So About the Ending...

[JK]

Hey guys, I'm going to rant about the ending, so if you haven't finished and don't want to be spoiled, please click off. Otherwise if you have finished it, seen the end, or don't care, I'd like to hear some thoughts.

So I finished my first playthrough of TNC and I was a bit disappointed in the ending. I don't know if there are different endings since I wanted to go into this game with as little information about the story as possible, so I didn't look into if there are multiple endings. It seemed like it was leading up to some sort of epic battle after Anya saves BJ and guns down a panzerhund with two assult rifles on top of being topless (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hilarious). But then you go to the studio where Frau Engel is being interviewed, walk up to her and just hack of half her skull, and then the game ends. I was left with a sense of "really? That's the end" because the rest of the game felt so balls to the walls insane that I would think there would be an epic boss fight in the end. TNO did this with Deathshead, where it felt earned and exciting to get to the end. And it felt epic fighting on top of the castle with the rain, lightening, shooting down the zepplins, going in that interior section where everything is catching on fire. So you're both dodging Deathshead's attacks and the fire that's consuming the area and making it hard to see. That was a proper ending to a game like Wolfenstein. TNC just feels...luke warm. It's not the worse ending in the world, but if there were an epic boss fight between BJ and Engel in a mech or some sort of crazy machine, then the ending would have held up better. But just cutting to the chase and just killing Engel with no effort whatsoever just feels lazy and lame. Maybe the DLC chapters will have some sort of crazy bosses in them and maybe Machine Games, if they make a Wolfenstein 3, then they could bring back an epic boss fight for the grand finale. But until then, I'm left with this very luke warm ending that spoils my fun a little bit.

All and all, I had an absolute blast playing TNC. It's not as strong as TNO, but it is still a fantastic and insane ride through a Nazi-led America, and I will definitely do multiple playthroughs in the future.

[A Helpless Baby]

as for it being quick, I think that might be intended. when caroline is beheaded BJ makes a comment about how her life just ended. just like that with no big to do or giant event, just the swing of an axe. Same thing when BJ is executed. No slow-mo no sad music, just chop chop chop and it's done. That said, I would prefer a boss fight besides a weird bullet sponge bot that is for some reason more durable than the giant mechs. I'm also not sure what I'm supposed to do after the end. I've beaten the shooting range (tied at 450 I think is the max score for the range and got second at the killhouse [first place is 18 seconds? don't think that's actually possible]) and killed all the ubercommanders. not sure what to do now, just kind of wander around the sub and replay the same assassinations over and over?

[djcarey]

Originally posted by The Patyman:

Hey guys, I'm going to rant about the ending, so if you haven't finished and don't want to be spoiled, please click off. Otherwise if you have finished it, seen the end, or don't care, I'd like to hear some thoughts.

So I finished my first playthrough of TNC and I was a bit disappointed in the ending. I don't know if there are different endings since I wanted to go into this game with as little information about the story as possible, so I didn't look into if there are multiple endings. It seemed like it was leading up to some sort of epic battle after Anya saves BJ and guns down a panzerhund with two assult rifles on top of being topless (♥♥♥♥ing hilarious). But then you go to the studio where Frau Engel is being interviewed, walk up to her and just hack of half her skull, and then the game ends. I was left with a sense of "really? That's the end" because the rest of the game felt so balls to the walls insane that I would think there would be an epic boss fight in the end. TNO did this with Deathshead, where it felt earned and exciting to get to the end. And it felt epic fighting on top of the castle with the rain, lightening, shooting down the zepplins, going in that interior section where everything is catching on fire. So you're both dodging Deathshead's attacks and the fire that's consuming the area and making it hard to see. That was a proper ending to a game like Wolfenstein. TNC just feels...luke warm. It's not the worse ending in the world, but if there were an epic boss fight between BJ and Engel in a mech or some sort of crazy machine, then the ending would have held up better. But just cutting to the chase and just killing Engel with no effort whatsoever just feels lazy and lame. Maybe the DLC chapters will have some sort of crazy bosses in them and maybe Machine Games, if they make a Wolfenstein 3, then they could bring back an epic boss fight for the grand finale. But until then, I'm left with this very luke warm ending that spoils my fun a little bit.

