Support NeoGAF

[IbizaPocholo]

Widely considered the grandfather of first-person shooters, Wolfenstein and its lengthy history know both the thrill of victory and the agony of failure. The franchise’s 2009 entry, the Raven Software-developed Wolfenstein, marked a particularly low point for the series, leaving many to ponder whether protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz’ Nazi-killing days had finally come to an end. MachineGames, however, a Swedish studio founded by former Starbreeze developers, proved approximately five years later that B.J. still had plenty of fight left in him.

The team successfully pitched a new direction for the IP to series creator id Software and publisher Bethesda Softworks, proposing an alternate history, post-World War 2 narrative wherein the Nazis claimed victory. MachineGames’ ensuing partnership with the companies culminated in 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order, 2017’s Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, and The Old Blood expansion in between. These adventures cast a darker, more serious tone over the franchise that ultimately led to B.J.’s transition into a family man. And killing Nazis, inherently, became integral to the proverbial family business.

Thus, Wolfenstein: Youngblood dropped players into the roles of Jess and Soph, B.J.’s twin daughters who, by the 1980s, had grown old enough to infiltrate Nazi-controlled Paris but remained young enough to embark on a relatively lighthearted coming-of-age journey. On paper, the premise worked flawlessly; in practice, Youngblood crumbled under the pressure of cooperative gameplay, light RPG elements, and an open-ended structure—all qualities that went unexplored in MachineGames’ previous projects. Consequently, the final product came across as a hollow shell of the Wolfenstein experience that millions grew to associate with the brand.

This is the tragedy of Wolfenstein: Youngblood.

 

[Kuranghi]

It crumbled under the pressure of the terrible bullet sponge mtx trap they forced onto it:

"This baddie has extra aRmOR!"

 

[clintar]

I haven't played any of these games mentioned besides the original, so I didn't see how this played out, but I think reading this is odd: "These adventures cast a darker, more serious tone over the franchise that ultimately led to B.J.’s transition into a family man."

 

[Saint Boot]

My cousin has a hard on for this series and he's extremely closed minded about it. I tried showing him this video and he won't watch it.

It's a bit creepy because he spends his days on Facebook talking about how much he wants to hurt Nazi's. I don't just mean the video game characters, either. I won't go into detail, but there are other factors in play with his mental condition that he is in desperate need of help that he simply isn't getting in his current environment.

Like me, he's on the Spectrum and it's being neglected.

For myself, I am not a fan of any of the Wolfenstein games outside of the original on pc.

 

[Optimus Lime]

I remember playing the original Wolfenstein 3D the week it released and finding it difficult to believe what I was seeing.

I had a similar experience with this game, but for vastly different reasons.

Spoiler: Why's that?

It was shit.

 

[kiphalfton]

From the little I played, the twins are just obnoxious. Dropping F-bombs, and the devs tried to lean too far into the whole edgy teenage thing too hard.

I would not be surprised it Youngblood and Cyber Pilot killed the series.

It is my personal opinion they should have gone with a fraternal twins (i.e. a boy and girl). That would have actually made senses though.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Shockingly it was not the protagonists that made the game shit, but it was exactly what the masters of level design that worked/colaborated on it, Arkane, ruined it, the absolute shit levels. I remember them bragging about it how open and stuff it was and certainly some parts of the map were cool and I won't deny that the details in each maps looked great visually BUT the way the levels were connected, the progression and how the game was designed was shit. I remember buying it on launch and I was playing it with a friend on hardest and we passed through 3 or 4 loadings and different levels until we reached the commander, where we died and the game fucking restarted us at the start of those previous 4 map loadings. And it got worse, because every map had the exact same patern, reach the commander and repeat, over and over.

 

[SkylineRKR]

The only one I enjoyed was TNO. All others that were released after it weren't fun to me.

I'd rather play Doom these days. I kinda hoped Wolf would be like it, being an unstoppable nazi killer. Wolf could still be different enough in terms of upgrades, perks and story exposition which were things I actually liked in TNO and TNC. I just hated the level design and how weak the character felt.

 

[MadchesterManc]

It's not bad I guess, then again I picked it up on CDKeys for £6 - I'd probably be miffed if I'd paid full price. It does have some good raytraced reflections & DLSS at least on PC, better than some of the games that get talked up on GAF.

 

[Zathalus]

I actually enjoyed the game, not a masterpiece but it was fun.

 

[Klart]

Why do certain devs feel the need to change a working formula and subsequently f up a series.

Just stick to what works and improve on that.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

It's a bit creepy because he spends his days on Facebook talking about how much he wants to hurt Nazi's. I don't just mean the video game characters, either.

He's two generations late for this. There are still plenty of actual communists tho and I'm not sure what to do about it, but I'm not stupid, I know the stuff they do when they get in power... They do the killing.

 

[Stuart360]

The gameplay isnt terrible, but could only stomach a few hours of the cringy edgelord sisters.
What the fuck were they going for with those 2?.

 

[iHaunter]

The gameplay isnt terrible, but could only stomach a few hours of the cringy edgelord sisters.
What the fuck were they going for with those 2?.

Hell yeah dude!

Hell yeah dude!

Hell yeah dude!

Hell yeah dude!

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

The gameplay isnt terrible, but could only stomach a few hours of the cringy edgelord sisters.
What the fuck were they going for with those 2?.

A woke SJW's power fantasy.

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

He's two generations late for this. There are still plenty of actual communists tho and I'm not sure what to do about it, but I'm not stupid, I know the stuff they do when they get in power... They do the killing.

What? There's literally still Nazi cucks, you can see a bunch of them on TV right now. Can't get political, so I'll just assume all of these people are just history buffs and like the design of the Nazi and Confederate flags and the way they wave in the wind.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

What? There's literally still Nazi cucks, you can see a bunch of them on TV right now. Can't get political, so I'll just assume all of these people are just history buffs and like the design of the Nazi and Confederate flags and the way they wave in the wind.

Please do tell where those evil nazi regimes are.

Meanwhile we have actual communist regimes around the globe.

 

[deriks]

The game is fine playing co-op, but solo sucks

 

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Please do tell where those evil nazi regimes are.

Meanwhile we have actual communist regimes around the globe.

I'm talking about the history buffs! Not actual Nazi regimes. Obviously there's still communist countries, but I don't think you can "do anything about it".

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Arkane should have stayed far away from this series.

As much as I acknowledge that people enjoy their games, I personally don't. But more so, the types of games they produce are fundamentally different from what made Wolfenstein: TNO and TNC so great.

Yes, the co-op was the first mistake the dev/publisher made. But the second was bringing in Arkane to move the series further and further away from everything that made the first two games so enjoyable. The video in the OP is pretty spot on.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

The game tried something new and failed. I was never interested in what they were pushing, and it seems neither was the public. Thank God it wasn't a success lol.

Wolfenstein 3 is going to be great, though. Tighten up the level design, and I'll take another trip.

 

[UnNamed]

I liked Youngblood. Coop was good and I really enjoyed the open map since it was well designed and multi layered.