Wolfenstein: The New Order: Complete Guide

A player-focused guide to MachineGames' 2014 single-player shooter: combat, stealth, the perk system, the Fergus/Wyatt choice, collectibles, difficulty advice and fixes for modern PCs.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the final PC build (the game has not received content patches since launch in May 2014). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

This is a finished, single-player campaign. No multiplayer, no live service. What you buy is the whole game; The Old Blood (2015) is a separate standalone prequel.
Stealth is always worth trying first. Most combat spaces contain one or more Commanders. While a Commander is alive and alerted, he calls in reinforcements. Kill him quietly and the room becomes much easier.
Health does not fully regenerate. Health is split into segments; only the current partial segment refills on its own. Lost segments need health packs or food, so explore rooms after fights.
Overcharge is a real resource. Picking up health while already full pushes you above 100, and the bonus slowly drains. Grab it right before a big fight, not after.
Armor is separate from health. Armor pieces lying around (helmets, plates, scraps) stack up and absorb damage. Pick them all up.
Perks unlock by doing things, not by leveling. Each perk has a challenge (stealth takedowns, dual-wield kills, grenade kills, and so on). Play the way the perk asks and it unlocks automatically.
The Laserkraftwerk (LKW) is both a weapon and a tool. It cuts through thin metal, grates and chains, opening shortcuts and secret areas. Recharge it at wall-mounted power stations.
Dual-wielding doubles your firepower at the cost of aiming down sights. It is excellent in close quarters and on armored enemies.
The Chapter 1 choice matters. Deathshead forces you to pick who dies, Fergus or Wyatt. It changes characters, some dialogue and one of your utility skills for the rest of the game.
Pick difficulty carefully up front. Difficulty is chosen when you start a new game (and when you start from Chapter Select); don't count on being able to lower it mid-run, so a medium setting is the safe first pick.

Difficulty Levels

The difficulty names are a series tradition:

Difficulty	Who it suits
Can I play, Daddy?	Story only; enemies barely threaten you
Don't hurt me.	Relaxed first playthrough
Bring 'em on!	The intended "normal" experience
I am Death incarnate!	Hard; stealth and cover become mandatory
Über	Hardest; enemies hit very hard and resources are scarce

Achievements tied to difficulty exist (Super hero and Über hero). If you want those, it usually saves time to play your first run on a medium setting and replay chapters later for the harder ones.

Core Combat Systems

Weapons and upgrades

You carry every weapon you find, switching via a weapon wheel. Most guns have an alternate mode or attachment that you unlock by finding upgrades in the world. The Wikipedia summary gives a representative example: a rocket launcher can be attached to the side of an assault rifle. Upgrades are one of the main rewards for exploring side rooms.

General weapon roles:

Weapon type	Best use
Silenced pistol	Quiet headshots on isolated soldiers and cameras
Throwing knives	Silent ranged kills, recoverable from bodies
Assault rifle (with rocket attachment)	All-rounder; the rocket handles heavy troops
Shotgun	Close range; dual-wielded it deletes most enemies
Marksman rifle	Long range; also has a laser mode that uses LKW charge
Laserkraftwerk	Cutting tool, and later a powerful energy weapon
Heavy weapons (pulled from turrets or heavy troopers)	Massive damage with limited ammo; you move more slowly while carrying one

Dual-wielding

Hold two copies of the same weapon (pistols, assault rifles, shotguns) to double damage output. You lose aim-down-sights precision, so it shines within about room distance. Pair it with a pickup of armor right before charging, because you will be exposed.

Cover and leaning

Hold the lean key near cover to peek around corners, over crates and under ledges. Leaning lets you shoot while exposing very little of your body. On the two hardest difficulties, lean-shooting is the main survival tool.

Stealth and Commanders

Commanders appear as a marker on your HUD with a distance readout; you can see how far away they are even through walls.
Approach crouched from behind for a silent takedown. Throwing knives and the silenced pistol also kill quietly if you land headshots.
If you are spotted, the Commander starts calling reinforcements. Either push hard to kill him quickly or pull back and let alert status reset.
Killing Commanders also yields Enigma code fragments (see Collectibles).

Health, armor and overcharge

Health segments partially regenerate, but a fully emptied segment stays empty until you find health. Food items, medkits and health packs refill it. Overcharge above 100 decays over time, so treat it as a temporary shield for the next encounter.

Perks

Perks are grouped into four trees: Stealth, Tactical, Assault and Demolition. Each perk unlocks after a specific in-game challenge, and many also count as achievements. Names you will see in the perk menu include:

Playstyle	Perks to aim for (examples)	How you typically unlock them
Stealth	Knife throwing, Silent shot, Assassin, Knife sheath +, Knife sheath ++	Stealth takedowns, silent kills, killing Commanders undetected
Assault	Dual-wield expert, Double reload, Quick reload, Bullet feeder, Gunner, Hardened, Vampire	Dual-wield kills, kills while at low health, heavy-weapon kills
Demolition	Throwback, Grenade pouch +, Grenade pouch ++, Rocket magazine +	Grenade kills, throwing grenades back, rocket kills
Tactical	Deadeye, Quick draw, Scavenger, Quick regeneration	Headshots, sliding kills, varied combat actions

Ammo capacity perks (AR magazine +, Shotgun magazine +, Marksman magazine +, Gun magazine +, LKW battery +) require you to use that weapon type a lot. Laser-related perks include Power to the laser and Vaporize.

Practical perk tips:

Unlock Knife throwing early by doing stealth takedowns; silent ranged knives make every Commander room easier.
Throwback lets you pick up and return enemy grenades. It saves lives on higher difficulties.
Vampire and Hardened type perks reward aggressive play; unlock them in a chapter with lots of open firefights.
Check the perk screen whenever you pause. Many perks are easy if you know the condition and nearly impossible to get by accident.

