The Spoils Of War
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus does a great job of explaining its game mechanics thanks to a simple tutorial system. While these introductions explain basics like movement, stealth and combat, there are still some things that would be good to know when starting a new game. What difficulty should you choose? Is it worth searching every inch of every level to find all of the game’s collectables? And how does that early story choice affect your game going forward? The answers to these questions and more can all be found in this list of 10 things we wish we knew before starting Wolfenstein 2.
Be sure to check out our full review of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, along with our beginner's guide on everything you need to know when diving into the Nazi-killing campaign. For more info on the sequel, head over to our guide on everything you need to know about the game, and along with our video on the History of Wolfenstein.
For more tips and guides on Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, head on over to our dedicated hub for all things treasure hunting and Nazi-slaying.
Choosing A Difficulty
Don’t take the choice of difficulty lightly. Wolfenstein II can get difficult even on the medium settings. If things get too intense, you can change the setting up on the fly at any time without penalty. The difficulty only affects the gameplay and doesn't have an impact on the story.
There are six difficulty choices with one extra hard option that’s added after you complete the game. The “Can I play, Daddy?” is the easiest difficulty and is as easy as it sounds. On this difficulty, you can easily go toe-to-toe with any mechanized Nazi in the game and soak up nearly all the bullets that are sent flying your way. The hardest difficulty, “Mein Leben,” is just like the original hardest difficulty, but you only get one life to live. Dying means game over.
Choose the best difficulty for you. If you’re looking for a challenge that can even be a little frustrating at times, try one of the harder difficulties. If you’re more into experiencing the story, go for an easier one. The game doesn’t punish or reward you either way other than the trophies or achievements you earn from completing the game.
How The Story Changes Based On Who You Sacrifice In The Beginning
Wolfenstein II doesn’t load a previous save from decisions made in Wolfenstein: The New Order, but it does replay a segment from that game. At the beginning, Blazkowicz has the choice to sacrifice Fergus or Wyatt. This will not only change your companions aboard the Evas Hammer between missions, it also changes your weaponry. Wyatt is a zany character who enjoys listening to his music and studying the metaphysical aspects of the world. Fergus is a wisecracking englishman who is in a constant battle with his robotic arm. Both characters add a little something different to Wolfenstein II’s narrative. Fergus and his arm are definitely worth conversing with.
The big thing to consider is the gun you’ll get depending on who you choose. Choosing Fergus gives you the Laserkraftwerk and Wyatt gives you the Dieselkraftwerk. Both of these guns can be recharged throughout most levels with electricity plugs or gas pumps that are located on walls. The Laserkraftwerk is the more practical weapon in most combat situations. It shoots a powerful blast of electricity that vaporizes human targets in a single shot. The Diselkraftwerk works as a grenade launcher. It fires projectiles that can stick to surfaces and be detonated later. The projectiles can also be stuck to patrolling enemies without them knowing, which makes for some interesting strategies.
How The Perks Work
Wolfenstein II has a detailed perk system that rewards the specific way you play. You can check out the perk page from the character screen. There are six perks in each of the three different categories: Stealth, Mayhem, and Tactical. Nearly every kill you perform throughout the game will increase your level for a specific perk. For example, every stealth takedown will increase your mastery of that perk. Performing more of them will increase your speed while crouching. Racking up kills while dual-wielding weapons will increase the amount of ammunition you can carry. No matter your play style, you’ll increase your perks making you a stronger, faster Blazkowicz.
Stealth and Mayhem are the best categories to strengthen first. You should start every area with a few stealthy kills until you’re spotted. Once that happens, it’s best to switch to dual-wield weapons for maximum firepower. Being able to carry more ammunition is always a good thing.
What Weapon Should You Upgrade First?
Weapon upgrade kits are scattered around the game world and are for one-time use. There are a couple things to consider when upgrading your weapons. Each gun has three possible upgrades to unlock. Those upgrades can be equipped and unequipped at will from the weapon menu, and can all be equipped at the same time. Weapon upgrade kits cannot be reused, so choose wisely.
The pistol suppressor is the best upgrade to choose first. It completely silences all gunfire from this weapon, giving you silent ranged attacks for when you’re trying to be stealthy. The Sturmgewehr, or assault rifle, has the Marksman scope upgrade, which is also a good candidate for an early upgrade. This adds a scope and turns the weapon into a single-shot rifle instead of fully automatic. There isn’t an upgrade to manage the gun’s recoil, so changing it to single shot helps make the Sturmgewehr easier to manage especially when dual-wielding two of them. The best part: you can remove the scope while the weapon is equipped to turn it back to a fully automatic gun if you wish.
