Wolfenstein: Youngblood Review for Xbox One

We are Le Resistance! Welcome to our tour de Paris, occupied by Nazi Germany in the 1980s. I personally have some mixed feelings about the characters and the gameplay, but I will say that Wolfenstein: Youngblood is okay. It’s not the chosen one, but it’s not the fourth Reich of gaming either.

              Let me preface the game’s plot with this: I could never tell that this took place in the 1980s. I know this is an alternate timeline, but everything screams future tech. Our main characters wear suits that look like they came out of Deus Ex or Crysis. The only thing that really hints at 80s is the obscure synth music that one Nazi plays on a cassette Funny enough, they even show him turn it onto its B side. The point is: the technology is not consistent. Give one of the sisters a Walkman for goodness sake. Edit: the box art is kind of 80s.

              We play as B.J. Blazkowicz’s (previous main character in the series) daughters, Jess and Sophie. They refer to each other as Kenneth and Arthur (for some reason because of a comic book). From the exposition, we learn that B.J. and Anya taught their children how to survive in harsh conditions, guerrilla style. This is 20 years after New Colossus, so it is not apparent what the state of the world is, but America is confirmed as liberated. Plot-wise, we just cut to meeting the catacombs promising help the French Resistance and hoping to find B.J. – and that’s the plot in a nutshell.

Regarding our heroines … I strongly dislike them. Some of the things they do just make me cringe. I understand levity and kids having inside jokes, but was this supposed to be a comedy? I almost feel like the characters don’t/can’t take the situation seriously. Or it’s bipolar, like how in one instance they’re worried if their father is hurt and in the next sentence they’re pumping each other up to kill people. Their peps even work as buffs (such is the power of friendship). Even the last installment was semi-serious, or at least had its moments. It also makes for a lack of genuine/interesting personality. They try this sibling schtick, but (as a middle child) I can tell you this is not how the banter works. Then again, they were raised in dog eat dog world, so I don’t know. I would say that the DOOM guy has more personality in comparison. Hell, even Walker from Rage 2 has more personality than these kids.

              The gameplay is also a let-down in my opinion. Sure, it’s smooth and fast-paced, but there are some problems. Checkpoints are almost nonexistent for one. If you are playing solo, you may run into an issue with your companion refusing to resurrect you, causing you to start the LEVEL all over again. Going off of that last comment, I feel as though being a solo player is more of a nuisance in this game. I can’t even pause the game. Yes, you can bring up the menu screen, but there’s still action going on around you as if you’ve been playing online. You have to have an AI follow you around, and sadly that kills stealth playthroughs.

Running and gunning is still pretty fun though. I felt nostalgic, almost as if I was shooting Helghasts from Killzone. My favorite thing to do is to slide and shoot at enemies (especially the unarmored ones). The only problem with this is the armor-bullet mechanic. I don’t fully understand why the devs did this, but essentially there are enemies with different armor types, as indicated by the white boxes on their health, and only certain guns are effective against that particular armor. The silver lining is that you get to cycle through your guns. The bad new is that you have to cycle through your guns and if you don’t then you’re pretty much wasting ammo. If they’re going to add RPG elements to this series, I should be able to use whatever gun I want. And riddle me this: how does my pistol do more damage than my shotgun?

              Paris is also considerably smaller than you might imagine. On top of that, certain areas are leveled to prevent you from entering. I’m okay with that, but the grind can get tedious due to the lack of mission variety. It’s mostly “go here and kill everyone” or “go here and interact with X.” Still beautiful to look at, even with the Nazi drapery. Also, enemy respawns are kind of annoying. Maybe they’re too quick? It’s more experience, but at the same time I’m ALWAYS fighting.

              Overall, it’s a good first person shooter. I hope you didn’t come here for the plot. I don’t think there is much to see, unless you like to roam and kill Nazis. Then you’re definitely in the right place. There’s no “better” gun, but there are upgrades and character progression skills. And there are … micro transactions for cosmetics. You don’t have to, but it’s always a few buttons away. I think I may have similar feelings about this title like I had with Rage 2, whereas I’m excited to play it out until I get pretty far, or to the end, but I will put it down and move on to the next bloody and gory thing. For a final grade, I think Wolfenstein: Youngblood deserves a 7 out of 10. The personality of the series is still there, but it’s a “meh” grade from me.

Check Out the Wolfenstein: Youngblood Trailer:

For more information on Wolfenstein: Youngblood, please visit the game’s official website here. Players can also check out the FAQ here.

John Pruitt

I like to think of myself as the average Joe who grew up alongside video games. I have fun playing strategy games, RPGs, shooters, sandboxes, the whole shebang! Every game provides an experience whether it strikes you as profound, mundane, or someplace in between. I'd like to weigh in my two cents before you spend a single penny.

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