A recap of...
Wolfenstein Ii The New Colossus
During the events of Wolfenstein: The New Order, the Kreisau Circle retrieves a critically injured Blazkowicz from Deathshead's fortress before destroying it with a nuclear cannon. With Deathshead's death and the compound's destruction, the Nazi's research division is crippled, stagnating their technological advancement. Blazkowicz falls into a five-month-long coma. As he fades in and out of consciousness aboard the captured U-boat Eva's Hammer, it is revealed that Anya, Blazkowicz's love interest, is pregnant with twins. The U-boat is attacked by SS-Obergruppenführer Irene Engel, a sadistic Nazi commander who captures Caroline. Blazkowicz devises a plan to get himself captured and taken to Engel's airship, the Ausmerzer, which is suspending the U-boat above water. Engel's daughter Sigrun refuses to decapitate Caroline, so Engel kills Caroline instead. Sigrun tackles Engel, allowing Blazkowicz to use Caroline's armor. Blazkowicz disconnects Eva's Hammer from the Ausmerzer and flees back to the U-boat with Sigrun and Caroline's body.
After Caroline's funeral, the group decides to carry out what would have been the next step in her plan to end the Nazi regime: liberate America and use it as a central base from which to free the world. The group sets out to contact a resistance group hiding in the Empire State Building amid the ruins of Manhattan, which was destroyed by a Nazi atomic bomb. Blazkowicz finds and recruits Grace Walker, a passionate, scarred African-American woman, and Norman "Super Spesh" Caldwell, a lawyer-turned-conspiracy theorist. Grace informs the Circle of her plan to cripple Nazi leadership in the US by destroying the Oberkommando in Roswell, New Mexico, near the site of an unearthed Da'at Yichud cache. Blazkowicz travels to Roswell with a portable nuclear warhead before heading to Super Spesh's hideout. Spesh takes him to his bunker and to a tunnel that leads to the Oberkommando, where Blazkowicz deposits the bomb in the base's reactor and detonates it.
After escaping Roswell, Blazkowicz takes a detour to Mesquite, his hometown, to recover an heirloom ring. His abusive and racist father Rip (Glenn Morshower) appears and chastises him, justifying his abuse of Blazkowicz and his mother. Rip tells Blazkowicz he allowed his mother to be taken by the Nazis because she was Jewish, and he intends to hand him over as well. Blazkowicz kills his father as Engel's forces arrive, and he is captured while Engel keeps the ring. Super Spesh visits Blazkowicz under the guise of his lawyer, telling him of their plan to break him out. However, Engel kills Spesh, having known his ruse. Blazkowicz is sentenced to death and beheaded at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in front of millions in a televised event.
The Kreisau Circle recovers Blazkowicz's head and surgically grafts it onto a bioengineered Nazi super-soldier body. Blazkowicz breaks into a Nazi bunker under New York, stealing a file on New Orleans, which is revealed to be a large ghetto. Blazkowicz travels there to gather freedom fighters under communist Horton Boone's command. They break out of the ghetto and escape on Eva's Hammer. To capture the Ausmerzer to prevent its use against the Kreisau Circle's planned revolution, they plan to steal the codes to deactivate its automated defense system by traveling to Venus, where the codes are kept in a Nazi facility. Blazkowicz assumes the identity of an actor and is invited to Venus to participate in a propaganda film audition produced by Adolf Hitler, who is looking for a suitable actor to play Blazkowicz. Blazkowicz retrieves the codes and returns to Earth to decipher them. The Kreisau Circle mounts an assault on the Ausmerzer, where the resistance members disable the defense and hijack its command systems. Blazkowicz and his team travel to the ground, where Engel is on national television in California. Blazkowicz kills Engel, and the Kreisau Circle proclaims the start of a revolution to liberate America. To ensure the total collapse of the Nazis's chain of command in the US, Grace orders BJ to kill all Ubercommanders who served as Engel's lieutenants.
The revolution is depicted pictorially during the credits sequence. In a post-credits scene, Blazkowicz takes back his heirloom ring from Engel's body and proposes to Anya.