All and all, I had an absolute blast playing TNC. It's not as strong as TNO, but it is still a fantastic and insane ride through a Nazi-led America, and I will definitely do multiple playthroughs in the future.

Go Get Half of the Achievements then...

[Famix]

Originally posted by A Helpless Baby:

as for it being quick, I think that might be intended. when caroline is beheaded BJ makes a comment about how her life just ended. just like that with no big to do or giant event, just the swing of an axe. Same thing when BJ is executed. No slow-mo no sad music, just chop chop chop and it's done. That said, I would prefer a boss fight besides a weird bullet sponge bot that is for some reason more durable than the giant mechs. I'm also not sure what I'm supposed to do after the end. I've beaten the shooting range (tied at 450 I think is the max score for the range and got second at the killhouse [first place is 18 seconds? don't think that's actually possible]) and killed all the ubercommanders. not sure what to do now, just kind of wander around the sub and replay the same assassinations over and over?

Wolfenstone 3D, the in-universe version of Wolfenstein 3D

[Anticitizen 1]

Its the worst ending since Mass Effect 3 multiple choice ending. Oh yeah, there are no boss fights in DLC either.

[Famix]

I think your judgement skills are ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

We were fighting 2 robots that were shooting ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ black holes.

Besides, is Wolfenstein really known for its boss fights? NO! It's known for letting us fight buttloads of robot nazis

[Anticitizen 1]

Originally posted by Famix the Holiday Zetan:

We were fighting 2 robots that were shooting ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ black holes.

Two pathetic pushovers who got confused when you used the two hiding spots with ammo and armour due to their ♥♥♥♥ AI. They don't count as bosses.

[Famix]

Now you're just being entitled and picky.

Guess the hell guardians didn't count as bosses in DOOM, either! Useless bastards who couldn't even use a sword properly and looked like something I pulled out of Atlantis. And they weren't hard enough on Ultra Baby difficulty!

[Abyssrocker]

The ending is pretty divisive,
with a lot of people being eh to hating it outright.

I personally enjoy the game, but even I can't really defend the ending. The Frau Engel vendetta needed more fuel like that between BJ and Deathshead because it lacked the necessary motivation. Engel might have been shadowing BJ through the story in TNC more than Deathshead in TNO, but nothing she did ever had the same lasting impact. Caroline's death was so sudden (not to mention predictable by that point) that it never set off the necessary impetus to get her back.

I think that was where her beheading Blasko was meant to further the flame, but again, it wasn't as though you were really going to end right there, either. Hell, they actually blew their own storytelling because BJ suddenly got all chipper and happy, so of anything, Engel did him (and us) a favor.

I've said before here, but I think that trying to fit in BJ's childhood, Engel, putting together the resistance, ect. was all too much for so little time. The pacing is just off, and it's quite different from TNO which has an overall consistent feel to its narrative. Likewise, the game wants to juggle all of these themes but does very little with any of them. Again, that halfway point is the cause of a lot of the messiness because it comes across like everything in the first half of the game is completely forgotten.

The story races to the finish line from there, and you're never given a chance to step back and appreciate any stakes. The transition from New Orleans to Venus doesn't even let you take a minute to walk around the hub world, immediately sending you to another bloody planet, and the tone itself seems more like a zany heist film out of nowhere.

After Venus, you're back to the "real" first level of the game aboard the Ausmerzer, and that's about it.

Some boss fights would have certainly broken up the pacing, but I think the bigger problem is the lack of any real iconic set pieces at all. I haven't played TNO all the way through in a long time, but I still remember the concentration camp level or fighting the giant walker; TNC just brushes along with levels that don't stand out as far as video games go. The closest thing is riding the panzerhund - which in all fairness does not scale well when the metal pup gets pulverized on Death Incarnate.

