The New Order: A Worthy Addition

The Wolfenstein family of games have come a long way since I got involved with Wolfenstein 3D back in 1992. The newest installment of Wolfenstein: The New World Order was released on May 20th and it does not disappoint. As one would expect from Bethesda, who brought us hits like Fallout 3 and Skyrim, The New Order is fantastic. The game takes place in 1960 Europe in an alternate timeline where the Nazis had won the Second World War. The gamer takes on the perspective of an American soldier attempting to overthrow the heavily technocratic Nazi powers that have since taken over the world.  One faces cyber men, robots, and drones in a dark, dirty distopia, where it is as if Nazis have joined powers with Skynet. The soundtrack is noteworthy, as well. The alternate timeline theme continues with a comical but somewhat creepy twist on our familiar sounds of the 1960s.  What if The Animals' “House of the Rising Sun” did not take place in New Orleans but rather NeuBerlin?

I was living in Germany when Return to Castle Wolfenstein was released in 2001.  The American edition of the game was illegal in Germany because of the Nazi symbols found throughout.  Because of this, the German edition had the Wolfenstein eagle symbol in place of Swastikas.  Anything related to the Nazis in games or toys is still illegal in Germany today; as such the German version of The New Order has been white-washed of any Nazi symbols.  Even the term “Nazis” has been replaced with simply “The Regime.”  I know anything related to Nazis is a sensitive issue in Germany, but the removal of such related symbols and terms always struck me as odd.  Like a vampire at the sight of blood or a werewolf at the sight of a full moon, is there a fear that there is something inherent to the German that will uncontrollably turn him or her into a psychopathic, world dominating Nazi at the mere sight of a Swastika?  Perhaps our way in America is also strange; train our youth through games to shoot those that wear the symbol.