America was liberated, but the battle for freedom continues in Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Developed by Machine Games and Arkane Studios, this time the streets of Paris are swarming with Nazis and a new French Revolution must start. B.J. Blazkowicz won’t be leading the charge this time, his children will do the shooting for him. Can this major shift in experience bring something new to the series?
Jessica and Sophia learned at a young age that the only way to survive in a world where the Nazis won World War II is to shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more and once every body is dead ask a few questions. Their parents taught them that. Now, Blazkowicz is missing and his girls find evidence that he has gone to France to continue liberating the rest of the world. As the 1980’s begin, Jessica and Sophia will retrace his steps and find a new Nazi plan for world domination. The girls will slaughter anyone who gets in their way as the search for their father.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a first person shooter, which should come as no surprise to anyone who played a Wolfenstein game. You can pick either sister and prowl the streets of Paris for bad guys to shoot. A friend or a computer will select the sister not chosen. There is a little RPG sprinkled in, but the major change is that players can choose missions in any order. This allows for a much more free experience, as well as making the game non-linear. The goal is simple: find Blazkowicz and kill any Nazi that crosses your path. Don’t expect normal soldiers. These Nazis have been experimenting.
The look and sounds are stunning in depicting a world that never was. This is not Paris in 1980, this is a Paris where armed Nazis scour the streets at all hours of the day. There is a sense of familiarity about it, a a style here and a color choice there. The brutality is still alive and kicking. The last two Wolfenstein seemed to take pride in gruesome kills and Sophia and Jessica are good at the family business.
The story of the last two games was surprisingly deep for a series that started as the first FPS. Blazkowicz might have kicked the Nazis out of America in the last game, but they are still out in the world. The villain of the game is a little bland for my taste, competing with Deathshead and Frau Engel. Something changes halfway through the game and you start to wonder if the Nazis were saving the worst for last. The new games seem to be marching toward a conclusion and this is just one more step toward that goal.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is about how battles are never truly over and what we teach our children. Sophia and Jessica want to liberate France, but they also just want to find out what happened to their dad. Change does happen, but you have to get to the end to see what the next game might be about. Blazkowicz is not here, but his daughters will pick up any slack he leaves behind.
8.5/10
Available on PS4, Xbox, Switch and PC.
