The dedication Bethesda is showing towards single player experiences is truly incredible. Not only does the company produce great titles with a strong narrative component, but it also seems to have found the right balance to make them coexist alongside massive online experiences. In a market that pushes more and more towards constantly online worlds, this choice is undoubtedly a relief and bodes well for future projects in which social interactions are left aside in favor of well-characterized characters and a world with a fascinating background.
The last test of strength of Bethesda we had with Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, a first-person shooter that on the pages of Epic Videogames Guide was awarded a well-deserved 9 (review). A few months after its release, MachineGames launched The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe, first of three DLCs which introduce a completely new cast of characters and, in theory, also new gameplay mechanics. The reality of the facts, however, is a bit different: let's find out together what it is.
The protagonist of this mini campaign is Pistolero Joe, a former African American football star who is arrested and taken prisoner due to Nazi repression in the United States. Like all the protagonists of the world of Wolfenstein, however, even Joe does not intend in any way to surrender to the invader, thus choosing to rebel to defend his homeland but above all the freedom of his fellow citizens. The choice of choosing an athlete as the first protagonist of this series of DLC is very interesting and confirms once again how MachineGames, albeit with irony, manages to include incredibly topical themes in its titles. Sport has always been a dangerous terrain when it comes to discrimination and racism, but on more than one occasion the condemnation of such behavior comes from the athletes themselves, who bear the heavy responsibility of teaching their own fans a lesson. The story of Pistolero Joe can therefore be seen as a great metaphor of our days in which it is the sportsman himself who no longer tolerates injustices and abuses towards the different.
If the themes covered by The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe are perfectly in line with the main series, the narrative technique is not. The events are told through a static graphic novel, no longer with animated cutscenes; if on the one hand this could be unsettling, on the other it is commendable that MachineGames wanted to give these DLCs an identity of their own. Accompanying the illustrated tables will be a narrator in Spanish, which gives the whole a very pleasant effect while at the same time contributing to increasing its immersion.
The weakest point, if we can say so, is the gameplay. In these three DLCs, each of the protagonists possesses only some of the skills that Lieutenant Blazkowicz acquires during his journey, thus making the levels less dynamic than we were used to. Nothing compromising, mind you, also because the skeleton of this new Wolfenstein series is so solid and well functioning that a little less variety is not able to affect its goodness anyway. The mini campaign is in turn divided into three chapters whose overall duration is about three hours: considering the price at which the DLCs are offered, or € 9.99, the cost / quality ratio seemed fairly balanced. Original and challenging enemies and bosses: The other standards we were used to in The New Colossus were also perfectly respected in The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe.
After the launch of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, MachineGames still convinces: The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe stages new events with perhaps lighter tones than the main campaign but no less pleasant. The gameplay is always the solid and fun one that we have learned to love already in the first chapter, even if in this case the player is deprived of part of the freedom he acquired in the second half of The New Colossus. Overall Wolfenstein II: The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe is promoted; we can't wait to find out what the next two DLCs have in store for us!
Verdict: recommended to everyone
