IntroductionWolfenstein: The New Order was undoubtedly a resounding success, bringing the ailing Nazi-killing franchise into the modern era with a brand new story and amusingly over-the-top gunplay. The Old Blood builds on that success by returning to the game's roots in the style of a two-fisted tale centering once more around the dread castle that is the source of the series' title: Wolfenstein. Essentially acting as a stand-alone expansion, if not a full-blown prequel, The Old Blood serves almost as a love-letter to the original Wolfenstein games released by id Software way back in the 80s, retelling the tale of B.J. Blaskowicz's daring escape from the Nazi-occupied mountain fortress with a modern polish which ties it to the Reich-ruled dystopian future of The New Order. Of course, as what amounts to an expansion, there's not an enormous amount of difference between The Old Blood and The New Order gameplay-wise, but it's always important to remember that as an add-on, The Old Blood was destined to be shorter, and subsequently was doomed (pardon the pun) to have less creative space for the developers to work with. With that in mind, the devilish developers at Machine Games have managed to add and change enough to keep the experience fresh, yet familiar. Ultimately, your enjoyment of this game will rely on whether or not you liked the main experience. If you liked The New Order, then you'll probably like The Old Blood. For those of you that fall into that category, it's available on Steam for $19.99. For those of you who don't, hopefully this review can convince you otherwise. Unless you're a Nazi, in which case you should get some help. StoryThe Old Blood picks up a few weeks before the opening of The New Order, with protagonist B. J. Blaskowicz assigned as a partner to special agent Richard Wesley. Their mission is to infiltrate the infamous Castle Wolfenstein, located high in the German Alps, in order to steal a folder containing information critical to location of the evil General Wilhelm Strauss, whose technological genius is on the verge of costing the Allies the war. This pits them at odds with Helga von Schabbs, a Nazi treasure hunter eager to uncover the secrets of the castle's history, and her ruthless enforcer Rudi Jäger, who really, really likes his dogs. Don't be fooled by the relatively tame opening sequence. Despite his stealthy overture, B.J.'s efforts to grab the Nazi's secret documents goes pear-shaped faster than old Adolf can wolf down sauerkraut. Predictably, the operation spins out of control within the space of about fifteen minutes, just long enough for Blaskowicz to get inside the mountain fortress via tram car, before being discovered and tossed into a cell, deep in the castle dungeons. The plot draws heavily on the original Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, insomuch as that's what you end up trying to do for about six of the game's ten chapters, but it builds on the basic concept enough that it ends up feeling like a classic Indiana Jones adventure, or other, similar tales from the WWII era, which were all about swashbuckling heroes and their daring deeds. The downside of the game's short length is that none of the characters really have time to get developed, leaving them feeling like hollow set-pieces. As a result, many events like this which might otherwise be heart-breaking are stifled by your inability to properly connect with the participants. One good example is a choice near the end of the game which forces you to pick one of two characters to save. Unfortunately you only get to know them for less than ten minutes beforehand, with most of their background delivered through collectible information around the environment. As such, the decision feels somewhat contrived and worse, meaningless. Criticizing this might seem hypocritical given how The New Order pulled the same stunt right at the start of the game, but in that case, time was given for the effects of the choice you made to play out, and were demonstrated in the characters' behavior after the fact. Here, it just seems like a choice between Path A and Path B. Meet Rudi Jäger a Nazi so evil that he could be pulled straight from the pages of classic pulp fiction. For all his faults though, he really loves his dog, Greta. He makes sure she stays fit, and eats only the best prisoners from the castle cells. Ultimately, The Old Blood's plot is, like most of the game, a love letter to the fans. It's an adventure from B. J.'s glory days, and even includes a certain supernatural element, much like many of the prior Wolfenstein titles albeit with an 'ancient technology' subtext that helps keep it from contradicting the decidedly less-spooky narrative aesthetic of The New Order. It's not a superb piece of storytelling, but it does its job in justifying the events that take place well enough that you don't question things in between popping heads. GameplayThere's not an enormous amount that separates The Old Blood from The New Order. There's no truly new enemy types, and while the Laserkraftwerk is no longer present, much of the base game's armory is still available, just with a new polish to fit the setting. The alternative fire-modes of most weapons have been removed, but it's of little consequence overall, as they still kill Nazis with excellent efficiency. Naturally this means that there are a few replacements and switch-ups, such as the removal of the under-barrel rocket launcher for the assault rifle being balanced out by the inclusion of a single-shot rocket