When creating Wolfenstein II, the team was inspired by the development of Wolfenstein 3D, whose development team had "totally unrestricted creative freedom". As a result, the team retained moments that were "obnoxiously grandiose and crazy" while ensuring that they were respectful. As with The New Order, The New Colossus is set in an alternate history, giving MachineGames more freedom in creating the game's narrative and introducing science fiction elements when creating the game's world and enemies. Like The New Order, The New Colossus has a level set in outer space. This was because the team wanted to introduce additional gameplay variety and evoke a sense of adventure. Venus was chosen because it was not a common setting for both films and video games. The location was first teased in The New Order. Commenting on the game's nature, Matthies added that the team considered Wolfenstein II to be "much more like a The Last of Us or an Uncharted within a first person context" than a "straight up shooter". The team did not consider adding multiplayer to the game as they felt that it may "dilute" its storytelling.
The story was described to be both "character driven" and "location driven", as the entire development team can propose ideas on possible level locations while the story team created the narrative that occurs in the chosen space. America was chosen as its setting because it was Blazkowicz's homeland, making the story more personal. America did not appear as a level in The New Order, as the team felt a full sequel was needed to explore the setting in a meaningful way. Ultimately, the team chose locations that were "iconic" but not commonly explored in other mediums. Americana imagery and retrofuturism inspired the game's overall aesthetics. The team wanted to explore an America where Nazi Germany had subverted its culture and infiltrated its values into everyday American life. The team intended to show a possible spectrum of American responses towards Nazi rule. The Roswell level showed an American population that has adapted to Nazi rule, being "a reflection of ordinary society under Nazi oppression". In contrast, New Orleans was transformed into a ghetto used for imprisoning rebel fighters and dissidents. For the Texas level, the team recruited Kevin Cloud from id Software to help modify the level's script. MachineGames had a hard time casting Rip Blazkowicz, who was racist and abusive. Cinematic performance director Tom Keegan approached Glenn Morshower, whom he previously worked with on Battlefield 3, for the role. Morshower based his performance on his experience interacting with his grandfather.
While the game as a whole was designed to be over-the-top, the team juxtaposed it with the game's story and characters, which were "more intimate" and "normal". This approach to storytelling was inspired by films such as RoboCop, District 9, and Guardians of the Galaxy. The team continued to evolve Blazkowicz from a "1980s action hero" to a distinct character with his own unique personality and struggles. Early segments of the game see Blazkowicz in a crippled, broken state, and the opening scene, which involves Blazkowicz killing Nazi soldiers while controlling a wheelchair, was described by Matties as a "testament to B.J.'s willpower". Midway through the game, Blazkowicz was beheaded by Frau Engel. This was an idea Matthies had since working with Arkane Studios on Dishonored (2012). The scene served as a culmination to the first part of the game and demonstrates how tough he is, being able to "survive his own beheading". In The New Colossus, while Blazkowicz is proficient in killing Nazis, he is exhausted by the war. Writer Tommy Tordsson Björk compared Blazkowicz to John McClane from the Die Hard franchise, noting how he must endure treacherous scenarios to reunite with his family and friends. As with The New Order, his inner thoughts are featured prominently in the game. According to voice actor Brian Bloom, these inner voices are softer, more contemplative, and less secure when compared with his spoken dialogue, thus creating a "nice balance" against his tough demeanor.
For its depiction of Nazis, Matthies remarked that the team "never wanted to undermine or make light of what Nazi ideology is actually about". The team did not want to avoid controversy by sidestepping Nazi ideology or making them "cartoony". As a result, the game was "political" in nature, though it was not designed to be a "commentary on current topics". Frau Engel served as the game's primary antagonist, with Nina Franoszek returning to voice the character. Franoszek added that the character is desperate to cling to power and despises her daughter Sigrun, whom she deems was weak-minded. Matthies described Sigrun as a "complicated character" due to her troubled past. Despite growing up as a loyal Nazi follower, she resents her past. Adolf Hitler was featured in the Venus level. MachineGames wanted to use Wolfenstein II as a platform to introduce the character, but did not intend for him to be the main antagonist. In the scene, Hitler rehearsed with Blazkowicz, disguised as an actor, for a propaganda film. Matthies described him as being so "powerful" that he lost all kinds of social boundaries. The scene was heavily censored for the game's release in Germany. His mustache was removed, and characters did not address Hitler as their Führer. All swastika symbols were replaced, and Hitler accused characters in the game of being spies instead of being Jews.
