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An Indiana Jones game is coming from the studio that rebooted Wolfenstein
Bethesda and 'Wolfenstein' studio MachineGames are creating a new 'Indiana Jones' game.
Co-op shooter 'Wolfenstein: Youngblood' arrives July 26th
Bethesda has been mostly tight-lipped about Wolfenstein: Youngblood since unveiling it at E3 last year, but it's not holding back now. The publisher has revealed that its co-op anti-Nazi shooter will debut July 26th on PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One. You play as BJ Blazkowicz's daughters Jess and Soph (either with a friend or an AI substitute) as they track down their missing dad in an alternate history Nazi-occupied Paris circa 1980. The new story trailer (below) makes clear that there's plenty of the modern series' over-the-top action, although there's also a bit of mystery involved -- it's now clear that BJ doesn't want to be found, and that he's up to something big.
'Wolfenstein II' blasts its way to the Switch on June 29th
It's been a long time in coming, but the Nintendo Switch adaptation of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is (almost) here. Bethesda has announced that the Nazi-punching sequel will be available on June 29th for $60. You'll generally know what to expect, and that's likely to be a good thing. Panic Button's conversion appears to be on par with its well-received Doom port, with Switch-friendly motion controls and the kind of rich graphics detail you wouldn't expect from a portable console.
The best gifts for a console gamer
Don't worry, we're not out to start a console war in our comments: If you're in the market for a new games system, the Xbox One S, PlayStation VR, Nintendo Switch and 2DS XL all made it into our holiday gift guide, for different reasons. Once you figure out which platform is best for your intended, we have a wide assortment of games and accessories, from a 400GB microSDXC card to a custom Xbox controller to the PlayStation Gold wireless headset, among other things. Find all that and more in our gift guide at the link below.
New 'Wolfenstein' trailer is a reminder to always fight fascism
Nazis are the perfect video game enemy because they have zero redeeming qualities. It's something the Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus development team at Machine Games knows and the marketing department at publisher Bethesda Softworks is keen to capitalize on, especially given the current political climate. Watching the latest trailer, it's hard to not feel like it's a direct response to Donald Trump's "violence on both sides" statements regarding Klansmen, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and their counter-protesters from Charlottesville last month.
'Wolfenstein II' DLC adds three new Nazi-punching characters
You'll be playing as more than just the broken-schmeckled B.J. Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. That's because the game's three expansions will feature a different protagonist fighting for America by punching and murdering the Nazis standing in their way.
'Wolfenstein II' starts with a wheelchair, Nazis and a machine gun
A little over four months away from launch, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus already feels finished. The game takes place almost immediately after the events of 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order, with protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz waking up from a coma aboard a German U-boat, confined to a wheelchair, his legs lame. The Nazis have long since won the war, and in 1961 they're taking their goal of world domination even further. They're afraid of the game's one-man-army hero, too. And really, after 35 years of Wolfenstein, shouldn't they be?
‘Wolfenstein’ returns with ‘The New Colossus’ on October 27th
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus was hardly a secret. The much-anticipated sequel to The New Order and The Old Blood was teased at the start of Bethesda's E3 press conference last year, and all but confirmed by BJ Blazkowicz voice actor Brian Bloom last October. Still, it's nice to see the game finally announced. Bethesda unveiled the new entry as part of its 2017 E3 showcase, which follows Blazkowiz and his ongoing mission to defeat the Nazis in an alternate history timeline. It's brash, violent and everything else you would expect from a modern Wolfenstein game.
Celebrate 20 years of 'Quake' with a brand new game episode
Quake fans have plenty of reasons to celebrate these days. Wolfenstein: The New Order developer MachineGames is championing id Software's classic first-person shooter's 20th anniversary and offering fans a little something special in return: A brand new episode of the game, downloadable for free.
