Wolfenstein: The New Order was an old feel fresh series, but the game's prequel, The Old Blood expansion, falls to carry on that success, as per early reviews. Many reviews are still in progress, so it may not be as bad as what the first batch makes it sound.
MachineGames' Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a standalone expansion that can be compared to Far Cry 3's Blood Dragon DLC, as both embrace a little tone than their core counterparts. However, Blood Dragon's psychedelic showdowns with terrible lizards armed with lasers, turned its expansion into a cult classic, and The Old Blood, on the other hand, doesn't appear to have the goods to enjoy similar acclaim.
While The New Order departed from Castle wolfenstein and succeeded in imparting a newness to the series away from the infamous Nazi stronghold, The Old Blood takes it back there for another 'assault and escape' from Castle Wolfenstein. The Old Blood takes steps back from what The New Order achieved, according to PC Gamer's Chris Thursten.
"It will always be fun to fire these guns and MachineGames' presentation is still ahead of the curve, but this isn't the game you should play if you want to explore those qualities-that game was released a year ago," writes Thursten.
A pair of The New Order's most compelling elements was the stealth and the ability to navigate the thoughtfully designed "arenas," according to Kotaku's Luke Plunkett. However, while The New Order offered arenas that were open enough for some imaginative strategies, The Old blood is more linear.
"Old Blood has those as well, but they're nowhere near as well-designed -- they're incredibly linear -- and are often almost impossible to complete through stealth," states Plunkett. "It's more a matter of how long you can last before going in all guns blazing, instead of avoiding blazing guns altogether."
While Plunkett didn't feel The Old Blood's levels were open and inspired enough, Polygon's Justin McElroy says the stages felt larger on the whole. Still, his time with The Old Blood also saw him being drawn out of stealth and into Rambo mode.
"I played New Order as sneakily as possible, but Old Blood frustrated me into shootouts about half of the time," states McElroy. "Of course, if you're looking for a real test of your sneakiness, Old Blood has your number."
The Old Blood is out now for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The standalone expansion is only available via digital download, though it will soon be offered in physical form.
