Part one of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - Rudi Jäger and the Den of Wolves - pits BJ Blazkowicz against a maniacal prison warden as he breaks into Castle Wolfenstein in an attempt to steal the coordinates to General Deathshead’s compound. In part two – The Dark Secrets of Helga Von Schabbs – our hero's search for the coordinates leads him to the city of Wulfburg where an obsessed Nazi archaeologist is exhuming mysterious artifacts that threaten to unleash a dark and ancient power. 

Unfolding across eight sizable chapters, The Old Blood offers a heaping helping of Nazi-killing gameplay. The first four chapters deliver a discrete tale that leads directly into the second half, which is set outside the castle in the quaint village of Wulfburg. But before we get there, we have to survive “Rudi Jäger and the Den of Wolves.”

Survival is key, because the first full level begins in the prisons buried deep in the dank underbelly of castle Wolfenstein. B.J. is captured, alone, without weapons, at the bottom of a roach-infested pit. That’s when he tries to climb a wall and ends up tumbling down with a broken pipe in his hands. Of course, this quickly translates into an all-new weapon for our intrepid hero – a brutal melee device that can be split into two parts for single- or dual-wielding action (and some wince-inducing takedowns), as well as a key progression tool. The pipe not only protects you, but can be used to climb certain walls, reach distant hatches and even bust through weak areas. It feels comfortingly familiar while changing up the gameplay in nifty ways.

And it comes in handy with one the initial new enemies we meet: a first-generation Supersoldaten (super soldier). These hulking behemoths are tethered to a power source and follow set paths (based on their wiring). This leads to a new twist on the sneak-em-up formula: in some cases B.J. will need to avoid these powerful foes altogether, but at other times he can locate their power source, turn it off, then rush in for a quick finishing move. (Hurry, before the power comes back on!)

While the first chapter is very heavy on stealth, The Old Blood shares a strength with Wolfenstein: The New Order – excellent pacing. You’re never doing too much of one thing. The following chapter is marked with some all-out firefights, followed by bits of puzzle-like exploration, and then even more firefights. The next two chapters introduce more new enemies, including a mini-boss who destroyed me about a half-dozen times until I figured out how to defeat him – and then provided me with a fabulously fun in-game challenge every time I encountered his cohorts later in the game. The castle environments also showed great variety: musty subterranean levels where you could almost choke on the stale air; eerie catacombs that evoked an Indiana Jones vibe; lofty chambers and comfortable libraries, complete with crackling fireplaces; and retro-tech workshops rife with noisy machinery and crawling with heavy-footed Nazi soldiers. It all culminates in a blowout battle and thrilling escape that’s on par with the very best that The New Order offers. After which B.J. finds himself in the village of Wulfburg for a very different gameplay experience…