If you’ve played the first game Wolfenstein II The New Colossus Switch free download you’ll know what to expect, but for if you’re new to the series you’re in for a real (albeit, disturbing) treat. You step into the bloodied and well-worn shoes of one William ‘B.J.’ Blazkowicz, a damaged American soldier who is having to deal with the fact that the Nazis have won WW2 thanks to an advent of some conveniently advanced technology. Having struck a decisive blow to the Third Reich at the conclusion of the first game, The New Colossus begins with B.J. and his new family of misfit rebels ruthlessly hunted by Frau Engel, a sadistic commander left horrifically scarred from her last encounter with our gruff hero. ROMSLAB.COM  Best Switch Games

Wolfenstein II The New Colossus Switch NSP + Update Free Download Romslab

Talking of 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order, you don’t have to have played the first game to understand the black humoured alt-history backdrop, but some of the story’s more shocking and poignant moments won’t have quite as much impact if you’re going in cold. It’s frustrating that Bethesda didn’t sign off on a Switch port of the first game – or consider packing them together – but we would advise you to play the original just so its divergent timeline (which is briefly recounted in a bitesize cutscene at the start) makes more narrative sense.

Single Player

Because despite being a first-person shooter first and foremost, The New Colossus boasts one of the best single-player stories the genre has ever seen. One that takes the schlocky alt-history of its action – Nazis in mechs with giant lasers, anyone? – and weaves it around a story that’s not afraid to explore some pretty taboo subjects. It’s guilty of being rather tasteless at times, looking for cheap shocks as much as presenting genuine discourse on the likes of race and discrimination, but it usually ends up falling back on the same B-movie silliness that made the first game such a riot. FIFA 19 Switch NSP

Wolfenstein II The New Colossus Switch NSP + Update Free Download Romslab

This being an FPS, you’re getting the same template as its predecessor, only with more guns and gore strapped to it. And what guns they are, too – whether you’re melting vents to reveal new pathways with your Lasergewehr, or turning foes to instant gore with a nasty shotgun, there’s a delicious heft to each bullet and shell that MachineGames has made its own. There could have been a little more variety, but with an upgrade system that enables you to transform each weapon to your playstyle (such as the SMG that can be effectively be modded into a silenced nail gun), there’s a pleasing sense of progression to this small yet mighty selection of boomsticks.

Plot

Most levels are open enough to offer both stealth and ‘loud’ options – which is especially useful when hunting the officers who need to be taken down quietly in order to avoid calling in a small army’s worth of reinforcements. Most fights tend to descend into all-out chaos – any game that lets you dual-wield assault rifles is hardly looking to be played entirely in the shadows – but it’s empowering to have the choice (and enough space in the level design) to ambush enemies and turn the tide. There’s also a passive perk system that rewards you for performing certain in-game challenges; it lets you get on with the slaying rather than messing about with skill trees. Poison Control Switch

Wolfenstein II The New Colossus Switch NSP + Update Free Download Romslab

As you might expect, there are all manner of Nazis to butcher, ranging from basic bullet-sponge grunts all the way up to some terrifying monstrosities we won’t ruin for you here, but it’s when the game takes its finger off the trigger that The New Colossus really shines. A sequence set in a very different take on Roswell – complete with a colourful parade and a litany of hooded KKK members – offers a chance to see a side of Wolfenstein’s skewed ’60s-set timeline beyond simple ultraviolence. The New Colossus has clearly taken a few leaves out of The Man in the High Castle’s book when it comes to world-building and it’s far stronger a story as a result. It’s just a shame these sequences are so rare and short-lived.

Performance

So let’s talk performance on Switch. Much like that aforementioned id Software port, The New Colossus is an incredibly impressive feat of technical mastery. The fact this game is even running on Switch is a marvel in itself, but in order to work this conjuration of black magic, Panic Button has had to tone down the captivating visuals and rendering that made last year’s PC/console release such a must-play. That’s not to say this Switch version is unplayable or ugly – far from it, in fact – it’s just taken an inevitable and noticeable blow in the visual department. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Wolfenstein II The New Colossus Switch NSP + Update Free Download Romslab

Running at a relatively steady 30 frames-per-second, there’s thankfully very little slowdown, which is a shock considering it boasts far larger, semi-open environments compared to those found in The New Order. But in order to fit in every area – ranging from the claustrophobic corridors of a stolen U-boat to the open plan ruin of an irradiated Manhattan – the dev has had to employ some obvious tricks, and some are far more obvious than others.

Add-ons (DLC): Wolfenstein II The New Colossus Switch NSP + Update