This game does not really break new ground, but it is a good meat and potatoes shooter and has been well designed and promises to be an enjoyable game to play with friends.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood may not be quite what I expected in a new entry to the series, but damn, if it isn’t good. The ‘live service’ additions detract slightly from the experience, but that glorious combat more than makes up for it. Add in some wonderfully crafted play spaces to explore (if only there was a couple more) and you’ve got yourself a great way to spend a weekend. The main campaign will be over quick, but while it lasts, it’s great, wholesome, Nazi killing fun.

No, this isn’t a dark, serious Wolfenstein moment. It’s just pure, unadulterated shoot-em-up coop fun.

Using everything Arkane can do in terms of level-design, Wolfenstein Youngblood offers an interesting new take on what’s a Wolfenstein game. But for a co-op game, it doesn’t have substantial co-op mechanics.

In the end, I feel like I’ll continue to struggle with how I truly feel about Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Its strange and uncomfortable structure, or rather my reaction to it, clearly stems from my love for the “normal” games. It isn’t more of what I loved; therefore, it’s scary. At the same time, some of those scary things are legitimate frustrations that seem to compromise the game to make it more gimmicky. It’s still as charming as ever, and is full of fun characters and dialogue, which makes it harder to really be disappointed. Wolfenstein: Youngblood comes off as a big experiment, and attempts to take something people like and do something new with it. I’m glad MachineGames was afforded the creative leeway to make it.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood falls dramatically short of its predecessor in most ways and feels like a missed opportunity for a great focused, story-driven co-op game. That said, killing all of Hitler’s best friends with a co-op partner at your side isn’t without its enjoyable moments.

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.