Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony is a huge Doom mod 6 years in the making

Wolfenstein: Blade of Agony is one of the biggest GZDoom wads ever made—it may even be the biggest. But "wad" is a misnomer really, because this 30 level outing looks more like an entirely new game. The project has been six years in the making, and during that time 15 volunteer modders from all over the world have put their heads together to create a "true" follow-up to id Software's Wolfenstein 3D.

Now the results are available to play, and the good news is that it's available entirely standalone, meaning you won't have to muck around with wads and launchers. It's also free. And it also stars B.J Blazkowicz. Never a better reason to smash that download button.

In addition to the 30 levels there's a ton of other stuff you normally wouldn't associate with Doom, like "orchestra-quality" music, voice acting, interactive NPCs (all the better to talk with the monsters) and more advanced enemy AI. It runs on GZDoom, but like a lot of modern advanced Doom mods, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised if you're not up-to-date.

"It's 1942, and the war approaches its peak," so reads the game's narrative setup. "The U.S. has joined the Allied forces, and the Soviets are pushing back the front in the east. The tides of war are turning, and Hitler's victory seems more and more beyond his grasp. But the Nazis, refusing to capitulate, have grown obsessed with human experiments and occult artifacts, in which they see a potential escape from their final Doom. The Allied leaders reject this possibility as nonsense; nonetheless, some still fear what the Führer might be up to. The situation is nebulous, however, and little is certain."

Phil played an earlier version of Blade of Agony back in 2017, and even then it was looking very promising. There's really no heckin' reason not to download it right now. To get you in the mood, here's a trailer for episode 3.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.