I’ll be honest, I haven’t really played a Wolfenstein game in a long time. While I dabbled with Return to Castle Wolfenstein on the Xbox, it didn’t pique my interest enough. I did play the shit out of the original game on the PC back in the day, though.

While Activision wasn’t allowing press to play the game yet since it’s still very much pre-alpha, a few developers were on hand to play through and tell us all about what changes the series has undergone. Wolfenstein is now running on a modified Call of Duty 4 engine, which means you know it’s going to look and play well; that much was evident already in the preview build. But where the series really takes a turn is the story.

In this game, you take control of the series’ main character, BJ, as you have to stop a Nazi special operation train at the beginning of the game. After you destroy the train, things begin to go apeshit. The Nazi’s were transporting a Veil Amulet and by destroying it, you now are able to use its Sci-Fi powers. You’ll be able to slow down time or move through walls in some spots, depending on the situation, with other abilities being announced down the line. You can choose which Veil power to equip with the d-pad and an on-screen Veil Medallion. There is a finite amount of the power you can use, as shown by the gauge on the Medallion, but you can always go stand in a Veil Pool to recharge.

You’re not the only one with Veil powers, as the Nazis have learned to harness this technology as well. At one point, you end up fighting a Nazi in an Iron Man type suit shooting a particle canon. This is where the game really lost. The particle canon is essentially a one shot kill as it disintegrated your enemies. It seriously looks like you’re shooting a Proton Pack in Ghostbusters. Who’s going to want to run around shooting an M1 Garand or a bolt action rifle when you can shoot a plasma canon? It just really doesn’t it in well with the game world.

The story is also much less linear this time around. The developers have introduced many new story characters and NPC’s that you can talk with to allow of side quests and exploration. Activision is shooting for roughly 10-12 hours of single player time and could not speak yet about the multiplayer aspects of the game. They did say, however, that the Veil powers would be incorporated into the multiplayer.

Other changes from previous Wolfenstein games include a regenerative health system instead of health packs, which series die hards may or may not like. Because of the new story elements, you’ll be able to use Wolfenstein’s weapon upgrades to customize how you play. If you want to go stealth, you can, or if you want to run in like Rambo, that’s okay as well.

While I have no doubts the game will play well, the Nazi Sci-Fi cross doesn’t just do it for me. While no release date has been set, I have a feeling that when Wolfenstein ships, it will fall into the category of “just another shooter” and many people will pass on the game, including myself.