Bethesda Softworks has launched a major update for Wolfenstein: Youngblood. The 1.0.7 update adds new endgame content sure to please the teen twin Nazi-stompers.
Once you’ve finished the main campaign, the new “Da’at Yichud Artifacts” mission will open up to give players a treasure-hunt going back through Nazi-occupied Paris. Twenty treasure maps will lead hunters on a backtrack journey for bits and bobs that give finders money, XP, and ability points. You’ll need those new points, because the update adds a new ability for each character tree. If you need new ways to high-five or flip the bird to your cooperative or A.I. sister, there’s new pep signals, too!
Bethesda and MachineGames have announced the full contents of the season pass for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. There’s nine more hours of righteous Nazi killing coming in The Freedom Chronicles. If you pre-ordered the game or are a season pass owner, you may have already gotten a taste of the future content thanks to Episode Zero which launched on November 8th and introduced Joseph Stallion, Jessica Valiant, and Gerald Wilkins. On December 14th, we’ll get The Adventures of Gunslinger Joe, featuring the best sports hero since Augustus “Cole Train” Cole. On January 30th, we’ll see the stealthy secrets of The Diaries of Agent Silent Death. Finally, sometime in March of next year, the square-jawed action heroics of The Amazing Deeds of Captain Wilkins will be released. That’s three new murdering menaces on their way! Lieutenant Aldo Raine just might get his Nazi scalps after all.
At the start of Wolfenstein: The New Order, MachineGames put the player at the end of an alternate reality WWII. It was a smart way to ease players into a tutorial while setting up the story of a world in which the Third Reich would stand triumphant. The player, as B.J. Blazkowicz, would go on to battle the 1960’s Nazi regime, and the WWII antics would get left behind thanks to a convenient bout of catatonia. (Perhaps “inconvenient” would be more appropriate?) For those players that would’ve liked to have seen some more of Blazkowicz’ special forces wartime escapades, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood will take players back to 1946.
In an effort to turn the tide in the Allies’ favour, B.J. Blazkowicz must embark on an epic, two-part mission deep within Bavaria. Part one of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood – Rudi Jager and the Den of Wolves – pits Blazkowicz against a maniacal prison warden as he breaks into Castle Wolfenstein in an attempt to steal the coordinates to General Deathshead’s compound. In part two – The Dark Secrets of Helga Von Schabbs – our hero’s search for the coordinates leads him to the city of Wulfburg where an obsessed Nazi archaeologist is exhuming mysterious artifacts that threaten to unleash a dark and ancient power.
Bethesda and MachineGames announced the $20 standalone title will be available on May 5th for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
One of the constant reminders that you’re playing a modernized interpretation of a classic shooter in Wolfenstein: The New Order is the need to manually pick up ammunition with a button press. What the heck, Blazkowicz? Why wouldn’t you want to pick up every available bit of ammo? The gameplay after each battle was dominated by meticulously Hoovering up every clip left by the Nazis that you could carry. Yes, I want those bullets! Thank you very much. MachineGames executive producer Jerk Gustafsson revealed to Gamasutra that the developer came to that mechanic through their internal testing of the loot and dual-wield weapon system. In short, they didn’t want to confuse players with automatic pickups of dual-wielded weapons. They wanted players to retain control over whether or not to dual-wield, and because the ammo was tied to the weapon spawns, the only way to easily accomplish this was to require manual pick up.
“With all this said, I must admit I personally find it appealing that players actually have to perform an action to pick something up just like in real life.”
The key to defeating alternate-timeline Nazis is dual-wielding laser machineguns. That’s just science.
