Wolfenstein: Youngblood | Xbox One | Review

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When Wolfenstein: The New Order came out in 2014, conventional wisdom said multiplayer was king. The hottest games were Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Destiny, yet Wolfenstein came back and blew the doors off with a gripping singleplayer narrative.

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by James
Michael
Parry

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@James_Parry

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Developer: MachineGames
Publisher: Bethesda
Softworks
Platforms: Xbox One,
PlayStation 4, Switch, PC
Players: 1 - 2

Five years later, singleplayer is going strong and this latest installment has a lot more to compete against in order to win people's time and attention. In a misguided effort, it seems that Machine Games and Arkane took some notes from big daddy Bethesda and ushered Youngblood a step towards how the latest Fallout ended up in response.

While there is a story - the game focuses on two sisters tracking down war hero, previous protagonist and their dad, BJ Blaskowitz, following his disappearance - this isn't the cutscene-heavy, emotionally impactful experience fans of The New Colossus might be used to.

The girls quip merrily as they (repeatedly) explore fairly copy and paste areas of Neu-Paris. Products of a post-Hitler, alternative-history USA, their oddly arrested development makes them feel like bit parts from Dude, Where's My Car? rather than well-rounded characters you care about, but their schtick is enough to raise a smile.

You'll pick one of the siblings to control and level up, bagging yourself an underwhelming 2% base damage increase per level along with various other buffs unlocked with skill points, but most feel insignificant in combat.

​Shootouts in general though are an element which feel punchy and satisfying. Killing Nazis is an easy win for feel-good factor of course, but the way the gunplay is crafted reminds us why Machine Games, alongside Bethesda stablemates id Software, are arguably the standard-bearers for solid first-person shooting right now.

​Youngblood has an extremely fun opening level, headed up with a well thought-out cutscene to introduce you to the cast, but it quickly runs out of steam as you begin to carry out Division 2/Destiny 2/Anthem-esque disposable missions, criss-crossing the same areas over and over.

Enemies respawn as well, bringing more of a Borderlands vibe, minus the loot, to exploration and quickly making you lament rather than fear running into varying sizes of Nazi. There's a sprinkle of variety in suicide dogs and endoskeletons straight out of The Terminator, but the Panzerhunde and other imposing enemies lack that flash of panic we felt the last time we came toe-to-toe with them.

There is something different about this particular release which doesn't often change where AAA titles are concerned, and that’s the price. Unlike the last Wolfenstein, you can pick up Youngblood for a mere £25, or £30 for the Deluxe Edition.

With the latter, you'll get a Buddy Pass which lets you invite a friend - as many as you want, but only one at a time. Your friend's progress is saved and will carry over to the main game if they decide to pick it up, at which point they’ll also be credited with achievements, though we struggled to get it to work smoothly during our playtime.

Arguably the main draw of Youngblood is as a Wolfenstein game with co-op, and on that front (when working without issue) it largely delivers. There's a few key things missing, like easy-to-use level maps, waypoints or pings beyond one enemy at a time, and a more significant reason to take on foes cooperatively.

Otherwise, there seems to be less here even than a lower price point would lead you to expect. The story and weight of earlier games is mostly absent, the level design feels increasingly generic the more side missions you complete, and even new features, like the RPG-lite elements, leave us wanting more.

Perhaps there are some elements, like the Buddy Pass itself, which will go on to be greater than the showing they had here, but for now there's not much more to say than Youngblood is quite good; we just wanted more.

Pros

• Features all the sharp, weighty gunplay you’d expect
• Killing Nazis, via some nice executions and takedowns to boot
• Buddy Pass is a nice inclusion

Cons

• Repetitive levels filled with missions lacking in imagination
• Story feels watered down and content stretched
• Even at a reduced price, it feels spare on the whole

7/10