A prequel as a stand alone sold at a reasonable price, this is what awaits us in The Old Blood, "a sequel" which is not really one but which invites us to put on the boots of the traditional sergeant of OSS BJ Blazkowickz. So here is our blond soldier embarked on a sordid history with Nazis but which moves away from the whimsical references of The New Order to propose a more traditional approach. To achieve such a result, the Swedes of MachineGames did not alter the recipe one iota. Take a handful of Nazi officers, as charismatic as they are siphoned, place them at the heart of a story that mixes esotericism and the supernatural, sprinkle with easter-eggs at all costs in order to please the fans (like the Dragonborn helmet lying around ), shake well and you will get an explosive cocktail. The mission of the day? Seize a file that mentions the location of General Strasse's robot factory, which you will take care of in The New Order. Unfortunately, the file in question is in the hands of Helga Von Schabbs, who commands the supernatural division of the SS, and currently tenant of the infamous Schloss Wolfenstein. Direction the castle therefore, in order to have a memorable slice of nostalgia reminiscent of the Return to Castle episode. The cast is also rounded out by Rudi Jäger, General Strasse's former dog handler who serves as Helga's right-hand man. In the manner of a James Bond film, we find the scheme of the big bad escorted by his traditionally crazy and hefty henchman. Here, nothing changes since Rudi is a handsome Aryan inflated on steroids who has only one passion: his albino Kampfhund baptized Greta whom he lovingly feeds with the inmates of the castle. You understood, the game is still not in the psychological thickness of the character, and so much the better since finally the title delights in this grotesque and almost comical one-upmanship which makes the salt of the episodes of the Wolfenstein series.
THE VIE OF CHÂTEAU
For those who swear by the lifespan (and for once, we understand them), know that the adventure of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood lasts about 9 hours. A shorter lifespan than The New Order which will result in a less profound scenario, but not devoid of interest. Moreover, the adventure is divided into two main parts. The first takes you to the Schloss Wolfenstein and stages Blazkowickz's escape via deliberately old school mechanics. We indeed find the artistic paw of the series with a dark and disproportionate castle which corresponds very well to the megalomania of the tenants. Nostalgic players will be happy to see in this sequence all the bestiary of the old Wolfensteins in terms of Nazi soldiers, whether it's the basic soldier up to the first prototypes of the super-soldiers that we will come across in The New Order . Better still, the first version of the very dreaded Panzerhund is even in the game. As for the look of the enemies, no big changes either since it sticks exactly to those that we meet during the tutorial of The New Order. Although The Old Blood is sold in stand-alone, we feel that Bethesda is primarily targeting fans of the series since the tutorial is reduced to the bare minimum, just to immediately immerse the player in the action. For the second part of the game, MachineGames allowed itself a return to the sources of the series by offering a resolutely esoteric story, until the (inevitable?) invasion of zombies. Yes, once again, the undead will be there, even if it means drunken players on the verge of an overdose, these undeads having invaded the video game in an almost systematic way. In this regard, know that the look of these zombies is closer to those of Nazi Zombie Army with their skinny quickdraws and the light they emit. But if the appearance smacks of the video game nanar, in terms of gameplay, these enemies are not without interest. Indeed, the zombies attack the first target that passes under their nose, whether it is our hero or any other soldier of the Third Reich. And as it is enough to very seriously wound a German soldier so that he passes the weapon on the left and joins the zombie army, it is strongly advised to let zombies and Nazis kill each other to deal only with the rare survivors. But the nanar side does not stop there since the developers have imagined a totally improbable End Boss to close the adventure. We won't tell you more...
365 DAYS LATER
In terms of gameplay, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood does not change one iota compared to The New Order. Nothing really shocking when you know that it's a stand alone that hits the market a year after the original episode. We therefore find all the features that we know by heart, such as the possibility of using all the weapons in dual wield in order to be able to afford a little carnage with a gun in each hand. We also always appreciate the option button that allows you to change the rate of fire of your weapon, the possibility of using the scope or adding a silencer to your Lüger in order to be the most efficient in the infiltration phases . Moreover, a new tool has been added since Blazkowicz will now be equipped with a bent pipe which will serve as a bat, crowbar, dagger or ice ax to climb certain walls of the game. artillery, we find all the firearms of the previous opus but stripped of its steampunk look. Assault rifle, sniper and shotgun are renewed with a new grenade launcher pistol as a bazooka. As usual, it will be necessary to have an eye since the developers have stashed an impressive quantity of objects to recover, knowing that, faithful to tradition, The Old Blood offers a myriad of secret rooms and shortcuts that will have to be flushed out . These rooms contain items to collect, but also ammunition and healthpacks that will be very useful for you to survive. You will therefore always spend as much time hammering the action button in order to collect all the items present in the game. Fans of the license should also be delighted since MachineGames has reintroduced the levels of Wolfenstein 3D in the game. time, it will not be an isolated level accessible from the hideout, but 4 levels (including the last with the end boss Hans Grösse) placed in various places in the single player campaign. These special levels will be marked with a Wolfenstein 3D poster taped not far from a mattress, so as not to have any excuse to miss them.