I think that the Riverside mission doesn't help matters since it's meant to be this finale level that is simply not well made. There is no story or motivation, the final encounter is sloppy with one robot and some commander just standing by the shore, the statue of liberty also happens to look low resolution as all hell, and we're given nothing in terms of further story or closure.

On one hand, I like that we can continue replaying side missions and what not from the hub, but on the other, I really think that after riverside, they should have done *something* for the sake of finality in terms of the story. It feels very unfinished, as though we were meant to continue from DLC, except the DLC isn't even related to the game, really, so it's just... Empty. Hell, the U-boat itself is even empty, with the rest of the gang off "somewhere," which I think is just a missed opportunity. I would have bought the season pass in a heartbeat if it picked off from there.

Originally posted by Famix the Holiday Zetan:

I think your judgement skills are ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

We were fighting 2 robots that were shooting ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ black holes.

Besides, is Wolfenstein really known for its boss fights? NO! It's known for letting us fight buttloads of robot nazis

I'm not even sure that you technically have to kill them because the area to proceed isn't blocked off.

Even on death incarnate, they're not too bad - it's really the other enemies who are more of a pain.

The first time I played that part, I didn't realize there was a tunnel underneath until over halfway through, although it was at least only on do or die ha ha!

That said, it is harder all around with Wyatt because that dieselkraftwerk is rubbish compared to the laserkraftwerk.

Anyway, I find fighting tons of enemies more fun than bosses anyway, but I wouldn't have minded just more levels to do so to mix things up for variety's sake. I also prefer Wolfenstein 2's balance of enemies over Doom's, or at least the lack of cacodemons.

[Anticitizen 1]

Originally posted by Famix the Holiday Zetan:

Now you're just being entitled and picky.

Guess the hell guardians didn't count as bosses in DOOM, either! Useless bastards who couldn't even use a sword properly and looked like something I pulled out of Atlantis. And they weren't hard enough on Ultra Baby difficulty!

Entitled to half decent gameplay for $80 USD? You better ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ believe it I feel entitled to it! It's certainly not what I actually got. At least the guardians stood out from normal mobs, these two big robots were just lame, bigger versions of trash mobs. I didn't actually know that they were supposed to be bosses until I googled "The New Order no Bosses?" after the game ended on a pathetic cliffhanger.

[Outplayedx]

Originally posted by Anticitizen1:

Two pathetic pushovers who got confused when you used the two hiding spots with ammo and armour due to their ♥♥♥♥ AI. They don't count as bosses.

Maybe try playing at a higher difficulty? You didn't even choose the default difficulty and went lower LOL. Those moth3rfukkas made me sweat on IaDI and Mein leben.

[Coldhands]

I liked the ending, and I didn't care that there wasn't an obvious boss fight, but I did think the story needed one more beat. Engel needed to come back with one more card to play or something. Once she executes BJ, she's basically out of the story for the whole second half of the game, while the good guys kinds just go on one long winning streak and new characters are introduced who never do anything.

That final final, I kept thinking for sure that Anya was going to get captured or killed (since there was no good reason for her to suddenly join you on this one mission). But then it turns out she's only there so they can have that last goofy scene where she shoots up a panzerhund, and then you go kill Engel with no trouble or surprises.

Overall, one of my favorite games of the year; but Wolfenstein 2 is by no means perfect.

[Abyssrocker]

Originally posted by Coldhands:

I liked the ending, and I didn't care that there wasn't an obvious boss fight, but I did think the story needed one more beat. Engel needed to come back with one more card to play or something. Once she executes BJ, she's basically out of the story for the whole second half of the game, while the good guys kinds just go on one long winning streak and new characters are introduced who never do anything.

That final final, I kept thinking for sure that Anya was going to get captured or killed (since there was no good reason for her to suddenly join you on this one mission). But then it turns out she's only there so they can have that last goofy scene where she shoots up a panzerhund, and then you go kill Engel with no trouble or surprises.