pistol. Rather than detracting from the fun however, this simplification of B.J.'s collection of guns just makes everything feel more streamlined somehow. The end result is a system where every gun has it's place, and which requires less fiddling around with keeping track of which boomstick does what. Most the enemies of The New Order make a return appearance, but with a fresh coat of art that makes them fit better into the setting of the war era. One of the better examples is this Nazi super-soldier, a force to be reckoned with in the Reich-ruled 1960s, but still just a prototype here in The Old Blood. Knife-throwing makes a comeback, and is accompanied by the new pipe melee, which can also be used in certain areas to scale walls to locate alternative paths. The combat perks system has also been heavily simplified, retaining its mechanic of unlocking new abilities over time, but with fewer total abilities to acquire, which is fine given the game's reduced length. Overall, all the changes made just make everything feel more old-fashioned, but fast, like an old-school id Software game, which is pretty much the ultimate goal, given how the expansion seeks to recapture the series' roots while retaining the best parts of its new direction. The Old Blood still lacks a multiplayer component, which will no doubt disappoint some, but for a game that stands so well on its basic mechanics, it's not an enormous problem. Nevertheless, to help flesh out the game's lifespan, Machine Games thoughtfully included a Bulletstorm-style challenge mode which places you in some of the campaign's best arena zones to fight against swarms of Nazis in a race to see how quickly, how stylishly and how efficiently you can kill them. It's quite good for those looking to blow off some steam after a hard day by scoring points for gibbing fascists, although like any such add-on, it does wear thin after a while. Still, it's a clever way to eke more fun out what would otherwise be just an ordinary stand-alone expansion. Sound And DesignVery little changes in terms of sound between The New Order and The Old Blood. At the end of the day, many shooters sound like one another to the casual player. The chief difference is the unique soundtrack, written and scored specifically for the expansion by Mick Gordon, mastermind behind the music of The New Order. While it's far from his most significant work, it does do the job of keeping the player engaged. The new music substitutes the heavy electro-metal of the base game with more frantic orchestral fight themes that would be right at home in an action movie and which are more suitable to the altered atmosphere of Castle Wolfenstein and its surrounding environs. While they often lack the scope and scale of The New Order (which is saying something given that's a zeppelin back there), the vistas in The Old Blood never fail to impress. The lighting alone in this scene is astoundingly atmospheric. Really, the largest difference between The Old Blood's campaign and the base game is the level design. There's a much greater focus on arena-style combat, with waves of enemies flooding into areas that need to be eliminated before you can progress. While this might initially prompt a more defensive style of fighting, higher difficulties increase enemy aggression, promoting quick movement from cover to cover and skilled control of armor, ammo and health supplies to stay alive. In between these segments there's plenty of spots to practice either a stealth or guns-blazing approach, though generally you'll find yourself resorting to the latter after picking off a few juicy targets from the shadows simply because it's more fun that way. Also of importance is the improved performance. The Old Blood seems to experience less severe graphical issues than The New Order, which many will attest to as having extremely troubling frame-rate drops and other visual bugs, particularly on ATI graphics cards. This may be do to the compressed nature of the levels, which tend to feature fewer colossal skyboxes and gigantic set pieces than The New Order. There's still enough hiccups to warrant asking why Bethesda hasn't put the time and effort into fixing the problem outright, but whatever the reason, at least you're less likely to experience the pain of watching textures pop into existence all around you as you try to get a bead on the krauts shooting at you, and that's always a good thing. Final VerdictSo, is The Old Blood worth your time? Well, if you enjoyed The New Order and want more, then the answer is probably yes. It's a good game, with decent pacing and an okay story layered on a solid foundation of action, adventure and the wanton slaughter of that most universal of bad guys: Nazis. Sure there are some flaws, and a few lingering technical issues (looking at you, Bethesda Softworks. You know what you did.), but overall, if you like single-player shooters, then this is definitely one game you shouldn't miss out on. At the very least it should tide you over while the sequel finishes cooking. Final Score: 8.6
