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B.J. Blazkowicz has been slaughtering Nazis and thwarting the ambitions of the Third Reich for over 20 years, beginning with  Wolfenstein 3D. His latest foray into shooting ubermensch in the face came in the form of last year's Wolfenstein: The New Order, set in an alternate version of the 1960s where Germany won the Second World War. For Wolfenstein fans who've blasted their way through The New Order and find themselves craving more, salvation arrives this week in the form of a new standalone DLC campaign entitled Wolfenstein: The Old Blood.

The Old Blood is a standalone prequel DLC expansion that will unfold over two acts, each comprised of four chapters. Act one is entitled "Rudi Jäger and the Den of Wolves," and will involve B.J. Blazkowicz breaking into the infamous Castle Wolfenstein in order to learn the location of General Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse's compound. Act Two is called "The Dark Secrets of Helga Von Schabbs," and it will find B.J. traveling to the nearby town of Wulfburg "to meet with a Nazi archaeologist who is threatening to release a 'dark and ancient power."

To get players amped for the DLC, Bethesda has posted nearly an hour's worth of gameplay through two sections of The Old Blood. Eager fans can watch the video up top.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is a standalone DLC pack similar to Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Players won't be required to own a copy of The New Order in order to play The Old Blood; they just have to purchase and download the DLC. Bethesda's walkthrough video suggests The Old Blood should take around eight hours to complete -- longer for completionists -- which is a sizable amount of content compared to the typical DLC add-on.

The Old Blood will also include new challenge modes, trophies/achievements, and perks. The Bethesda video demonstrates some of the perks in action, and a bit of judicious screen pausing highlights some of the others. One of the most exciting is the ability to carry a minigun permanently, as opposed to just lugging it around until it runs out of ammo.

Other intriguing perks spotted in the video include "Eagle Eye," which shows collectibles on the mini-map and can be unlocked by silent-killing commanders; "Reload Mash," which speeds up reloading in exchange for killing enemies with the last bullet in a clip; and "Quick Turn," which lets Blazkowicz make a quick 180-degree spin and auto-aim at the nearest enemy. The first of several armor upgrade perks also teases the ability to "overcharge armor," which presumably makes B.J.'s defenses more durable than normal.

The video gives several of The Old Blood's weapons time in the spotlight. The bolt rifle packs a sniper scope and quite a punch, letting Blazkowicz take down Nazis with head shots. However, it's loud as hell, at least in the footage shown, so it's not as stealthy as your typical sniper rifle. The Kampfpistole also looks like a lot of fun. Described as "kind of like a pocket rocket launcher," it's a pistol that launches explosive rounds, but apparently ammo for it is pretty limited. You can see it in action around the 23:37 mark.

The real star of the video, however, is the humble pipe. It can be used as a melee weapon in either a beefy two-handed mode or split into two pieces and used almost like a club and knife combo. It can also open vents, bust out breakable walls, help B.J. climb to higher levels, and perform nasty up-close melee kills. It looks to be the most useful repurposed tool since Gordon Freeman picked up a crowbar. The Swiss Army Knife can eat its heart out.

Finally, The Old Blood will be offering up a time-honored combination that's so satisfying it helped spawn a Call of Duty staple: Nazi zombies. While the video provides only a brief glimpse at the goose-stepping undead, you can see all hell break loose around the 43-minute mark, courtesy of some footage from The Old Blood's second act. These zombies take a lot of hits to put down, so conserve ammo.

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Bethesda Softworks