Wolfenstein: Youngblood Review

Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a brand-new co-op adventure from award-winning studio MachineGames, developers of the critically-acclaimed Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, in partnership with Arkane Studios Lyon. In the game, you get to play as one of BJ Blazkowicz’s twin daughters and undertake a mission to find their missing father in 1980s Paris.

First and foremost, the combat is just as good as the previous Wolfenstein games and it still feels extremely satisfying to blast through waves of Nazis. This is thanks to the strong shooting mechanics and great gun effects and animations. You are able to upgrade your weapons through the in game currency which is Silver, but thankfully it is fairly easy to earn. While the combat may be fun, the side-missions become very repetitive as you progress through the game.

Light RPG elements have been implemented in the game in terms of character progression. As in many games, you will earn XP as you play which you can spend on a selection of skills and perks. Enemies scale to your level, but there were a few occasions where some enemies where nearly impossible to beat due to their higher level. Overall, the RPG system does well by always giving players the feeling of gradually progressing and upgrading your character.

This time around, the world has a semi open approach, and offers the possibility of a fair amount of exploration. The story is pretty short and isn’t on par with previous Wolfenstein games but it fits in the series by foreshadowing what is to come in the future. The twins fun to play as and comedic even in serious times. While some of the script may pass as cringy, this suits there characters since they are still young teens after all.

The Deluxe Edition of the game grants you the Buddy Pass. The Buddy Pass allows you to invite a friend who hasn’t purchased the game to play through it with you for free. You can only play with one friend at a time, but you can use the Buddy Pass to invite as many friends as you want. If you want to play the game solo, your partner will be controlled by the AI and the experience is actually still enjoyable. Your ally will help by both attacking enemies and revive you if you are downed. Thankfully, the AI makes good decisions for the most part and knows when to help out.

Wolfenstein Youngblood’s solid shooting mechanics and visuals are what made many players fans of the previous games but it also does enough to differentiate itself. With the focus on co-op, progression and open-world approach, the game is able to stand out from the crowd and appeal to a wide variety of gamers. The story was lacking, however the game seems wary of that and makes sure the gameplay is fun enough to make up for it. The ability to play with a friend is absolutely the best aspect of the game and was a great addition to the game. Overall, Youngblood provides an enjoyable experience as a spin-off especially considering the reduced price tag ($30)

GameRev was provided with a digital download code for the purpose of this review.