Is New Video Game Wolfenstein 2 An Attack On Religious Conservatives?

Is the New Video Game ‘Wolfenstein 2’ An Attack on Religious Conservatives?

By Derek Welch --
26 Oct 2017 --

Some Feel Wolfenstein 2 Is A Metaphor For Trump’s America

It would seem that a video game that focuses on killing Nazis would be controversial, but about the excessive violence, not the portrayal of Nazis. Nazis are the universal enemy used countlessly in entertainment as the bad guys because it is almost guaranteed that no one will complain about Nazis being misunderstood. That seems to have changed in Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.

Is the New Video Game ‘Wolfenstein 2’ An Attack on Religious Conservatives?[/tweetthis]

Some critics are calling the video game Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus an attack on religion and conservative political movements. The game is set in an alternative timeline where the Nazis have won World War II. The player fights through a Nazi-controlled America, trying to free it from their oppressive rule.

The problem is some of the imagery is being called an attack on American’s religious and political conservatives. There are scenes in the trailers of Nazis and Klu Klux Klan members openly working together. This has been interpreted by some conservatives as suggestive that religious organizations are equivalent to Nazis. The game’s tone of a revolution against an oppressive regime has been seen as a not-so-subtle attack on the Presidency of Donald Trump and his policies, including the protection of religious freedom and Christian ideology.

Make America Nazi-Free Again. #NoMoreNazis #Wolf2 pic.twitter.com/52OESypw4P
— Wolfenstein (@wolfenstein) October 5, 2017

The Wolfstein creative team have responded that they began to write the script for the game in 2014, well before contemporary events. They are quoted as saying the topicality of the game about Nazis in America “is not something we anticipated or feel especially good about.” Early reviews of the game have stated that the topic of religion does come up, but have been vague about the context.

This is the eighth installment in the Wolfenstein video game series going back to 1981. While the game has had supernatural elements, it has never directly tackled religion, although the main character has stated that he is a Southern Baptist. The game is set to be released October 27.