Wolfenstein

Wolfenstein, released in 2009, continued the series' long history of battling Nazi occultism, sending agent B. J. Blazkowicz to the fictional German town of Isenstadt, where the Nazis are trying to harness the paranormal power known as the Black Sun, hidden in another dimension. The game combined classic first-person action with supernatural abilities - thanks to an amulet, Blazkowicz could slow down time, become temporarily invisible, or pass between dimensions, revealing hidden paths and enemies, which opened up unconventional solutions to fights and hidden nooks throughout the levels and rewarded players for thoroughly exploring the environment. Besides regular Nazi soldiers, players also faced mechanical robots, altered mutants, and occult monsters summoned from a dark dimension called the Veil.

On Xbox 360 the game ran on a modified id Tech 4 engine and offered a more open town structure serving as a hub between missions, where you could buy weapon and ability upgrades using collected gold and complete side quests for resistance factions fighting the occupying power in the streets of Isenstadt. The sound design and music built on the series' traditional atmosphere - dark, industrial tones supplemented by the amulet's supernatural effects - and despite a smaller budget than its competitors, the game retained the pulpy tone characteristic of the whole Wolfenstein brand.

At the time the game received a mixed-to-positive reception, and many saw it as a solid, unsurprising sequel, praised for its enjoyable combination of action and supernatural abilities but criticized for the engine's technical datedness compared to its contemporaries. Today it stands out mainly as a transitional point between classic Wolfenstein and the later series reboot by MachineGames, which returned to the occult theme years later with a considerably larger budget.

Why play it: For fans of an enjoyable combination of action and supernatural abilities, it's an interesting transitional point between classic Wolfenstein and the later reboot by MachineGames.