The next Wolfenstein is out in the wild (for PC players at least) and brings with it a host of new systems that might throw fans of the series for a loop. To help adjust to those changes (or if you’re coming to the series fresh and just want some advice), here are bona fide pointers to help you smash, slice, pulverize, and disintegrate any nazi fool or robot that gets in you and your co-op partner’s way.
Home Is Where The Skulls Are
Once you unlock the Catacombs, your headquarters in Youngblood, be sure to return there often and explore to take on new side missions from the characters there as well as refill ammo.
Acclimate Yourself To The World
One of the biggest changes from The New Order and The New Colossus is that Youngblood isn’t a linear shooter where you go from A to Z. Instead, Neu-Paris has a series of interconnected hubs, reminiscent of Dishonored and Deus Ex. It’s a huge world for a Wolfenstein game, one packed to the brim with secrets to uncover. Get used to looking around the city for shortcuts (like a leap through a nearby apartment window) to hard reach places instead of just roaming the streets as you follow your objective marker.
Ammo Type Is Important
There are several kinds of ammo types in the game (light, heavy, energy) that you can tell by the small white icon underneath your ammo counter. Certain enemies take more damage from one ammo type more than others (the assault rifle takes down robots’ armor faster than a shotgun, for example), so be sure to experiment and see what works best.
Get Those Floppies!
Floppy disks are everywhere in Youngblood. Collect them and stick them in terminals to discover codes for hidden caches containing lots of currency for you to upgrade your weapons with as well as bonus goodies like concept art. Once you have the code that corresponds to a crate, the code will show up on the crate’s number display and then you just need to enter it to get inside.
Embracing The Gig Economy
Youngblood has a lot of side missions for you to take on, which often involve you hunting down high-level foes or fetching devices for the French resistance. You certainly don’t need to do all of them, but you should do a fair number of them to level up for the raids. Furthermore, certain missions give you alternate ways to access the bases where the raids are taking place, making your job easier when it comes time to take on one of the big bads.
Upgrade Your Weapons ASAP
The silver coins you earn throughout the game can be used to buy cosmetics and weapon upgrades. You should be investing in those weapon upgrades early on, buying scopes and barrels for your pistols, rifles, and every other death-dealing tool in your arsenal. Alongside leveling up, weapon modifications are the quickest way to increase the damage you’re inflicting on foes.
A Full Heart
Littered around Neu Paris are life crates, which you can use to refill one of the three lives you and your partner share for when both of you are downed and can’t revive the other. Be sure to look for these when you’re down one or two. They’re plentiful and usually easy to find.
Emotes Are The Best
One of Youngblood’s neatest mechanics are its emote. Beyond doing a nifty gesture, emotes essentially function as spells you cast to give your sister (or sometimes both you and your sister) buffs, like restoring health and shields or even granting both of you invincibility for five seconds. Emoting, as goofy as it might sound, can become a real Hail Mary in tough boss fights.
Micromanagement Is Surprisingly Important
MachineGames’ take on Wolfenstein has always had hints of RPG thanks to its perks system. However, Youngblood blows that out into a full skill tree filled with general permanent buffs to health and armor as well as powerful abilities like powerful tackles that reduce enemies to red goo. You and your partner should work together to make sure the abilities you unlock complement each other and what you want to do. If, for example, you both want to sneak about and slice throats from the shadows, you should both be putting points into the cloaking branch. Vice versa, load up on armor and health buffs if you want to be walking tanks of destruction.
If you’re playing with a computer partner, you’ve got less leeway with choosing their skills. However, you can commit them to a single emote, which is particularly helpful in the endgame since the full-health emote Martial Arts basically serves as a fourth shared life.
Have A Plan For Boss Fights
The five boss encounters (not to mention the numerous mini-boss robots you fight) can be grueling uphill battles if you try and wing it. Instead, make sure you and your partner decide beforehand who’s going to try and bait the boss while the other player fires from the fringes. Some variation might be needed later on but this strategy more or less works for all the boss fights.
If you’re playing with the A.I., just assume they’re going to act as the bait because they’re usually offensive-focused and Leroy Jenkins-ing into the action.
For more on Wolfenstein: Youngblood, be sure to check out our review here.
Source: Game Informer 10 Tips To Help You Take Back Paris In Wolfenstein: Youngblood