JXE Streams: Blasting robot dogs in 'Wolfenstein: The Old Blood'
One year ago, Machine Games did an unbelievable thing: it made Wolfenstein relevant again. id Software's 1992 original is still fondly remembered; it was, after all, the only game in town where you could eat a bowl of dog food before blowing up Robo Hitler. The series had grown stale over the decades, though, a relic rather than an enduring institution. Wolfenstein: The New Order was a monumentally impressive resurrection with solid action on PS4 and Xbox One alongside a surprisingly moving, if simple, story. Now Machine Games is back with Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and we're playing it for your viewing pleasure on today's stream.
Wolfenstein enjoys 2014's second-biggest debut in the UK
Wolfenstein is only second to Titanfall for first-week UK sales in 2014, after notching a quarter of the country's physical software sales last week. Even more impressively, that translates into 36 percent of all revenue for the week. The New Order in the UK charts has MachineGames' shooter on top, with Minecraft: PS3 Edition in second after debuting a place lower. FIFA 14 and Titanfall were swapping reigns at the top, but they have to make do with third and fourth respectively. This week it's a stand-off between Watch Dogs and Mario Kart 8, although the Wii U game launches three days later. The multiplatform Watch Dogs looks the most likely winner, but the venerable karter may just have a blue shell up its sleeve. [Image: Bethesda Softworks]
Metareview: Wolfenstein: The New Order
Video game villains don't get much more classic than the occult-loving Nazis of the Wolfenstein series - they've been goose-stepping and zeig heil-ing for more than 30 years. Unfortunately, the gameplay of the latest game in the series, Wolfenstein: The New Order, is anything but classic. From our three-star review: "It's almost as if there's a tug of war going between the big dumb shooter and the attempt to be subversive, with the result being a game that's not really slick enough to be an action classic, and not dramatic enough to draw you in." We're not the only ones sending the Nazis packing, though. March on past the break to see what other soldiers thought of Wolfenstein.
Wolfenstein: The New Order PC specs outlined for 'intended' experience
PC owners need fairly burly systems to play Wolfenstein: The New Order the way it was meant to be played, according to Bethesda. The publisher detailed system requirements for MachineGames' soon-to-be-released shooter, but went on to say they're the specs "to deliver the PC game as it was intended to be experienced." So, while the specs are listed as "system requirements," Bethesda stopped short of calling them "minimum" requirements. Make of that what you will. Anyway, the specs in full are: 64-bit Windows 7/Windows 8 Intel Core i7 or equivalent AMD4 GB System RAM 50GB free HDD space GeForce 460, ATI Radeon HD 6850 High Speed Internet Connection Steam account and activation required As for the consoles, PS4 and Xbox One owners need 47GB free for installs, while it's 8GB for installs on Xbox 360 and PS3 - that goes up to 17GB for a PSN download. The New Order remains primed for launch on May 20, when players will see the return of steely hero B.J. Blazkowicz, but in an alternate reality where the Nazis won the war. So, a bit like the movie Sliding Doors, except... nope, let's end that analogy right there. [Image: Bethesda]
Choose stealth or mayhem in latest Wolfenstein trailer
This trailer for Wolfenstein: The New Order depicts two schools of thought players can embrace when mercilessly killing Nazi soldiers in the game: Stealth and Mayhem. The MachineGames-developed FPS is slated to launch May 20 for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Return to the castle, watch half an hour of Wolfenstein: The New Order
Bethesda is streaming bits of upcoming old-school shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order, and the publisher uploaded roughly the opening half-hour for your eyes to scrutinize. The game proper storms the world on May 20, coming to PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. [Image: Bethesda]
Wolfenstein: The New Order EU, AUS release dates brought forward for simultaneous launch
Europe and Australia are now getting Wolfenstein: The New Order on the same day North America does, after publisher Bethesda revised the regional release dates today. Australia and Europe were due to get the single-player shooter on May 22 and May 23 respectively, but the game is now launching in all three regions on May 20. We'd like to think Bethesda announced/evilly laughed its plans for world domination from inside a chaingun-wielding mech suit - we've yet to see if a certain Fuhrer will return in MachineGames' take on the World War 2-themed series. What we do know is William "B.J." Blazkowicz is back as the gruff-voiced hero, and he's now trying to deal with an alternative post-WW2 scenario where the Nazis won and have the game's 1960s world shackled under their control. We also know The New Order is coming to Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and that pre-orders will receive a beta code for id Software's next Doom game. [Image: Bethesda]
