Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

The Old Blood is set before the major events of the New Order. BJ Blazkowicz (voiced by Bryan Bloom) is tasked to find an all important file that will help the Allies locate Deathshead, the mastermind who's helping the Nazis win the war. Blazkowicz must infiltrate the legendary and sinister Castle Wolfenstein (queue nostalgic flash backs). After being caught with his partner in the mission, Blazkowicz will face a series of agonising events from rescuing allies within the depths of the castle to fighting armies of zombie Nazis. The Old Blood is many respects is different from The New Order which introduced a James Bond style spy thriller that relied on the horrors of Science. Whereas The Old Blood, takes a step back and brings in more of a traditional FPS vibe with classic Wolfenstein action and supernatural horrors.

Like the New Order, there is great character development, good humour, a vast selection of locations and a few twists in the mix that keep you interested and worth while replaying the game a second time. Be prepared however for installing this game as it requires 37GBs of space! Now for a standalone expansion this is quite a lot. But this mini title is pretty lengthy considering its price tag. A decent play through will last around 6-7 hours and with extras to unlock and secrets to be found, the game does beg to be replayed after completion. I did wish that we spent a little more time in the infamous castle Wolfenstein and that there could have been more in exploration done.

Well for a FPS title you'd be expecting a lot of shooting and killing off Nazis right? Well you won't be disappointed. The Old blood packs a punch with a host of devastating weapons and skills to unlock, making you the ultimate killing machine for the SS to fear. There are many skills and attributes to acquire as you progress through the game which players can unlock by completing "Perks". Perks are minor objectives which can be completed in the game. These usually range from collecting helmets for armour, stealth take downs, kills with a specific weapon and getting kills via explosives. Once a Perk's task is completed, the player will unlock an attribute or upgrade such as higher “Hit Points”, higher armour coverage, more ammunition for particular weapons or the ability to gain health after a silent take down.

It’s a natural and organic means of building your character throughout the game and one that has many results depending on your actions. Whether you rely the most part on stealth or brute force.

Players can choose whether to take out the roaming enemies with stealth, causing minimal destruction and lesser chance of a heavy fire-fight. Or, they can just blow stuff up. Either way both action and stealth segments are engaging and well structured. Your skills will be tested but there are a host of aids to benefit either style of play and stealth sections do offer multiple paths for completion. There were some moments when the AI seemed clumsy and dim witted (rarely did this happen) as NPCs would not react to seeing a dead comrade. As you can’t move bodies, I guess it’s something the developers thought it would be ok. I understand in that respect, but it’s still a little silly.

Yet the fire-fights are tremendously engaging and brutal in Wolfenstein. Shoot outs will require a heavy dosage of tactical planning, quick wits and the biggest guns to survive. The game does not disappoint if you are looking for a fight and there plenty of enemies and boss fights to wet your appetites. Dual wielding, sliding and covering help in these tactical situations while new weapons such as the sawn off shotgun and single shot rifle will easily dismember your Nazi foes. The FPS elements are strong and glorified to high standards that are entertaining, brutal and intensely brilliant.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood goes to the series' roots for an epic and entertaining expansion. For it's price I highly recommend this epic FPS. Specially in today’s world of gaming where for the same price, you get just one Call of Duty map pack, half of the Batman season pass or a low effort season pass. Brilliant, old school style Nazi killing action that never falls flat.