Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The New Colossus are both fast-paced shooters with fairly linear levels. You come in at one end and shoot your way to the exit, without a lot of room to explore or try different a different approach other than “shoot all the Nazis in the face.” That might not be the case with Wolfenstein: Youngblood.
The spin-off starring Blazkowicz’s twin daughters Jess and Soph will feature a more open level-design, inspired by games such as Dishonored and Prey. There will be more things to do in each level, including side-quests.
According to Gamingbolt (who in turn took the information out of the latest issue of PlayStation Official Magazine), Youngblood will have greater freedom in terms of exploration, side activities, and approach combat scenarios.
“I think players will see a lot of similarities to level design in the Dishonored games,” said executive producer Jerk Gustafsson. “So in that sense, it can be a little bit different as an experience but it can be for the benefit of the game, especially when it comes to finding different ways of approaching a combat scenario or a mission in general.”
This shift in design is attributed to the fact that Arkane Studios, makers of the Dishonored series and the new Prey game, are co-developing Wolfenstein: Youngblood together with MachineGames.
Gustafsson also revealed that Wolfenstein: Youngblood will be a little shorter than previous games in the series, but will have more overall gameplay time. However, due to the more open nature of the game, there will be less story content. I guess this means you spend more time playing a level, and less time in cutscenes or chatting with NPCs.
“The open-ended structure and co-op aspect has made it a little more difficult when it comes to the narrative,” he said. “We do think we have a strong story, but it’s quite different from what we have done before; it’s a little bit lighter, not only in tone but also when it comes to the amount of content, and I think that’s the big change when it comes to previous titles: the campaign is a bit shorter but the amount of gameplay time is greater.”
Even if the game is slightly shorter, the developers are already planning to add more activities and side-missions post-launch, so players will have a reason to continue playing after finishing the main campaign.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood is coming out on June 26 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
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