A new co-op spin-off has you fighting Nazis in an alternative history version of occupied Paris, but is it as good as the regular games?
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Weve never felt the modern Wolfenstein games get the credit they deserve. Clearly, theyre popular enough for Bethesda to continue making more but the two numbered sequels have some of the best storytelling weve ever seen in an action game. Not just in terms of the basic mechanics of getting across the plot and characters but in the fact that they have a unique style of their own that isnt just trying to copy some other movie or video game.
The characters in a Wolfenstein game are always absurdly exaggerated and yet at the same time far more human and three-dimensional than the usual cardboard cut-outs that front other video games. And were happy to say that B.J. Blazkowiczs daughters Jess and Soph follow in that same proud tradition, as the game excels at showing their naivete, immaturity, and hatred for Nazis in a manner that seems… not realistic – thats not Wolfensteins style – but relatable and human.
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Slightly confusingly, Youngblood involves a significant time skip from the last game and its implied to take place after the events of an assumed Wolfenstein III. In the series alternative history timeline the U.S. has been liberated from the Nazis but Europe is still in their grip. B.J. is getting old though and the plot of Youngblood revolves around his disappearance in occupied France, with his inexperienced daughters (and Grace Walkers techy daughter Abby) taking it upon themselves to go and find him.
As developer MachineGames told us, when we spoke to them earlier in the year, Youngblood started off as a smaller scale game more in line with The Old Blood, which was released in-between Wolfenstein I and II. Youngblood is, sensibly, still not a full price release but was born from their desire to experiment with co-op play, as the studio has very little experience with multiplayer.
Youngblood can be played alone but doing so does not suddenly turn it into a facsimile of the other Wolfenstein games. If a human partner is not available (and the game makes it very easy to have one drop-in, so that shouldnt be a problem) the other character is always played by the computer, since you need her for team-bonding tasks such as opening heavy doors or special loot-filled crates that litter each level.
Not to mention reviving you when youre killed – which works on a system of shared lives, which seems very fair until you realise the checkpointing underneath can send you back half a level if you both die.
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The solo Wolfenstein games have a significant stealth element, but as you can imagine thats been de-emphasised here. Stealth is still possible, and one of the special abilities is an invisibility cloak, but if the other sister is spotted then naturally the alarm will be raised (although alarms are no longer controlled by individual commanders, as they were in Wolfenstein II). That doesnt mean the enemy soldiers will automatically know where the other player is though, which allows you at least a few extra moments of concealment.
Despite its emphasis on storytelling and stealth, Wolfenstein has always had excellent gunplay as well, and naturally thats still the case with Youngblood. The series has been going on long enough now that some of the recurring enemies and weapons are becoming a little too familiar, but there are new examples of both and a whole new armour system for Nazis which is weak only to specific types of weapons – ensuring you cant rely on just one firearm for the whole game.
Both sisters wear the Daat Yichud battle suits that have featured in the previous games, which prove to be highly customisable – with the weapons also offering many more modification options than previous entries. This essentially turns the game into an action role-player, and while the character progression is simple the need to acquire experience points to level up leaves some enemies impossible to tackle until youre at a similar level to them.
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Surprisingly, Youngblood comes the closest to any of the Wolfenstein games to having an open world structure, with Paris split up into several medium-sized hub areas where you can tackle story missions and side-quests. Together with random enemy encounters that means youre never short of things to do, and can never afford to feel safe, but the side-quests are not very varied and it quickly becomes clear theyre just filler to facilitate level grinding.
In the end you begin to question whether the whole role-playing element was really a good idea, as while unlocking new abilities is as gratifying as usual theres no real loot to be gained from repeatedly fighting the same enemy and no benefit to taking on those higher than your current level – beyond slightly more experience points than usual.
Youngblood is an odd mix of flawed ideas and welcome improvement, with level design that is notably more interesting than Wolfenstein II. The alternative history version of 80s Paris can seem rather sterile and empty at timeRead More – Source
