Wolfenstein: The Old Blood Reviews
Never boring and often exhilarating, The Old Blood is another polished love letter to an older breed of shooter. While not as deep or interesting as The New Order, this standalone expansion provides enough visceral entertainment and interesting story beats to keep players more than engaged for its 6-8 hour running time.
Somehow Wolfenstein: The Old Blood makes killing Nazis and zombies, the two worst things in videogames next to quick-time events, a fun and worthwhile time.
Wolfenstein: The New Order set a gold standard with its release last year, and we're happy to report that The Old Blood continues that standard. Even without multiplayer, the game shines in nearly every aspect, and holds up the tradition of B.J. Blazkowicz's Nazi-killing provocatively well. If you loved the first game, this eight-hour adventure is just what you need.
For a standalone DLC, I am impressed. MachineGames took the best parts of The New Order and gave us the moments leading up to its opening. While The Old Blood could have definitely either turned up the grindhouse factor in part two, or stayed more true to part one, it still had incredibly fun combat and satisfying Nazi killing. By itself, it could feel like it was lacking something, specifically in the character and story department, but Wolfenstein: The Old Blood performs as both a supplemental work for fans of the series and as a vehicle to introduce players to the world and play style of The New Order.
All in all even with these issues, The Old Blood is a worthwhile and enjoyable experience. If you run through the whole game in a single 6 hour sitting, prepare to be shunted into what is at its core an Indiana Jones movie, but replacing Indy's trademark bullwhip/fedora combo with a pair of automatic shotguns and cybernetic Rottweilers.
If you're not a fan of the "Wolfenstein" series or haven't played the slew of games that have graced home consoles since the days of the Super Nintendo, "Wolfenstein: The Old Blood," thanks to an awesome noir story, plenty of blood, a great soundtrack and uber difficulty, is an addictive experience that sets an awesome standard for digitally released first-person shooters on the PlayStation 4.
The New Order's returning gameplay carries the day here. The Old Blood's story spends too much time trying to be a tribute to an old game instead of its own adventure—and prevents this standalone expansion from being as deep or enjoyable as the main game.
The Old Blood doesn't bring much new to Wolfenstein in terms of gameplay, but it's a brilliant old-school shooter with a reasonably lengthy, fast-paced campaign at a budget price. If you played and loved The New Order than it's damn near essential, but even if you didn't it's well worth a blast. Killing Nazis and slaying zombies doesn't get much more entertaining.
What gives the MachineGames' Wolfenstein titles their own mojo is the casual way they pair generic gameplay with silver-tongued characters who reflect on their faults, speculate on their fates, and enjoy mundane occurrences like going to a pub and cadging free drinks. In this way the game's B-movie vibe is evocative of the work of those skilled filmmakers who embrace the silly or even the self-consciously stupid.
Another Nazi-blasting triumph, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is the perfect companion piece to The New Order, and proof positive that MachineGames knows exactly what it's doing with the series. The Old Blood is more of the same, which is certainly no bad thing.
A robust, entirely worthwhile release that gives you plenty of bang for the buck and expands upon one of last year's best games in a purposeful way.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a great return to the game and I thoroughly enjoy MachineGames' focus on creating an excellent single-player experience. Fans of the series will definitely get a kick out of the game as well; it has the same charm and feel as last year's title while offering a short chance to kick some Nazi ass.
For those who have played The New Order, The Old Blood is best characterized as "more Wolfenstein." For those who haven't, The Old Blood is a great introduction to the best first person shooter in recent memory.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a production that should be rewarded. It's undoubtedly a more of the same than The New Order, but given the quality of the original game it would be really silly to miss a new adventure of this magnitude given the really low price tag. In the pack you will find exciting gameplay, a good level of challenge and great settings, all elements that make this expansion a must have for shooter lovers.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is an incredibly fun standalone expansion to one of the Best games of 2014, and in plenty of places is tougher. Sometimes more frustrating, especially in places with respawning enemies, and the forced stealth section in the beginning is a bit of a misstep, but overall the Wolfenstein gameplay is just as great here.
A bloody romp through Castle Wolfenstein and beyond that falters near the end, but is still worth the price of admission.
Bottom line: the price point is right, the DLC is solid and you could do a lot worse with your gaming dollars than Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. I doubt anyone will walk away from this experience feeling anything less than satisfied. I know I certainly was.
MachineGames' latest take on Wolfenstein is a very good shooter that is only a few missteps away from being, like its predecessor, a truly great one.
Coming in at only $19.99, there's plenty of content and story here to make a return to Wolfenstein worth a purchase.
MachineGames have, again, gone beyond the scope of what most people would come to expect from a game with the Wolfenstein tag on it.