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IntroductionWhen it comes to telling a story of Lovecraftian horror, it's important to know where to set the bar. The core of H. P. L.'s work is rooted partly in his ingrained xenophobia, and partly in a pseudo-nihilistic outlook on the universe, with regards to mankind's position in it. In a Lovecraftian world, everything is out to get you; what you don't (or can't) understand is inherently something to be feared, and in the greater scheme of things, you feel small and unimportant, naked before an uncaring cosmos. His stories are rife with the trope of arrogant men of science pursuing knowledge they are not prepared to cope with and being driven mad as a consequence, because they cannot confront their inherent helplessness and irrelevance. The Cthulhu Mythos is built on this central set of themes, and has spawned a vast body of work as a result, which Lovecraft himself ironically only constitutes a small part of. Conarium is a part of that mythos, set in the same world and bearing heavy marks of its core tropes. It's a classic tale of mystery and dread, courtesy of Turkish developer Zoetrope Interactive, and is the indie group's third title to bear such relation to the tropes and principles of H. P. L.'s literature. It's available on Steam for $19.99, though it's best to read at least a couple of old Howard's better-known works before picking it up, to be sure you get the full effect. StoryConarium plays heavily with those aforementioned tropes of 'foolhardy scientists messing with cosmic wisdom' and 'some things are better left unknown'. You play the role of Frank Gilman, scientist and graduate of the infamous Miskatonic University, who has come out on an expedition to the arctic with the renowned Dr. Faust as a follow-up to the doomed voyage detailed in Lovecraft's short story At the Mountains of Madness. Faust is seeking to study the ruins of the ancient Elder Thing city unearthed by those unfortunate explorers, particularly in relation to the blueprints for a device he uncovered during his expeditions in Egypt. Unfortunately, rather than trying to tell this in a more thoughtful manner, Conarium sacrifices creativity for tried-and-tested methods, with Frank awakening in an empty room with large portions of his memory missing. As a result, it's hard to avoid feeling like the whole game could've been achieved as a custom story for Amnesia: The Dark Descent. True, there is an automatic benefit to having the character awaken in a strange place with no real reference as to how they got there, but it's been done so often (especially in recent times) that it's left the setup feeling contrived and unoriginal. This plant is presented as a sort of Chekov's Gun near the start of the plot, but its relation to events is explained so obliquely that some people might find it hard to think of what it's for until after they've finished the whole game. Conarium doesn't even open things in a particularly cohesive manner. Amnesia gave you enough context and personal connection to Daniel in the first ten minutes or so to keep the story feeling motivated and relatable on some level. Frank receives no such bonus, and he receives almost no character development throughout the course of the game, though admittedly that's something of a hallmark for Lovecraft's work overall. There was also the problematic employment of flashbacks, which felt like they were an attempt to demonstrated Frank's deteriorating sanity, but which came across as far too bland to do the job. Ultimately, Conarium's story is actually rather decent, detailing one man's quest to use ancient alien technology to transcend the limits of the physical body and how everyone around him pays the price. It's just that it's delivered in such a ham-fisted manner that it almost spoils the entire experience. Sadly, while doing their best to be loyal to the source material, the writers appear to have repeated many of the mistakes Lovecraft himself made while adding a few of their own. In short, they held too close to the letter of his work, and not its spirit. GameplayConarium is by and large a walking simulator, with some note collecting and achievement hunting sprinkled in. About half-way through, there's a submarine-piloting sequence, though it doesn't last long enough to garner any real interest. The game could've used some slightly better puzzle design, as those that exist range from tiresomely simple to frustratingly counter-intuitive. True, overly-complex problems can pull the player out of the setting in immersion-breaking frustration, but given how little actual gameplay there is, and how flat the atmosphere can get, it might've done better focusing on improving such challenges. The sad part is that, apart from a couple of sequences towards the end of the game, Frank is never in any real danger. There are no monsters for almost the entirety of the experience, and even then, there are precious few opportunities for you to come to harm in any manner. The experience is tiresomely linear, and there's even something about the player's plodding movement speed that detracts from the element of dread that should be present. A horror game should make you stop playing because of stress or because you've just realized what time it is, not out of frustration or exhaustion, which is unfortunately exactly what so often happens. While you have an axe, you don't really get to use it on anything besides the occasional unstable wall. In fact there's generally almost no real danger to the player throughout the experience, which quickly spoils whatever dread the devs were trying to instill. Conarium's play-time is rather short, and the whole game can be powered through in about three hours, provided you know what you're doing. It tries feebly to extend this by grading your performance based on how many items and notes you collect during the course of the experience, something that other horror games have been known to do, and which we could use a whole lot