Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a stand-alone prequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order, but its tone is different from that of the standout 2014 shooter. Developer MachineGames is going back in time to the 1940s for The Old Blood, a setting that "works well with the pulp B-movie thing we're going for," said executive producer Jerk Gustafsson in a post on the Bethesda Blog today.
The less serious feel doesn't mean The Old Blood will have a throwaway story. Gustafsson said the game will "explore things that were only hinted at in New Order." In that game's alternate history, the Nazis won World War II with the help of advanced technology stolen from Da'at Yichud, an ancient secret society. The Old Blood will provide some details on how the Nazis secured that power, although the game doesn't necessarily refer to it as Da'at Yichud tech.
MachineGames is aiming to deliver new types of gameplay in The Old Blood. "Almost everything is new," said Gustafsson, naming the environments, enemies and weapons in particular. That includes the new metal pipe, which can deliver some brutal melee kills, and the Supersoldaten, augmented enemies that are tethered to a power source because they're in the early stages of development.
The Old Blood will also bring in Nazi zombies, MachineGames confirmed. The undead enemies in Return to Castle Wolfenstein didn't have ranged weapons, but these creatures will use rifles and dash toward the player. Speaking of that 2001 game, The Old Blood will feature familiar characters like Agent One and Kessler, and the plots of the two games have a few elements in common.
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood will be available May 5 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One for $19.99. For more, check out the new screenshots above.
