazis to achieve world domination. Here, he learns that the Nazis were able to achieve such technological advancements through the discovery of a cache of technology developed by the Da’at Yichud, a Jewish secret society that had developed technologies centuries ahead of their time, with the goal of understanding God through the pursuit of knowledge. Afterward, they reunite with a resistance movement known as the Kreisau Circle (which makes its first appearance in the previous game). In Berlin, Blazko orchestrates a jailbreak for the survivor of his choice 14 years earlier, who is incarcerated in the Nazis’ most infamous prison. He and Anya, bonding over their loss, enter into a romantic relationship. In the process, Blazko learns that the Nazis have not only won the war, but also control much of the known world. They flee to Anya’s grandparents’ house, who smuggle them onto a train to get to Berlin, the heart of the Nazis’ power. Image credit: IGN.comĬoma in time to save Anya and kill the soldiers, and the two escape. Nazi soldiers shut down the asylum in Poland. Nazi soldiers arrive and begin to put the patients to death, and murder Anya’s family when they object to what is happening. In 1960, the Nazi regime decides to shut down the facility permanently. Through a series of cut scenes, the player watches through Blazko’s eyes as Nazi officials come and go, taking away and murdering patients they deem unfit for their new society, much to his caretaker Anya’s dismay. He is brought to an asylum in Poland where he remains in this state for 14 years. The survivor of the player’s choice aids in the escape from the laboratory, but in the process, Blazkowicz sustains a head injury and lapses into a coma. The player’s choice will alter dialogue and cut scenes slightly throughout the rest of the game, but reportedly does not seriously alter the storyline (I have only played the Fergus timeline). Blazkowicz and his companions (who include Fergus Reid and Private Wyatt III) are captured and taken to Deathshead’s personal human experimentation facility within the fortress, where Blazkowicz (or, more accurately, the player) is forced to choose whether Fergus or Wyatt will be allowed to live. The assault on the fortress at the beginning of this game does not go well The Nazis control technology far beyond anything the Allies possess (or anything that should exist in the 1940s period), such as massive metal robots and cybernetically enhanced soldiers and war hounds. was able to foil his plot to use supernatural forces to win the war, leaving Deathshead near dead and badly disfigured. These two characters have history Deathshead was Blazkowicz’s enemy in the previous game, and dear old B.J. Blazkowicz, is part of an allied assault on a Nazi fortress, specifically that of General Wilhelm Strasse (“Deathshead”). The game opens in 1946, at the height of World War II. Spoilers begin here if you have not played the game It’s also worth noting that this is the latest installment in a series of Wolfenstein titles, stretching back all the way back to Castle Wolfenstein (1981). In the interest of full disclosure I will point out that I have not played the previous title. In this article, I will examine the first person shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014), which is a sequel to 2009’s Wolfenstein. As I complete video games (which will be seldom for the work load grad school places on me) I will add to this new series of articles, critiquing them not only for their playability, but also their “literary” merit. ![]() ![]() Considering this and considering video games’ popularity, this literary scholar thought it might be interesting to consider and analyze video games the way I might do a novel or a poem. But no medium exists in a vacuum, after all. But today’s world has many forms of media – video games being one prominent example. Even film has been given this treatment, recognized by scholars as having genuine “literary” value. Works throughout the ages have been analyzed for their political and social commentary, as well as the greater historical context that surrounds them and their authors. Traditionally, scholars have turned a critical eye to literature, analyzing its value and role in society at large. ![]()
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