Wolfenstein: The New Order gets release date, Doom 4 beta access

MachineGames’ ambitious shooter follow-up, Wolfenstein: The New Order, has finally been given a release date after being delayed from a planned late 2013 launch! The game will be arriving on May 20th for North America, May 22nd for Australia, and May 23rd for Europe. The release date comes courtesy of a (fantastic) new trailer showing off new cinematic and gameplay footage amidst 1960’s music.

Previously said to take place three years after the events of Activision’s 2009 Wolfenstein reboot, Wolfenstein: The New Order will unfold in an alternate-timeline 1960’s where the Nazi’s won World War II. Players will return to the gaming industry’s original first-person shooter hero, William ‘B.J.’ Blazkowicz, as he infiltrates Nazi strongholds and battles legions of foes with all manner of fictional super-weaponry.

Of particular interest however is that Wolfenstein: The New Order will be single-player-only, a rarity for modern first-person shooters. It will also include a retro-inspired health system whereupon players must seek out health packs to recover lost sections of health, though as long as an entire block is not drained, it will regenerate. This health mechanic was previously featured in acclaimed FPS’s, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and Resistance: Fall of Man.

Wolfenstein- The New Order - Promo ARt

Wolfenstein: The New Order is set to release on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It’s offering quite the tempting pre-order incentive as well!

If you pre-order the game ahead of its May release date, you’ll be given access to the multiplayer beta of the long-in-development Doom 4! The incentive appears to apply to all five platforms, suggesting that Doom 4 will release for last-gen consoles as well as the speculated next-gen consoles and PC.

Also of note is that the game doesn’t seem to be called ‘Doom 4‘ anymore, and has simply been re-titled, ‘Doom‘. Might it be another series reboot after Doom 3? Or perhaps even a prequel? Time will tell.

Regardless, it’s great to see that the new Doom game is finally gaining momentum, and definitely hasn’t been abandoned! Given the beta incentive, it would appear that id Software likely has a working design model of the game now, with the beta likely planned for either late 2014 or early 2015, and the game itself probably releasing in late 2015, if no major setbacks occur in the meantime.

Bear in mind however, this is all just speculation on our part.

In any case, for all of your updates on Wolfenstein and Doom, keep shooting back to Eggplante!