If you’re thorough enough, you’ll have more than one upgrade for your favorite weapons by the end of the game. Endgame content also allows you to find more upgrades to further strengthen your arsenal.
Does Being Stealthy Pay Off?
The short answer: yes, being stealthy pays off. As soon as the “signal detected” icon appears at the top of the screen, that means a commander is nearby. That’s usually a good indication that you should stay quiet. It’s not always easy, or even possible, to stealthily eliminate these threats, but it will make your life much easier if you can.
If you’re spotted by anyone before eliminating an enemy commander, the commander will trigger an alarm and Nazis will storm your position. If you’re able to take out the commander before that happens, you’ll have to deal with far fewer enemies.
Early on, you’ll have a lot of stealthy attacks that you can use to kill Nazis while being hidden in the shadows. You achieve stealth takedowns by sneaking behind your enemies. There’s the hatchet throw that counts as an automatic kill if you land it. The Pistole and Maschinenpistole can both be outfitted with silencers that make them completely silent. Be sure to lean around corners to see if an enemy has his back turned. This ensures that you stay hidden without revealing yourself.
Choosing Contraptions
Later in the game, Blazkowicz will be able to choose one of three contraptions without being given much information on them. The stress of choosing just one of these devices may be too much to bear, but fear not, you’ll be able to find the other two through side missions later in the game. Set allows you to choose between three contraptions, which include: the Constrictor Harness which allows Blazkowicz to stealthily squeeze into very tight quarters, the Ram Shackles which provide the ability to crash through certain walls, and the Battle Walker that extends his legs like stilts to reach high platforms.
What the game doesn’t tell you is that these contraptions give you specific perks that aid your playstyle. The Constrictor Harness helps with stealth by making your footsteps completely silent, the Ram Shackles prevent you from being knocked over from explosions, and the Battle Walker grants the Quick Draw and Adrenaline perks--while also slowing time when viewing the weapon wheel, also stopping the loss of overcharged health.
These perks are active immediately after equipping one of these contraptions, making them extremely valuable. Choose the contraption that best fits your playstyle.
Are the Collectables Worth Getting?
Like many single-player games, Wolfenstein II is littered with collectables. There are 366 in all, which includes Gold, Starcards, Concepts, Max’s Toys, Deathcards and Records. None of them will give you any enjoyable perks, or beef up your arsenal. They’re more or less to give you a few nice items to search for so you can say you found the whole collection. To answer the question simply, no, these objects aren’t really worth putting in the time it takes to find them.
Deathcards are the only ones that can be considered worthy of your time, as they are essentially rewards for killing commanders thus completing smaller side missions after you've completed the game. These missions revisit past events from the story, but have slight changes in the environments and enemies you encounter. Deathcards missions are the majority of the endgame content. Other than that, pick up the items you come across, but don’t feel obligated to find everything.
Keep in mind that the map in the mission menu shows where to find different collectables. There’s no big secret to where everything is, which makes it even more like busy work.
Are The Deathcards Worth Collecting?
The Deathcard missions are fun, small missions toward the end of the game. They take place in areas that you’ve already visited, but each mission has slight changes to the area that change the gameplay. If you didn’t get your fill of killing Nazis during the story, definitely check out the Deathcard missions and kill all the high-ranking captains.
Each commander that you kill throughout the game drops an enigma card. These cards can be used at the enigma machine on the Hammer. If this hasn’t been introduced to you yet, don’t worry. It’ll be introduced later in the game. These simple puzzles unlock the location of high ranking Nazi commanders. You can then set a course to their location and take them out. Each of these officials carries a Deathcard that you can collect to cross their name off the list. Be careful. These officials carry powerful grenade launchers that can drop you in one or two shots, so don’t take them lightly. Take them out from a distance if you can.
Each Deathcard mission has collectables to find, including weapon upgrades. So, if you’re looking for stages to strengthen your weapons, check out the Deathcard missions.
Is There a New Game Plus?
There isn’t a New Game Plus mode. Do not try to start a new game after completing a game. If you do try to start a new game on the profile with the completed game, it will erase all of your game saves and start a brand new game. Nothing will carry over and statistics will be erased.
While there is no way to replay exact missions from the story, you can hunt down remaining Kommandants in the Deathcard missions. Deathcard missions take place in areas from the main storyline, but with new twists. Environments and the enemies encountered are slightly different, making each area feel new again. After the credits, you are transported back to the U-boat where you can set courses for these missions.
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