Wolfenstein: Youngblood Review | Microtransactions Are the Real Villain

As with many of Id Software’s properties, the “Wolfenstein” series has ridden a strange line between mirroring wider industry trends and charting its own winding path through the medium’s history. There’s no doubt works such as Silas Warner’s “Castle Wolfenstein” and Id’s own successor “Wolfenstein 3D” proved foundational for stealth and shooter games respectively, but just as often the series was prone to more flawed and forgettable works like 2009’s “Wolfenstein”. In the hands of the studio MachineGames, though, “Wolfenstein” has largely found itself in a more consistent – and perhaps more relevant – position than ever before. Three entries deep into giving greater depth to legendary Nazi-killer BJ Blazkowicz and exploring increasingly provocative issues, MachineGames now turns its attention to the realm of co-operative dismantling of the Nazi regime. Shifting its focus as it does away from the series’ long-time protagonist and other enduring elements, does this new “Wolfenstein” entry bring enough of worth to the table to compensate? Welcome to MojoPlays, and this is our review of “Wolfenstein: Youngblood”. Thanks to a two-decade time jump between games, we now follow the exploits of sisters Soph and Jess Blazkowicz – the twin daughters of BJ. Upon their father disappearing under mysterious circumstances, the Blazkowicz sisters set out for Nazi-occupied Paris in search of him. Along the way they find themselves wrapped up in a larger plot involving the conflict between the Parisian resistance and the remaining Nazi forces, with hints of a schism emerging among the fascists. Solid as the game’s initial premise is, the actual follow-through is rather lackluster. “Youngblood” relegates much of its richer story material – mostly centring on what precisely the elder Blazkowicz is up to and why – to bookends, leaving the rest of the game a long stretch of loosely-connected action beats. Not only does this have the effect of making “Youngblood” feel thematically shallow compared to its immediate predecessors, it also does a disservice to the genuinely strong sibling dynamic on display with Soph and Jess. This plays into a deeper issue plaguing the conception and design of “Youngblood”, namely that it feels halfhearted and compromised by business concerns beyond MachineGames’ control. This is still recognizable as a “Wolfenstein” game in its embrace of warped alt-history war imagery and blood-soaked gunplay, its careful walking of the line between pulp excess and terrifying morality play. Yet beneath the oversized weaponry with German names and gory dispatching of Nazi agents, there’s signs that the wider industry embrace of live-service game design has taken its toll. Consider the game’s mission structure, which now eschews discreet linear levels in favour of a hub-based system in which the player travels to different zones of so-called Neu-Paris. Missions themselves consist of a string of quests doled out by resistance members, completed at a given player’s pace and often not tying back into the central storyline. On its face it’s a understandable concession to the integration of online co-operative play, seemingly part of a desire to recreate the success that games like “Destiny” have had with such freeform play. Where this becomes a problem, however, is in the lasting impact of individual areas; environments here are detailed and exquisitely crafted as ever, but they begin to blur together after a while. Only with the special missions to infiltrate and hack the Nazi’s AI-housing Brother towers does this growing tedium in design give way, and even then the difference is marginal. One of the towers being a vast partially-decimated ruin proves a nice change from the norm, and the range of laboratory and industrial sections on display is decently varied. Still, the core experience remains largely unchanged across the game’s runtime: go in, methodically prey upon Nazi officers and robots, loot the carnage, rinse and repeat. That core loop might feel less tiresome if the shift to an RPG-style approach to enemy durability and weapon usefulness didn’t feel a tad arbitrary and counterproductive. “Youngblood” brings a levelling system into the fold, wherein Jess and Soph gain experience from killing, exploration and quest completion. With level gains comes ability points, meant for use in purchasing everything from health and armor increases to support powers for cooperative play. Trouble is, the sisters’ Nazi adversaries are also tied to this levelling system, gaining levels in step with the player. This lead to several instances in which certain mech-based foes and officers were beyond the capacity for us to successfully fight, requiring a temporary retreat or even just avoiding them entirely. Per the expectations of the action-RPG genre, the game features a weapon and equipment customization system. The various guns and projectile launchers available here benefit immensely from players spending accumulated Silver Coins on attachments, like scopes and improved magazines. Silver Coins can also be spent buying cosmetic items like unique skins for the sisters’ Da’at Yichud power suits... or you can make a discreet purchase, with real money, of Gold Bars that serve the same purpose. Between the sleaziness inherent to this kind of indulgence and the optics of a digital facsimile of Nazi gold being sold for real-world currency in a game about killing Nazis, no part of this is comfortable or acceptable. To be entirely fair, some bright spots emerged in our time with the game. It must be stated again that the Blazkowicz siblings are realized here in endearing fashion, portrayed with a mix of sardonic wit and genuine mutual affection by Valerie Lohman and Shelby Young. Jasmin Savoy Brown gets quite a bit of chance to shine as the sisters’ technology-minded friend and mission support Abby. And while much of the cast of past games have been sidelined or are absent, those who appear still remain affable. The problem with “Youngblood” in a nutshell is that it feels out of touch on multiple fronts, detached as it is from so much of the past games’ strengths. When one takes into account the home run of an idea that is a “Wolfenstein” game starring the daughters of Blazkowicz, it’s impossible not to feel as though a great opportunity has been missed. Those seeking a co- operative experience – any co-operative experience – may find limited satisfaction, but “Youngblood” is hardly a vital work.