Overall, one of my favorite games of the year; but Wolfenstein 2 is by no means perfect.

Indeed, and that's where the opening half gets tossed the wind for (1) Roswell bunker, (2) New Orleans, and (3) Venus. It is very strange because of how disconnected the game gets from the original path.

As for Ana's role, it's interesting because I was replaying The New Order and it was after you break Fergus (or Wyatt) out of the prison and you're all three in a car, when Anya asks if anyone knows how to hotwire it. Flash forward to TNC, and apparently she traded all of that nursing know-how for hacking the Ausmerzer.

Anyway, the lack of any repercussions after killing Engel - for you OR free Nazis - is what leaves that cliffhanger air to the ending. And with Engel playing such a small part in the overall story, especially the second half, it's hard to guage just how much effect that would have even had. Engel is only set up to be Blasko's personal boogieman to an extent, with a few posters and the interview signifying her as being at least a figurehead of sorts, but that's the extent of it

If anything, capturing the Ausmerzer would presumably be the bigger victory because it was essentially a mobile fortress, but again, we don't know that for 100% sure because the game just ends without ever bringing it back up.

I certainly agree with you on another beat missing, and while I can't say for sure what it would be, or even where (between the ending or afterwards for something greater than Engel and a little speech), I do hope they at least pull an Old Blood mini standalone game that could offer some connections to the next game. The world building and lore is just too good to have been touched upon so lightly in this game for all of the potential that the settting would allow, so I'm left wanting more with nothing to look forward to because the DLC is so off-base and distant from both the ongoing narrative and any particularly intriguing (and original, not reused) side of the rest of Wolfenstein's world.

[Hansyboy]

Originally posted by A Helpless Baby:

as for it being quick, I think that might be intended. when caroline is beheaded BJ makes a comment about how her life just ended. just like that with no big to do or giant event, just the swing of an axe. Same thing when BJ is executed. No slow-mo no sad music, just chop chop chop and it's done. That said, I would prefer a boss fight besides a weird bullet sponge bot that is for some reason more durable than the giant mechs. I'm also not sure what I'm supposed to do after the end. I've beaten the shooting range (tied at 450 I think is the max score for the range and got second at the killhouse [first place is 18 seconds? don't think that's actually possible]) and killed all the ubercommanders. not sure what to do now, just kind of wander around the sub and replay the same assassinations over and over?

As for the max score, I just managed a 475 with the pistol. Dunno if it possible to get any higher than that tho.

[Hansyboy]

Originally posted by hanlysen:

Originally posted by A Helpless Baby:

as for it being quick, I think that might be intended. when caroline is beheaded BJ makes a comment about how her life just ended. just like that with no big to do or giant event, just the swing of an axe. Same thing when BJ is executed. No slow-mo no sad music, just chop chop chop and it's done. That said, I would prefer a boss fight besides a weird bullet sponge bot that is for some reason more durable than the giant mechs. I'm also not sure what I'm supposed to do after the end. I've beaten the shooting range (tied at 450 I think is the max score for the range and got second at the killhouse [first place is 18 seconds? don't think that's actually possible]) and killed all the ubercommanders. not sure what to do now, just kind of wander around the sub and replay the same assassinations over and over?

As for the max score, I just managed a 475 with the pistol. Dunno if it possible to get any higher than that tho.

Something is up with the scoring system at the shooting range. I just managed a 485, just to be followed by a 425 where I know for a fact that I got every single target. Maybe slightly bugged ?

[Outplayedx]

Originally posted by A Helpless Baby:

I'm also not sure what I'm supposed to do after the end. I've beaten the shooting range (tied at 450 I think is the max score for the range and got second at the killhouse [first place is 18 seconds? don't think that's actually possible]) and killed all the ubercommanders. not sure what to do now, just kind of wander around the sub and replay the same assassinations over and over?

You finished the game dude. They added a gratuitous amount of post-campaign activities, and along with DLC0 and DLC1, you've completed all there is to do as of now. Why are you expecting more?