The story of “Pistolero Joe”, as he is nicknamed the character by his fans, is told through static cutscene in comic style, narrated in Italian as the rest of the game but ugly in stylistic terms and substantially weak, when compared to the extraordinary sequences of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
Ready, the team of MachineGames is therefore produced in a resounding own goal, giving up a characteristic aspect of the experience (the narrative component, in fact) and avoiding to deepen a story that would have deserved more attention; all in the perspective of a mini campaign in three acts that is completed in less than three hours.
THE AFRICAN AMERICAN STALLION
As anticipated in the previously mentioned Episode Zero of the Season Pass, each of the three characters in The Chronicles of Freedom possesses one of the special abilities that BJ Blazkowicz acquires in the second half of Wolfenstein’s campaign II: The New Colossus.
But if in that case it was about powers deriving from advanced electronic devices, in expansions it is a question of pure genetics: thanks to its athletic abilities, “Pistolero Joe” is able to literally break down walls and knock down iron doors with his charge in the race , maneuver that allows him to catch the opponents off guard and to find gates where there seems to be none.
It is a mechanic that in the basic game offered alternative interpretations in terms of progression, while here it is applied in a linear way, but that’s okay: the important thing is that the “run & gun” gameplay made by MachineGames is present throughout its frenetic spectacularity, with heart-pounding fights, he ran at breakneck speed with two weapons (different!) in his fist and a final boss fight that made us sweat.
The three acts that make up the campaign of this DLC, entitled “Captured”, “On the Run” and “Final Clash”, see Joe escaping from the maximum security structure in which he was imprisoned, escaping the cruel Nazi experiments and certain death, reorganize and implement their own revenge. Once out, on the streets of the city is facing hooded enemies in an attempt to get in touch with the resistance, until the inevitable final duel with Metze in …
foreign land. In addition to the protagonist’s native skill, the practical differences from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus are indeed few: around the scenario we will find some appendages to be mounted on the weapons that will improve the yield, but the arsenal with which we will deal will be the same, with the only addition of a powerful rocket launcher and some special grenades.
In reality, however, having reused the settings and assets of the basic game, including enemies, saving on the cutscene (represented, as mentioned, static images in vintage comic style, but not overwhelming style), would have allowed to the developers to insert a few more levels and maybe focus on the five hours, so as to compose an alternative campaign in practice, considering the set of downloadable contents.
A longer duration, however, would have allowed the authors to better investigate the narrative component, fascinating but hardly sketched: the clear proof of a work not very inspired, to which we feel to assign the “green light” solely for the validity of a gameplay that, however, as mentioned, does not present significant changes compared to what has already been seen in The New Colossus.
IN CONCLUSION…
Wolfenstein II: The Adventures of Pistolero Joe is promoted with reserve. The mini campaign starring athletic Joseph Stallion boasts the same gameplay as the basic game, and this is undoubtedly an advantage
in the panorama of shooters, but the news are few: the innate ability to load, borrowed from The New Colossus, a rocket launcher and some weapons accessories. On the narrative front (characterized by mediocre static images in vintage comic style) and of the total duration it would have been reasonable to expect something more.
However, those who have been fasting on the frantic MachineGames run & gun will not be able to avoid all the Season Pass DLCs.
