Wolfenstein: Youngblood has all of those
things, and yet also feels like an entirely
different prospect. Let’s start with the
most obvious change: It’s co-op. In place
of war hero B.J. Blazkowicz, Yo u n g b l o o d
stars his twin daughters Sophia and
Jessica, a pair who, in their own
words, were “born to kill Nazis”. An
early cutscene shows the two being
trained by their parents—being
pushed to their limits and beyond.
That training is only now being put into
practice, after the pair smuggle away to
Paris in search of their missing father.
Yo u n g b l o o d strikes an odd tone.
Appropriately for the 1980s setting it feels
like a coming-of-age teen comedy, only
warped by the alt-history conceit of a
Nazi-ruled Europe. The pair’s first actual
kill is accompanied by celebration,
bravado, and vomiting. There’s chat and
graphic violence, and I don’t have a sense
of how cleanly these elements will mix.
I also don’t entirely have a sense of
whether co-op play is a good fit for
Wolfenstein. There’s definitely potential
for flanking maneuvers, cover fire, and
other co-op standards. If one player isdowned, the other can help them up, and
players can even buff one another using
their ‘pep’ action—giving a thumbs up to
provide a health boost, or raising ‘metal
horns’ to buff armor.
As a result, the difficulty has naturally
been rebalanced. It feels harder, at least at
first. As myself and my assigned partner
infiltrate a Nazi blimp in the first mission,
we’re beset by troops from all sides. It’s
tough. We die a lot. Yo u n g b l o o d uses a
shared lives system. If you die too much
without being revived in time, it’s game
over—forcing you to restart the level. You
can find extra lives in chests throughout
the level. We don’t find enough. As we wait
for the level to reload, my partner leans
over and apologizes for not being good. I
accept, despite being just as responsible
for our failure. I’m a bad person.ARMY OF TWO
Things go better as we start to get a
handle on the pace of combat. But we
never get a chance to try the stealth side
of play. Inevitably someone (me) runs
straight in, guns blazing, alerting every
Nazi in the vicinity to our presence. The
one time I do try sneaking—utilizing
my ability to go invisible—my partner
gets spotted trying to find a flanking
route. The setup of this hands-on
event doesn’t lend itself to the
granular communication needed for
cooperative stealth. Hopefully it’ll work
better in a different setting—or, if you play
solo, with an AI-controlled partner.
I’m also concerned about what the
progression system means for combat.
Another reason we do better the more we
play is that we’re leveling up as we go. But
enemies also have levels—and health
bars. We encounter more than a few bullet
sponges as a result, which makes the
weapons seem less meaty and satisfying
than in previous games.
Still, there are positives too. Arkane
Studios is helping with level design, and I
see a few instances of areas with multiple
routes and flanking points. In one, I hang
back on a laser turret while my partner
gets down and dirty with enemies in the
courtyard below. It’s the highlight of the
session, and hopefully speaks to a
Wolfenstein spinoff that effectively wields
the things that make it different.
Phil SavageB
etween Wolfenstein: The New Order and
its (slightly inferior) sequel The New
Colossus, it seemed like MachineGames
had a solid template for what a modern
Wolfenstein game should be. There was stealth,
there was action, there were over-the-top guns
(including a shotgun that sounded like the
deafening roar of industrial machinery).It takes two in MachineGames’
co-op Wolfen stein spinoffWOLFENSTEIN:
YOUNGBLOOD
APPROPRIATELY FOR THE
1980S SETTING IT FEELS LIKE A
COMING-OF-AGE TEEN COMEDYRELEASE
July 26, 2019DEVELOPER
MachineGames/Arkane StudiosPUBLISHER
In-houseLINK
http://www.wolfenstein.comNEED TO KNOWPLAYED
ITThe twins plan
their next move.Wolfen stein: Youn g blood
PREVIEW
More players means more
more guns shooting.