you return to the same locations ad
nauseam – simply navigating from A
to B is a headache. The city’s layout
can often be confusing, and when
you throw in the lack of a proper
map, it makes rooting out objectives
much harder. The fact you’re limited
to a small minimap is madness. With
objective markers floating vaguely
in the distance, the ability to place
custom waypoints on a fully formed
map could have taken so much of the
perplexity out of exploring Neu Paris.Mind the map
We know this sounds like nitpicking,
but it’s really not. During one
frustrating co-op session, we end uplevel design. While the gunplay
and set-pieces were first class in
New Colossus – we still have the
odd chuckle thinking about that
Hitler casting call – getting around
the game’s maps could often be
disorientating. You’d think, then, that
bringing in the team responsible for
two of the best sandbox cities on
Xbox One would smooth out these
environmental issues. Unfortunately,
that’s not the case.
Unlike Dishonored’s Dunwall and
Karnaka, Paris doesn’t feel like a
coherent space. Not only are samey
squares and areas choked off by
military checkpoints revisited too
often – Youngblood is guilty of making
looping around the same couple of
promenades for 15 minutes looking for
an interrogation centre – ugh, there
are so many interrogation centres. It
turns out, we’re in Political Detention
Area 4, North Side, when we should
actually be in Political Detention
Area 4, South Side. Silly us. Areas
are connected by a fast travel metro
system, yet thanks to confusing
mission markers it’s all too easy to
get off at the wrong stop. Curse you,
Political Detention Area 4, North Side!
As a purely co-op prospect,
Youngblood is fairly half-hearted. The
design of Neu Paris doesn’t give the
impression it was specifically created
with a two player tag-team in mind.
The city’s series of boxy corridors and
claustrophobic passageways feel
more suited to tense single-player
shootouts than hectic team battles.
Specific co-op tactics are rarely
required, either. Aside from sharing a
pool of shared lives and occasionally
reviving each other, not much actual
cooperation is needed. Sure, there’s
the odd section where you both have
to, say, pull on levers simultaneously,
or hack a computer for a code while
the other player punches the four-
digit number into a nearby terminal,
yet these moments are hardly pivotal
to the overall experience.
Having played about 70 per cent of
the game in co-op and the rest withshort
cutWHAT IS IT?
A co-op take on BJ’s
shootouts... with
added sweary teens.
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
Its parent games, just
nowhere near as
memorable.
WHO’S IT FOR?
Sociable first-person
shooter fans who
don’t mind the grind.ABOVE The co-op
design could’ve
been more
emphasised.
LEFT Even
heavily armoured
twin trouble is
barely a match
for a brassed
off Panzerhund.074 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE