Wolfenstein: Youngblood Reviews
A violent, arcade shooter, that doesn’t give a stuff about your fancy upgrades, your new gun mechanics, your brand spanking new mech-armour, or your feelings. Wolfenstein should always be known for kicking ass, and taking names, and while I do believe Youngblood does try to take that notion, and turn it into a party, the party stopped the moment it wanted to be modernised. It’s the old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Youngblood feels like a weird mishmash of two clearly distinct design principles – the open-ended approach by Arkane and the linear and often action fueled sequences by MachineGames. The end result is a lesser game, devoid of soul and interesting mechanics.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
All MachineGames and Arkane Studios needed to do was make a straightforward, cooperative Wolfenstein experience. Instead, Youngblood replaces the series' celebrated narrative twists and turns with humdrum XP grinding and a live-service model. It would be bad in most games, but the fact that it's in a Wolfenstein title makes it sting a little bit worse.
Since it was published in 1981 under the development of Muse Software, the Wolfenstein saga has been one of the pillars of the video game industry.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you liked Wolfenstein's previous installments, you will love this one, as it continues with the history of the Blazcowickz in the 80s and gives you the opportunity to play it with a friend, without skimping on blood, violence, and Nazi destruction.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It's evident that MachineGames aren't completely comfortable with the genre and gameplay concepts they've chosen for Wolfenstein: Youngblood. The only thing that still holds up is the feel of the combat, everything else is a bit disappointing.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Wolfenstein: Youngblood takes one of my favorite FPS series and ruins it with repetitive grind, bloated FPS mechanics, a broken, mandatory co-op system and a frankly insulting story. Don't touch this one with a ten foot pole.
Despite it’s lackluster gunplay, Youngblood’s co-op and intricate level design make for a solid chapter in the Wolfenstein saga.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood had the potential for greatness. MachineGames has proven itself as one of the best FPS developers active today with the previous two series entries, and Arkane Studios has a well-deserved reputation for great immersive sim experiences. Both are highly regarded for their single-player offerings, yet this collaboration squanders so much of the magic that could have been. The gunplay is as tight as fans could hope, and the central storyline is just strong enough to overcome the malaise that the repetitive open-world exploration breeds. However, those boons are not enough to offset the flaws, foibles, and—most of all—the sense that this is a game designed to keep players coming back: even as it lacks a hook to do so.
Wolfenstein Youngblood is the perfect game for everybody, who ever wanted to play a Wolfenstein spin-off with a friend. The coop-features are truly convincing as well as the typical Wolfenstein gameplay and humor. As Wolfenstein Youngblood is not a full price title, we have to accept a less complex story and noticeable rare cutscenes.
Review in German | Read full review
Youngblood is a bold move; some of its changes are good ad reasonable. Some of the others seem great on paper but are not executed well. And some shouldn't even exist in the first place (I'm looking at you microtransactions). Maybe those good ideas will have better execution if the developers learn from their mistakes but that is for the future titles to be seen. But what about Youngblood itself? If you're a Wolfenstein fan, despite its flaws Youngblood can be enjoyable; like a cold drink in this hot summer
Review in Persian | Read full review
All in all, I quite enjoyed playing Wolfenstein Youngblood. I thought the two character’s relationship was fascinating and their journey was captivating to see how far they would go in order to find out what happened to their dad. Yes it was a little samey at times, and I couldn’t care about what the side missions had to offer, apart from levelling up of my character, but I enjoyed using the different weapons in deciding the best ways to kill the “Zitadelles”, “Zerstorers” and “Ubersoldats” as well as the many, many soldiers standing in my way. This isn’t a great game compared the previous Wolfenstein games, but this is more of a bridge in the gap to fill whilst waiting for the mighty Wolfenstein 3. Therefore I gave this a sexy Thumb Culture Silver Award.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood gave the developers the opportunity to bring new things to the series, but the result wasn't as good as many expected. We hope that Wonfenstein 3 reminds us what made the series so special.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Youngblood just cannot hope to fill the power armour clad boots of New Colossus. It's a good shooter and great co-op game but don’t expect much more than a run and gun.
GOOD - Liberating Paris from the Nazis is a lot of fun, and even more so with a friend. If you like the rebooted Wolfenstein games then you’re bound to love this one too. C’mon, it’s killing Nazis.
Ultimately, Wolfenstein: Youngblood feels more like the product of a shareholder meeting, where non-gamers pushed this idea of turning Wolfenstein into a quasi service-type loot shooter, only without loot.
It is what it is — a reasonably priced spin-off of the series that is not bad, it’s just limited in its scope and replay value, though your mileage may vary greatly depending on who you have to co-op with.
Youngblood is no New Colossus, but it offers something fresh and new, even though that alone may turn away lots of old-time fans of the series.
This Wolfenstein spin-off bets on a shared experience, with a risky game that works as intended. But Youngblood also leaves the taste that it would be a way better game if it was designed in a more tradicional and familiar format, in line with the rest of the series.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Wolfenstein Youngblood suffers from a myriad of issues including bad game design, unnecessary gameplay clutter, and a forced shift to co-op gameplay that hardly feels ideal. It is a disappointing entry in the classic Wolfenstein series that has delivered some of the best first-person narrative-focused shooters this generation.