There’s a lot to like about Wolfenstein: The New Order. The art direction, which blends 60s popular culture with German art movements like Expressionism and the Bauhaus. The strong writing, which manages to tell a nuanced story about a guy who stabs robot dogs. But above all, how the visceral combat respects its old-school roots without being as conservative as other FPS reboots like Rise of the Triad or Shadow Warrior. I’d like to examine one aspect of TNO’s design–the health and armor system: how they supplement Wolfenstein’s combat mechanics, create split-second decisions during firefights, and avoid ludonarrative dissonance .

TNO has a health and an armor meter, which range from zero to 100. Collecting a health pickup that would bring the player’s HP over 100 “overcharges” protagonist “B.J.” Blazkowicz, depleting health until it returns to 100. This creates moments where the player will act hasty to maximize their overcharge usage, and when the player is near full health they have to make a choice with each pickup: to overcharge now or save the pickup for a later time.

TNO also has a regenerating health system, where health recharges to the 20th interval. The player can take upwards of 19 points of damage and shrug it off so long as they stay out of fire for a moment. This trivializes minor damage, encouraging players to stay mobile in a game filled with “hitscan” enemies (enemies that fire instantaneous or near instantaneous shots, which are difficult to dodge). Wolfenstein’s melee combat guarantees some level of health loss for the player, and regenerating health makes this a short-term detriment rather than a long-term one.

TNO drops two tier of health pickups. The lower tier: dog food, sausages and stimpacks, all provide minimal amounts of healing (measures of 4, 5, and 10hp respectively). But if the player’s health passes an interval after the pickup, the extra health gained will regenerate to the next interval. For example, if I have 36HP and eat a sausage I’ll have 41HP, which will regenerate to 60HP. The higher tier of health pickups is the first aid kit, which restores 40HP. Since this is a multiple of 20, first aid kits don’t offer any extra regeneration.

In TNO armor absorbs a percentage of all the damage you receive. Fundamentally it works like armor in an old-school shooter, but compare TNO’s armor system to Quake and you’ll find that changes have been made to accommodate modern level design. In Quake, armor drops in increments of 50, 100 and 200, and rots like an overcharge. Because of the secrets stashed in Quake’s environments, armor may only appear once or twice in a level, and as such have a high value. TNO scatters armor all over its levels, with armor increments of 5 and 10 dropping from enemies and increments of 25 only found in the environment. As a result TNO has the player steadily gaining and losing armor throughout, and level designers can assume that the player will have a relatively small amount of armor on them at any given time.

And the health and armor system in TNO don’t only serve the combat and level design; they also connects gameplay with narrative. As long as you’re looking through the eyes of Blazkowicz, the HUD is visible and runs in real-time. During scripted events like talking to characters, health regenerates and overcharge rots. And when Blazkowicz gets hurt in cutscenes the damage is reflected in the health system. This not only reduces disparity between cutscenes and gameplay but creates situations where players will emerge wounded and vulnerable after a torture sequence or plane crash–as they should be. And unlike many games, Blazkowicz is as powerful outside of gameplay as he is inside. It’s never explained why Blazkowicz is so powerful, but in a game as ridiculous as Wolfenstein it’s not necessary. What is necessary is internal consistency, and developers should take note of TNO’s effortless implementation.

It’s a small part of a much larger system, but examining the health and armor mechanics of The New Order offers insight into the whole game, and shows the amount of thought that went into blending old and new-school design. The next time you’re playing a franchise reboot, consider the nuances of the health system. What about it is the same as previous titles and what about it is different? And what does that say about the rest of the game’s mechanics?

