E3 2019: Hands-on with the Switch version of Wolfenstein Youngblood
Located in the Nintendo booth at E3, between Link’s Awakening and Luigi’s Mansion 3, was Wolfenstein Youngblood, the first time I had seen it running on Switch as it was nowhere to be seen at the Bethesda booth on that platform. With a machine free, I jumped on and began the task of removing more Nazi’s from the world.
The mission that I got to play, had the Twins attempting to take down a general, aboard a zeppelin that was floating above Paris, with the first moments of the mission allowing for some stealth action. However as this is Wolfenstein, that quickly went out the window and the guns came out in force, what shocked me though, was how well the AI was at playing the other sister. I was able to select which twin I wanted to be at the start and I had honestly expected the AI to be a bit of a mess with the other one, but it wasn’t the action, no matter how frantic, was tempered by the fact that I had a solid companion with me.
When I went down in combat, which happened twice, the second time leading to my death, I was able to wait for my twin to come and rescue me, the only thing is that I was not able to shoot at anything near me, leaving them to clear out anyone that might take them down during the revival. There are a few times that the game required me to open a door, or press a button at the same time as another one, which meant that I had to wait for the AI to play catch up, if I were playing with a real person, this would not be an issue, as we would likely be together. Once through the door, the action continued, with larger spaces, like a lounge and tight corridors having lots of Nazi’s to shoot in them.
Given that Wolfenstein New Colossus released with some graphical downgrades, compared to its cousins on other platforms, I went in here expecting much the same, though the game was actually a little better across the board in the visual space. Things still had that blur effect when moving a lot, but when actually shooting and taking down soldiers, it was fine, even when getting in close for melee attacks, the visuals till held up. The sound, which is always hard to judge at events, was clear and the presence of some on-screen subtitles, helped greatly, though I wonder how it will sound in full, when I can set it up in my own home.
With how fantastic a job Panic Button did, porting an already released game last year, their special brand of magic is on show in full force with this one, given that they have been working with the developers, during development to make the Switch version. How it plays out in the long term is anyone’s guess, but if you had no issues with New Colossus, then Youngblood is going to provide just as much fun and who does not love to kill a Nazi or two.
