Blade of Agony

Blade of Agony is a first-person shooter set during World War II based on the alternate narratives of the Castle Wolfenstein series and with a similar visual style. Initially started as a modification and total conversion, it eventually became a standalone release based on the GZDoom engine with three chapters in total: The Staff of Kings (a hunt for the legendary Spear of Destiny), Shadows of the Reich and The Clash of Faith. Gameplay-wise it closely resembles the early Medal of Honor and Call of Duty titles, but with the fast gameplay of DOOM, combining both indoor, corridor-based environments as well as large open areas outdoors for about 30 levels in total as well as some secret maps. Levels are based in locations all over Europe from beaches during a landing to a prison camp in Poland, a facility in Germany and the sewers of Paris, but also temples in Tunis in Northern Africa.

It starts in 1942 at the peak of World War II. The Nazis have been pushed back, as the U.S. has joined the Allied forces and the Soviets hold the front in the east. The Germans refuse to give up and rumors abound that they are involved with dark, occult experiments. The player takes control of the familiar Cpt. William "B.J." Blazkowicz, an Allied spy. He is however no longer on active duty, but is taken back into the field when he receives a message from his comrade Cpt. Douglas Blake.

Missions usually start at a headquarters that acts as a hub location. There it is possible to talk to different characters, attend briefings to start a new mission, stock up on items and weapons by exchanging gold found during missions, take part in a training and other small quest-like options. Missions have primary and secondary objectives. The first are necessary to complete levels while the latter offer extras such as locating a loot chest or recovering Eisenmann files or Mayan artifacts for a scientist at the base. Missions include infiltration, stealing documents, taking out guns and military capacity, escort missions, breaking out prisoners, defending a gun against waves of enemies until reinforcements arrive and more. Some objectives are updated during a mission. There are many NPCs and sometimes they join a mission. Levels also have several secrets.

There is a large number of weapons including the Luger P08, Walther P38, MP 40, STEN Mk II, a shotgun, a Mauser Kar98k (sniper) rifle, a flamethrower, grenades and more. Melee attacks consist of a powerful kick, a combat knife or a shovel. Some parts incorporate stealth and enemies can be taken out by sneaking up on them with a knife. During those missions there is an additional meter that shows how exposed you are based on light sources and sounds. There are also alarm systems that can be activated by the guards and Blazkowicz can sabotage them. Crouching also reduces noise. Other game elements are different weather systems, explosive barrels, destructible parts in the environment, free mouse look and jumping. It is possible to swim and run, but this is tied to a stamina system that affects other actions as well. Often keys need to be located or switches need to be thrown. A top-down map can be accessed at any time.

Enemies have advanced AI where they will alert each other, dodge roll and when shot down they are sometimes able to recover or can be healed by a medic. Next to regular enemies there are also large Ubersoldiers and attack dogs, bats, spiders, scorpions and mutants. There is both health and armor. Other elements are upgrades that can be purchased at the base such as larger ammo capacity, a portable medkit, a mine detector to see the position of mines in fields and a compass that shows the direction of objectives. Often there are updated briefings during missions and there are also several cut-scenes. The game has music tracks and supports several, community-made add-ons and modifications that are bundled with the game and can be selected from the launcher.