less of. If a game that markets itself on its atmosphere and story tries to grade your performance, the developers have missed the point of their own project. The last screen of the game should not tell you that you missed part of the experience by not collecting all the notes or journal entries. The player should be allowed to discover that for themselves with subsequent playthroughs, which helps each run through feel at least a little bit different. Variety can be the saving grace of a haunted house with bad atmosphere. Alas, Zoetrope Interactive didn't appear to think of that, or if they did, it came too late. Sound and DesignConarium's soundscape is depressingly uninteresting. A huge chunk of any horror game is its ability to imply danger in the environment not through visuals, but through audio. True, in some cases the visuals can take the spotlight through spectacle, but alas the oft-described impossible geometry of the Cthulhu Mythos is nowhere in evidence here, and without it, the whole world seems singularly boring. If you can't convince yourself that there's always something sneaking up on you every time you start a new game from the main menu, then the devs need to reconsider their dedication to the horror genre. Of course, that's not to say the game looks bad. The art direction is admittedly quite good, with the early-on monotony of the arctic research outpost being replaced by impressive undersea caverns and ruins left by the long-lost society of lizard-people that turn up in the game's lore as worshipers of the even more ancient Elder Things. The Unreal Engine 4 really shows its muscles in these sections, and its nice to just sit and stare at some of the environments and marvel at how pretty some of them are, particularly in terms of lighting. This guy turns up now and then to menace you with spooky noises and mysterious floating. However, his appearances are infrequent, and don't pay off until the last hour or so of the game. Indeed, it's never really explained what connection this thing has to the sunken city or its reptilian former inhabitants. The sound design is okay too, though again, not exactly terrifying. It's not clear if the devs had their own dedicated sound crew or used stock material, but whatever the case, they should've probably invested more heavily in what they had. Also, the music, if there was any, fails to stick in the mind apart from a heavy emphasis on chimes. It had an unusual effect, but if their intent was to unsettle, it didn't precisely work. Taken with everything else, it leaves the game feeling unfinished, like it was meant to be longer, with more sequences to fill in the gaps in its pacing, except that Zoetrope didn't have the funds for more material. Final VerdictConarium is a visually-compelling, but mechanically-barren title. It's heavy on sticking to its Lovecraftian roots, perhaps a little too strongly. The air of mystery and fear wears off quickly, replaced by a bland sense of detachment from characters with whom it's impossible to really relate to. Also, given the lack of danger to spice up some of the slower segments between puzzles, it can turn into a real chore to play. It was ambitious, but alas, the creators' abilities fell short of their vision. Overall, it's a nice, short story, but it's not something you'll be compelled to return to more than a couple of times. Final Score: 6.9Are you tired of overused settings in horror games? Do you wish that more devs would focus on art direction as much as they do graphical fidelity? Does the idea of wandering through a world where you're not sure whether everything looks like a rib-cage or a penis entice you? Then look no further than SCORN, a twisted adventure through a world made of the late H. R. Giger's darkest wet dreams. Since the game's announcement, the developers at Ebb Software have been tight-lipped about the progress on their project, which has led some to believe that work has in fact come to a halt. However, this past Labor Day, the team decided to grace us with a look at their work so far, releasing a new gameplay-heavy trailer featuring something more than mere snippets and clips showcasing the game's stellar art design. Of particular note is the obvious survival-horror bend to the mechanics, with ammo and reloading being things to be conserved, and puzzle-solving using the bizarre bio-machinery around you acting as a significant chunk of the experience. Also, while enemies are clearly present, they do not appear to be always hostile, suggesting a certain amount of stealth will be part of the experience. This brief look is extremely heartening, demonstrating that despite the fears of some, Scorn is more than just a beautifully ugly collection of 3-D modelling projects. With luck, the devs will take full advantage of the alien environment to enhance the horror aspect of the experience. After all, Giger's work is more than just bizarre (or even nausea-inducing); it's suggestive and unsettling, and most importantly, disruptive of expectations. Nothing gets players jumping in fright and shouting expletives like playing with their preconceptions. Hopefully, the first part of this two-part experience, titled 'Dasein' will live up to it's twisted looks when it releases in 2018. Until then, you can watch the full trailer below! Also, the game now has its own page on Steam, so be sure to add it to your wishlist if you're interested! Nothing encourages quality work from indie teams like pubic interest! |
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