Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Nintendo Switch) Review

The short answer to that question is yes. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus fills a gap on Nintendo Switch that first-person shooters haven't been contributing to. Much like Panic Button's other successful port, DOOM, this arcade style FPS is the type of shooter that works and feels great on the Nintendo console, particularly in handheld mode. Where the required extra precision of a tactical realistic FPS can be extra fiddly to get accustomed to, the chunkier weapons and leeway for accuracy in Wolfenstein II make it more appealing and comfortable to play.

The theme this time around is revolution. Well, the main theme, at least. It has been pointed out that a number of sociopolitical themes are touched upon throughout Wolfenstein II - and while the intentions may be good, with how quickly they are glossed over, the fact that the game never settles on a constant plot thread is a frustration in itself. You can never predict what path it will go down when it jumps from one thing to the next in the space of one or two levels.

It would have been preferred to pick a core and run with it - and while that core likely is that of revolution, dropping some other generic threads may have helped to enhance the central storyline… Although maybe it wouldn't, either. The counter argument is that Wolfenstein and its past iterations are the opposite of serious, so its inability to tell a coherent story can be brushed off. The problem is that it is plain the writers tried to be serious, so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

The plot can be forgiven as long as it doesn't affect gameplay, but with how often the pacing dips, bringing main character Blazkowicz back to the hub area every few stages and throwing him into some games of cat and mouse, it can be the cause of a degree of irritation. It doesn't help that there really aren't many standout levels. Not much will stick in the mind as extremely fun after having completed the game and it won't warrant another playthrough unless revisiting areas for collectibles is your thing. Some fight sections, set pieces, and cut-scenes provide entertainment, but they are so few and far between that they get lost in the mediocrity.

This isn't to say Wolfenstein II is a bad first-person shooter. It is a decent one that lacks variety in its stages and guns, but it has that meaty DOOM-like gameplay that should satisfy the Nintendo Switch crowd pining for games of its ilk. As for the porting job, it's a blurry mess at times, and although there are frame drops, for the most part, this runs fine at 30fps. The visual downgrade is a necessary sacrifice to get a game like this running on Switch, and you take that all day long in order to play intense shootfests on a portable system. People with busy work and family schedules will always appreciate the effort to get games like Wolfenstein II playable, no matter what must be forfeit in the process.