Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is an FPP action-adventure shooter game. The player’s character has a health and armor bars, which is divided into sections. Said section regenerates over time, however, if an entire one is depleted, the player must find a health pack or piece of body armor to replenish it. Combat in game is based on using melee weapons, firearms and explosives. Melee attacks are used to stealthily get rid of enemies, avoiding detection. If player’s presence is discovered firefight ensues. In a fight, players can use cover, which can be leaned around, over and under. Covers can also be used while in stealth to gain a tactical advantage over unsuspecting foes.

Players can carry as many weapons as they find along the way. Some of these weapons can be dual-wielded, which doubles dealt damage. Many of the weapons from the New Order return, but the Old Blood adds some new ones as well. One of the biggest new additions is a pair of steel pipes, which can be combined into a large one. Each of the pipes can be used as weapons and in contextual circumstances, such as climbing rock walls, and opening parts of the environment. Other weapons available in TOB include handguns, small and heavy machine guns, shotguns, rifles and grenades. Enemies in The Old Blood come in few different types: Nazi soldiers, with varied strength, Supersoldaten, robot-like super soldiers, Panzerhunds, large mechanical dogs as well as undead soldiers and civilians, called Shamblers.

Similarly to the New Order, in the Old Blood players can complete „Perks” by fulfilling specific tasks, such as killing enemies silently, killing specific enemies a certain number of times or with a specific weapon. Upon completion of the task, players unlock a bonus like for example increased health or armor, more ammunition for a specific weapon, the ability to restore health by stealth takedowns. The levels of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood also hide various collectibles, like concept art or character bios.

Wolfenstein: TOB features few different game modes, namely Challenge Arenas and Nightmare Levels. In Challenge Arena mode, which unlocks with the progress in the story, players must fend off waves of enemies to obtain medals. Nightmare Levels are accessed through a bed found in each chapter, which allows the player to play through levels of Wolfenstein 3D. These function as in-game Easter Eggs.

Plot and Characters

B.J. Blazkowicz, the main character of the Wolfenstein series and Richard Wesley (codename Agent One) are sent on a mission to infiltrate Castle Wolfenstein. Their objective is to retrieve top-secret Nazi folder from the castle’s commanding officer, Nazi archeologist and Standartenführerin Helga von Schabbs. The folder is said to contain the location of Wihlem Strasse, a.k.a. Deathshead, ruthless Nazi scientist. When their mission goes south, Blazkowicz escapes and hides in the nearby village, where he discovers that the Nazis’ plans might be much bigger than he expected.

Reception

The Old Blood for PC received favorable reviews from players. Strong points of the game were just as fun as the New Order despite being shorter and less plot heavy. Some players were dissatisfied with how little novelty of the game, claiming that much of The Old Blood was already seen in the previous installment of the series. However, that did not detract from the overall experience of the game. If you are a fan of the Wolfenstein series and you want to give TOB game a shot.

Key features

• another story from Wolfenstein universe
• dynamic action and stealth in one package
• multiple weapons to choose from
• gameplay enriched by Challenge Arena and Nightmare modes