After Caroline's funeral, the group decides to carry out what would have been the next step in her plan to end the Nazi regime: liberate America and use it as a central base from which to free the world. The group sets out to contact a resistance group hiding in the Empire State Building amid the ruins of Manhattan, which was destroyed by a Nazi atomic bomb. Blazkowicz finds and recruits Grace Walker, a passionate, scarred African-American woman, and Norman "Super Spesh" Caldwell, a lawyer-turned-conspiracy theorist. Grace informs the Circle of her plan to cripple Nazi leadership in the US by destroying the Oberkommando in Roswell, New Mexico, near the site of an unearthed Da'at Yichud cache. Blazkowicz travels to Roswell with a portable nuclear warhead before heading to Super Spesh's hideout. Spesh takes him to his bunker and to a tunnel that leads to the Oberkommando, where Blazkowicz deposits the bomb in the base's reactor and detonates it.
After escaping Roswell, Blazkowicz takes a detour to Mesquite, his hometown, to recover an heirloom ring. His abusive and racist father Rip (Glenn Morshower) appears and chastises him, justifying his abuse of Blazkowicz and his mother. Rip tells Blazkowicz he allowed his mother to be taken by the Nazis because she was Jewish, and he intends to hand him over as well. Blazkowicz kills his father as Engel's forces arrive, and he is captured while Engel keeps the ring. Super Spesh visits Blazkowicz under the guise of his lawyer, telling him of their plan to break him out. However, Engel kills Spesh, having known his ruse. Blazkowicz is sentenced to death and beheaded at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in front of millions in a televised event.
The Kreisau Circle recovers Blazkowicz's head and surgically grafts it onto a bioengineered Nazi super-soldier body. Blazkowicz breaks into a Nazi bunker under New York, stealing a file on New Orleans, which is revealed to be a large ghetto. Blazkowicz travels there to gather freedom fighters under communist Horton Boone's command. They break out of the ghetto and escape on Eva's Hammer. To capture the Ausmerzer to prevent its use against the Kreisau Circle's planned revolution, they plan to steal the codes to deactivate its automated defense system by traveling to Venus, where the codes are kept in a Nazi facility. Blazkowicz assumes the identity of an actor and is invited to Venus to participate in a propaganda film audition produced by Adolf Hitler, who is looking for a suitable actor to play Blazkowicz. Blazkowicz retrieves the codes and returns to Earth to decipher them. The Kreisau Circle mounts an assault on the Ausmerzer, where the resistance members disable the defense and hijack its command systems. Blazkowicz and his team travel to the ground, where Engel is on national television in California. Blazkowicz kills Engel, and the Kreisau Circle proclaims the start of a revolution to liberate America. To ensure the total collapse of the Nazis's chain of command in the US, Grace orders BJ to kill all Ubercommanders who served as Engel's lieutenants.
The revolution is depicted pictorially during the credits sequence. In a post-credits scene, Blazkowicz takes back his heirloom ring from Engel's body and proposes to Anya.
When creating Wolfenstein II, the team was inspired by the development of Wolfenstein 3D, whose development team had "totally unrestricted creative freedom". As a result, the team retained moments that were "obnoxiously grandiose and crazy" while ensuring that they were respectful. As with The New Order, The New Colossus is set in an alternate history, giving MachineGames more freedom in creating the game's narrative and introducing science fiction elements when creating the game's world and enemies. Like The New Order, The New Colossus has a level set in outer space. This was because the team wanted to introduce additional gameplay variety and evoke a sense of adventure. Venus was chosen because it was not a common setting for both films and video games. The location was first teased in The New Order. Commenting on the game's nature, Matthies added that the team considered Wolfenstein II to be "much more like a The Last of Us or an Uncharted within a first person context" than a "straight up shooter". The team did not consider adding multiplayer to the game as they felt that it may "dilute" its storytelling.
