Xbox - The Official Magazine - USA (2019-06)

interesting change – a lot of the

strength of The New Order and The

New Colossus was in the twists and

turns of their heartfelt-yet-ridiculous

narratives, and it is difficult to see

how that might be maintained with

each player experiencing the beats of

the tale in their own sequence.

Double up

But perhaps it’s a concession to

Youngblood’s biggest new addition:

co-op. You and a friend each play one

of the sisters, working together to

destroy the Nazis, and you can even

coordinate for tag-team moves and

perform emotes at each other.

The developer has also come up

with a clever way for you to rope in

your mates: if you buy the Deluxe

Edition of the game, you’ll receive a

‘Buddy Pass’ which you can share

with anyone, enabling them to play

co-op with you without owning the

game. You can hand it out to as many

people as you like, and all of them

can, as long as they’re playing with

you, progress through the whole

story without restrictions. It’s a neat

solution to a common multiplayer

problem – though if you still find

yourself alone, you’re free to play solo

with an AI companion instead.

The core gunplay seems, aside from

the element of teamwork, much the

same as it was in The New Colossus –

the twins even have their own power

armour suits. It’s a little disappointing

to see that, despite the 20-year time

jump, you’ll be fighting much the

same enemies with the same arsenal

of weapons, betraying perhaps the

more limited scope of this not-quite-

sequel. Though you will get at least

one shiny new toy to play with: the

Electrokraftwerk, a lightning-spewing

gun whose bolts arc between enemies

and stun hostile robots.

If your love of killin’ Nazis is yet to be

sated, and you’ve got a friend in the

same boat, this should be the perfect

excuse to dip back into Wolfenstein’s

wonderfully weird alt-history world –

and hopefully enough to tide you

over until the inevitable full sequel.

But it doesn’t look like it’s making

many strides to freshen up the

formula. Will co-op and a thin veneer

of ’80s nostalgia be enough to make

this a distinctive new addition to the

series? We’ll know soon enough! Q

The apple doesn’t fall far from the

tree, it seems – or, in this case,

apples. Jess and Soph Blazkowicz, the

leads of this standalone spin-off of

MachineGames’ excellent Wolfenstein

reboot, are as formidable and deadly

as their legendary father BJ. The

Nazis have even given them their own

nickname: the Terror Twins.

The year is 1980, a 19-year jump

from the end of Wolfenstein: The New

Colossus, because, well, otherwise

you’d be playing as a pair of tiny

babies. Big man BJ himself has

mysteriously gone missing from his

home in the liberated USA, with clues

suggesting he’s absconded to the still

Nazi-occupied Paris.

Realising no one else is going to risk

trying to find him so deep in enemy

territory, his two daughters team up

with their geeky Q equivalent Abby

(daughter of Grace Walker and Norman

Caldwell from The New Colossus),

hijack a stealth helicopter and head to

Vichy, France.

From there, you’ll embark on a

series of missions to discover the

truth, taking on the Nazis in the

streets, in high-security facilities,

and even through a swanky casino

on an airship. In a twist for the series,

you’ll be able to choose the order you

play through these levels, creating

your own non-linear story. It’s an

Wolfenstein:

Youngblood

Two for the price of one

Robin Valentine

PUBLISHER BETHESDA SOFTWORKS

DEVELOPER MACHINEGAMES/ARKANE STUDIOS

ETA 26 JULY

TWO OF

A KIND

Jess is the one with

short, blonde hair,

while Soph’s is

shaggy and brown.

They’re an

enthusiastic, sweary

pair, with all the

unearned confidence

you’d expect from the

teenage children of a

Nazi-slaying legend.

It’s at least somewhat

justified, as despite

growing up in the

now-liberated USA,

they’ve been training

for battle under their

father for years by the

time the game begins.

They’re not the most

endearing

personalities so far,

though – we’re

hoping they’ll be more

likeable in the full

game than they are in

the trailers.

“If you buy the Deluxe

Edition of the game, you’ll

receive a ‘Buddy Pass’”

The twins’ rap sheet includes resisting arrest, inciting insurrection, and ‘crimes against the Reich’

More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 039

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