The Fergus or Wyatt Choice

In the 1946 prologue at Deathshead's compound, you must choose which comrade is sacrificed: Scottish pilot Fergus Reid or young U.S. Army Private Probst Wyatt III. The survivor follows you into the 1960s story.

What it changes:

Your companion and several scenes and relationships. The replacement characters and some story beats differ between the two timelines.
A utility skill. One timeline lets B.J. pick locks and the other lets him hotwire electrical panels. Each gives access to different hidden rooms and upgrade caches.
Achievements. Fergus saved and Wyatt saved are separate achievements, so a completionist needs two playthroughs (or a replay of the prologue plus the chapters you want).

Neither choice is "better" mechanically. Pick whoever you want to keep around; replay later for the other side.

Campaign Outline (Spoiler-Light)

The game has 16 chapters. The broad route:

Deathshead's Compound (1946) – the Allied assault on the Baltic fortress, and the Fergus/Wyatt choice.
The asylum in Poland (1960) – B.J. wakes after fourteen years in a catatonic state, cared for by nurse Anya Oliwa.
Berlin and the Kreisau Circle – you meet resistance leader Caroline Becker and base out of the resistance hideout between missions.
Eisenwald Prison – a rescue operation in Berlin.
London Nautica – infiltration of a Nazi research facility in London.
Camp Belica – a labor camp where you meet Set Roth, who reveals the Nazis rely on technology reverse-engineered from the Da'at Yichud.
Gibraltar and a Da'at Yichud vault – underwater and ruin sections that unlock new tech.
The Moon – a lunar research base.
Return to Deathshead's fortress – the final confrontation with Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse.

Between missions, the resistance hideout is a hub full of collectibles, side conversations and small errands. Explore it every time you return; items respawn in new rooms as the story progresses.

Collectibles

Collectible types you will find:

Collectible	Notes
Gold items	Hidden treasures; the All that glitters and Heart of gold achievements are tied to gold
Enigma code fragments	Dropped by Commanders and found in the world
Letters	Readable documents that flesh out the world (The lives of others achievement)
Health and armor upgrades	Raise your maximum; often behind lockpicked or hotwired secrets
Concept art and records	Unlock extras in the menu

Enigma codes

Enigma fragments assemble into codes that you decode from the main menu. Solving them unlocks special challenge modes, and the four Secrets revealed achievements track your progress. Killing every Commander you can is the simplest way to farm fragments.

Missable prevention

Sweep every chapter before triggering a scripted transition (doors that lock behind you, cutscenes, elevators).
The resistance hideout changes between visits. Collect there each time you pass through.
Chapter select after finishing the campaign lets you replay chapters to hunt missing items.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Charging into a room with a live Commander. Reinforcements stack up and you run out of ammo and health. Scout, then take him out first.
Wasting health pickups at full health. Unless you want overcharge for the next fight, leave them for later.
Ignoring armor scraps. Small pieces add up quickly and matter more on higher difficulties.
Forgetting the LKW recharge stations. Running out of charge stops you cutting into secret areas. Top up whenever you pass a station.
Never reloading the knife supply. Throwing knives can be recovered from bodies; pick them back up.
Playing only one way. Perks are split across four trees; if you only use stealth, you miss out on assault and demolition bonuses that make later chapters easier.

Advanced Tips

Knife before gun. On Death incarnate and Über, open every encounter with a silent knife or pistol kill on the Commander. It halves the difficulty of the room.
Mix dual-wield and cover. Lean out, dual-wield a burst into an enemy's face, then pull back. You get the damage bonus without eating return fire.
Save rockets for heavy units. The assault rifle rocket attachment and grenades handle Super Soldiers and robot dogs far better than bullet spam.
Use the LKW on weak points. Some armored enemies and mechanical foes take heavy damage from laser fire. Keep charge in reserve for them.
Hunt perks deliberately in early chapters. Unlocking reload speed and capacity perks early pays off for the rest of the game.
Plan two runs for 100%. One timeline per run keeps collectibles and choice-specific achievements from overlapping awkwardly.

Running It on a Modern PC

The Steam support notes Bethesda published at launch still apply:

Black screen on launch: try running the game executable as administrator.
SLI/CrossFire: not supported; disable multi-GPU modes.
Stutter or artifacting in fullscreen: turn off triple buffering in the driver control panel, disable V-Sync in the game's Advanced Video Settings, turn off Screen Space Reflections, or lower Shadow Resolution.
Frame rate: the id Tech 5 engine is locked to 60 fps. Treat that as normal, not a bug.
Install size: the old disc versions required an additional download; the Steam version installs everything automatically.

FAQ

Should I save Fergus or Wyatt? Pick whoever you like. The choice changes companions, some story scenes and whether you can pick locks or hotwire panels, but neither is objectively stronger. Replay the prologue to see the other version.

Can I change difficulty mid-game? Plan as if you can't. Difficulty is set when you start a new game or a chapter from Chapter Select, and the difficulty achievements (Super hero, Über hero) care about the setting you play on. If a section is too hard, restarting that chapter from Chapter Select on a lower setting is the reliable route.

How long is Wolfenstein: The New Order? Expect a mid-length campaign; a full collectible sweep and both timelines roughly doubles your time.

Do I need to play The Old Blood first? No. The Old Blood is a standalone prequel released in 2015. It is a good follow-up but not required reading.

Is there multiplayer? No. The game is purely single-player.

Why is my game capped at 60 fps? The engine is locked at 60. That is intended behavior on PC.

What are Enigma codes for? Fragments from Commanders combine into codes that unlock extra challenge modes from the main menu.

Is the sequel worth it? Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus continues the story directly and lets you make the Fergus/Wyatt choice again at the start.