Meet Frau Engel in Wolfenstein: The New Order's 'Train to Berlin' scene
We saw this scene right at the end of our preview playthrough of the first two hours of Wolfenstein: The New Order, and it introduces Frau Engel to players for the first time. Engel looks to be sadistic bordering on psychopathic, toying with hero B.J. Blaskowicz as he tries to keep his cool and maintain his cover. For what it's worth (spoilers), when we played this sequence we didn't go for the gun despite how crazy the crazy lady was. Instead, we simply picked the cards. That caused Engel to angrily declare we were impure and point the gun to our head, only for her sultry toy-boy to calm her down and remind her it was all a game. Bethesda released a separate video interview today (below the break) with MachineGames' Narrative Designer Tommy Tordsson Bjork. In it he describes conceiving the Frau Engel character as his proudest moment because she's "such a cool, female villain, which is not that common in video games." Engel is just one of the antagonists Blaskowicz faces in MachineGames' alternate vision of a post WW2-world where the Nazis won, and players will get to see the whole lot - possibly including a mech-suited Fuhrer? - when the game hits Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on May 20 in North America, and May 23 in Europe. Bethesda recently revealed pre-orders net players an invite to an upcoming beta for the next Doom game. [Image: Bethesda]
Wolfenstein: The New Order tries hard with a vengeance
MachineGames talks about Wolfenstein: The New Order being a story-driven, single-player adventure, and it's true there's some finesse and direction to the cutscenes, a suggestion of secondary characters with personality and backstory. Much the same can be said of Die Hard, though, and it's no War and Peace. That's not to dismiss the storytelling in The New Order, but based on what I see in its first two hours, it mostly sticks to the action movie spirit of tearing up Nazis, saving the day, getting the girl, and blowing shit up. The return of William "BJ" Blazkowicz provides a gruff-voiced American hero with McClane-like hardened features and self-whispered one-liners, while Gruber is all but resurrected in the campy glares and maniacal laughs of the game's arch-villains. More important than that, I've got waves and waves of "Nazi scum" to kill, to use the blunt words of Blazkowicz, and machine guns in each hand. A story-driven romp The New Order may be, but a romp is still a romp. That said, the game shows a hand for ripping up preconceptions.
Wolfenstein: The New Order bundled with Doom beta access this May
Order up! The next installment in the Wolfenstein series, The New Order, launches on May 20 in North America and on May 23 in Europe, publisher Bethesda Softworks has announced. Wolfenstein: The New Order is the first game from developer MachineGames, founded in 2009 by exiting members of Riddick-dev Starbreeze. Bethesda also revealed that pre-ordering The New Order will net players an invite to a beta for Doom, which a Bethesda representative tells Joystiq is "the next Doom game from id Software." Developer id Software first announced a new installment in the franchise, at the time titled Doom 4, in May 2008. Since then, id has muttered nary a word about the next game – save for today's news that, yes, it's still in development. Bethesda promises more information on the beta, which has not been dated, on its official site. Wolfenstein: The New Order focuses on narrative, eschewing a multiplayer mode in favor of a story that revolves around an alt-history 1960s where the Nazi regime had been victorious in their monstrous World War 2 campaign. The New Order will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC alongside Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.
Wolfenstein: The New Order pushed to 2014
Wolfenstein: The New Order needs a little more time to get it reich. "We have confirmed today at QuakeCon that Wolfenstein will ship next year, all platforms. Felt it deserved some additional time for polish," Bethesda VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines said today on Twitter. Hines also told Polygon that developer MachineGames' reboot has been hampered by developing on current- and next-gen platforms simultaneously, along with the layers of genres the studio is trying to put into the shooter. "MachineGames has been working on this game for a while," Hines told Polygon. "You don't want to waste all that time and effort for the sake of a couple of months, if a couple of months could make all of the difference in the world."