The story was described to be both "character driven" and "location driven", as the entire development team can propose ideas on possible level locations while the story team created the narrative that occurs in the chosen space. America was chosen as its setting because it was Blazkowicz's homeland, making the story more personal. America did not appear as a level in The New Order, as the team felt a full sequel was needed to explore the setting in a meaningful way. Ultimately, the team chose locations that were "iconic" but not commonly explored in other mediums. Americana imagery and retrofuturism inspired the game's overall aesthetics. The team wanted to explore an America where Nazi Germany had subverted its culture and infiltrated its values into everyday American life. The team intended to show a possible spectrum of American responses towards Nazi rule. The Roswell level showed an American population that has adapted to Nazi rule, being "a reflection of ordinary society under Nazi oppression". In contrast, New Orleans was transformed into a ghetto used for imprisoning rebel fighters and dissidents. For the Texas level, the team recruited Kevin Cloud from id Software to help modify the level's script. MachineGames had a hard time casting Rip Blazkowicz, who was racist and abusive. Cinematic performance director Tom Keegan approached Glenn Morshower, whom he previously worked with on Battlefield 3, for the role. Morshower based his performance on his experience interacting with his grandfather.
While the game as a whole was designed to be over-the-top, the team juxtaposed it with the game's story and characters, which were "more intimate" and "normal". This approach to storytelling was inspired by films such as RoboCop, District 9, and Guardians of the Galaxy. The team continued to evolve Blazkowicz from a "1980s action hero" to a distinct character with his own unique personality and struggles. Early segments of the game see Blazkowicz in a crippled, broken state, and the opening scene, which involves Blazkowicz killing Nazi soldiers while controlling a wheelchair, was described by Matties as a "testament to B.J.'s willpower". Midway through the game, Blazkowicz was beheaded by Frau Engel. This was an idea Matthies had since working with Arkane Studios on Dishonored (2012). The scene served as a culmination to the first part of the game and demonstrates how tough he is, being able to "survive his own beheading". In The New Colossus, while Blazkowicz is proficient in killing Nazis, he is exhausted by the war. Writer Tommy Tordsson Björk compared Blazkowicz to John McClane from the Die Hard franchise, noting how he must endure treacherous scenarios to reunite with his family and friends. As with The New Order, his inner thoughts are featured prominently in the game. According to voice actor Brian Bloom, these inner voices are softer, more contemplative, and less secure when compared with his spoken dialogue, thus creating a "nice balance" against his tough demeanor.
For its depiction of Nazis, Matthies remarked that the team "never wanted to undermine or make light of what Nazi ideology is actually about". The team did not want to avoid controversy by sidestepping Nazi ideology or making them "cartoony". As a result, the game was "political" in nature, though it was not designed to be a "commentary on current topics". Frau Engel served as the game's primary antagonist, with Nina Franoszek returning to voice the character. Franoszek added that the character is desperate to cling to power and despises her daughter Sigrun, whom she deems was weak-minded. Matthies described Sigrun as a "complicated character" due to her troubled past. Despite growing up as a loyal Nazi follower, she resents her past. Adolf Hitler was featured in the Venus level. MachineGames wanted to use Wolfenstein II as a platform to introduce the character, but did not intend for him to be the main antagonist. In the scene, Hitler rehearsed with Blazkowicz, disguised as an actor, for a propaganda film. Matthies described him as being so "powerful" that he lost all kinds of social boundaries. The scene was heavily censored for the game's release in Germany. His mustache was removed, and characters did not address Hitler as their Führer. All swastika symbols were replaced, and Hitler accused characters in the game of being spies instead of being Jews.
