E3 2019: ‘Wolfenstein: Youngblood’ Proves Two Is Better Than One
Continuing their partnership with Nintendo, Bethesda is releasing Wolfenstein: Youngblood, the follow-up to the acclaimed Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, day and date with the other versions. Their previous shooters sacrificed visuals for performance on Nintendo’s platform, but with the cooperative aspect of the game being introduced this time around, would it still be able to hold up? This was the question I was hoping to answer walking into the E3 demo of the Switch version.
Playing as the daughters of BJ Blazkowicz, the Nazi fighting protagonist of the previous games, the pair are seeking out clues to the whereabouts of their missing father. Continuing the family tradition, they accomplish this by gunning down as many Nazis as possible, only this time with a wider range of technology thanks to advancements made in the 20 years or so between games. Each girl gets their own customizable loadout that can be tailored towards stealth or direct combat, and a second player can jump in and out at any point during he mission locally. When playing solo, the CPU did a good job of performing as a competent partner.
Once in a mission, the team can decide to take on challenges together or work towards separate goals. For example, one can solve puzzles or look for items while the other clears the way by taking down enemies. Larger environment led to greater freedom, but the team had to reunite when either advancing the story or moving to a new section of the map. Using an RPG-like health system, each weapon did a certain amount of damage to enemies and their HP determined whether or not they would go down. In other words, a headshot wouldn’t necessarily mean the bad guy was going depending on the situation. Still, it’s little to worry about when you’ve got a partner at your side.
Regarding the Switch version, despite the larger rooms and two-player format, it performed about as well as the previous Bethesda shooters on the platform. Up close, the character models and environments looked rough, and the frame rate looked below the usual 30 FPS, but the game stayed consistent with no noticeable performance dips in handheld mode. While the concessions made are obvious, they didn’t get in the way of delivering an action packed shooter experience on a handheld.
Grab a friend and go Nazi hunting! Nintendo owners will have what’s shaping up to be a strong co-op FPS to look forward to this summer when Wolfenstein: Youngblood releases on July 26.
