Wolfenstein hands-on preview

Wolfenstein, in theory, on paper, by name only, posits itself as a welcome blast from the past. Like Doom, or Quake, developer id Software's other flagship franchises, Wolfenstein harks back to the early days of the first-person shooter genre, where the boundaries were still being discovered, and bespectacled geniuses were breaking all sorts of barriers - and, equally, where level progression was linear and tactics mostly involved walking into a room and holding down the shoot button.

Alongside modern shooters, they stand a little awkwardly, but Wolfenstein's ace in the hole involves its utterly crackpot approach to things. With its leftfield take to World War 2, focusing on 'Schweinhund!'-barking Nazis, mad scientists and a healthy dose of the occult, it looks like it could be the antidote to all those FPSes based on gruffly-serious space marines, or 'faithful' cinematic recreations of war and warfare both past and present.

This new game, due out in August, continues the story of B.J. Blazkowicz, the most inglourious of basterds, as he goes behind enemies lines for yet another crack at Castle Wolfenstein - home to the Third Reich's supernatural research projects.

The preview build we played took place roughly 1/3 of the way into the game, and landed Blazkowicz in the middle of The Hospital, which is more of a Nazi research facility, with vats of botched super-soldier experiments, and a portal to The Veil, an alternate dimension, in its murky depths.

The Veil is Wolfenstein's new addition to the franchise. Blazkowicz is, early on, given the ability to shift between reality and this hyper-reality - the player's vision becomes acute and electric blue, stealthy enemies stand out, hidden pathways are revealed.

What's more, B.J. moves faster, and has other powers to utilise, mapped to the d-pad in this Xbox 360 version, such as a shield, and a bullet-time effect (which initiates with a shockwave-like burst of energy, sending items flying off shelves, throwing corpses into the air, and stunning nearby baddies).

Progress in this portion of the game is linear, and in a house-of-horrors vein that recalls Doom 3, with little in the way of branching paths. There are hidden secrets, like collectible gold bars, but for the most part, it's a war of attrition, mowing down enemies from room to room, ticking off objectives until a boss battle at the end. Some shocks, and twitch-based responses, are elicited by goons such as the Assassin, jumping out at certain trigger points. The Assassin, seen in some trailers, is a speedy, stealthy runt, sporting two sharp blades and bamfing from place-to-place like an angry, fondue-crazed Nightcrawler. It's best to take advantage of the Veil powers to take them down. Other enemies are of the generic Nazi goon and trickier scientist-wizard varieties.

The selection of weapons highlight some of Wolfenstein's fun potential. Expected inclusions, such as MP-40 sub-machine guns, and bolt-action rifles, are given a great, over-the-top power - with one rifle shot turning heads into pink mist, or blowing off limbs. The more supernatural weapons, however, give the game a crazy, caffeine-laced glee. The Particle Cannon spews a stream of blue energy, vaporising weaker enemies on contact; likewise, the Tesla Gun, unleashes the chaotic power of electricity.

None of these weapons, however, had any damaging effect on The Altered, the boss encountered at the end of the level - in a large, open room housing a portal into the Veil dimension. A large, deformed creature, it looks like Joseph Merrick saw bodybuilding flick Pumping Iron, and thought 'me too'.

Engaging the Altered was more cat-and-mouse, and came across like a battle you'd find in Zelda or other adventure games, as the player lures the brute into destroying four columns around the room, destabilising the portal and letting loose all hell. The AI in the (admittedly early) preview build needed some serious tightening up, but this strategic aspect hinted that this Wolfenstein wasn't all about the mindless blasting.

The game is based on the id Tech 4 engine, which looked great back in 2004, but doesn't look like it is going to turn any heads nowadays. That said, the modifications to the engine - added environmental, lighting and physics effects - add much to the atmosphere. The Veil view, all striking and vivid, is quite gorgeous, and when its power gauge is depleted, or suppressed by external forces, the screen adopts a black and white filter. So it looks like Raven Software have worked a few flourishes into the game's design.

Wolfenstein looks to be quite a fun, operatic, Lovecraftian, tongue-in-cheek diversion. The preview provided a mere tasty morsel, but our anticipation is still high.

The best moment by far involved picking up a barrel of pure Veil energy, chucking it at an Assassin, to see him launched into the air, as if someone had flicked a zero-gravity switch, then turning 180 degrees, and dispatching a lone machine gunner with a well-placed axe, bouncing off his helmet in comic-slapstick style.

Stay tuned for more info closer to the August release date, still to be confirmed.

Wolfenstein is released on or about 14 August.