Apex Legends Switch Review
Apex Legends season 8 is well underway, meaning a new Battle Pass, a new character (Fuse), and major map changes have taken place in recent weeks. With all these additions, Apex Legends set a Steam record for players, making season 8 one of the most popular to date. Of course, it’s been popular for quite some time, and that’s probably why Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment have repeatedly mentioned ports. Now, with help from Panic Button, Apex Legends has landed on Switch. Since Apex Legends is a free-to-play game on major platforms, many of those interested in it have probably tried it before, and that’s if they don’t play it regularly. The Nintendo Switch may open doors to a new audience, but many gamers will also be checking it out on a new platform. Veteran players have little incentive to switch from their primary platform: Apex Legends doesn’t support cross-progression. In other words, players who have spent time and money leveling up Battle Passes, earning cosmetics, and tricking out their guns will have to start all over, while new players will be stuck with one disadvantage: cross-play with those on other platforms or sit. difficult matchmaking. In Apex Legends, players choose a character and can drop into one of three maps to find loot, battle, and try to be the last team standing. Battles can last up to 20 minutes depending on how the battles go, and there’s a solid selection of guns to choose from as well. Trying to learn the Apex Legends season 8 meta, while working on different character abilities, and working together as a team to get the win are all key aspects of the game.
In fact, it’s clear why Apex Legends has survived and even thrived in the highly competitive Battle Royale space. It’s a combination of many things that the game has innovated and perfected (and continues to support), and while the character’s abilities, the customization options, and everything that attracts players to it are exists on the Switch, it does a much, much. worse condition. There are two ways to play Apex Legends on Switch: docked and handheld. When in docked mode, the game is passable but suffers greatly in the graphics department. Everything in the background or distance runs together, the browns of Kings Canyon are muddy in the worst way, and the characters look like shapeless figures. Kings Canyon is always a beautiful location, but the Switch can’t run it with graphics anywhere near capable of capturing the rugged landscape. Overall, the game has its own kind of art style that isn’t too classy or cartoony, but on Switch, it doesn’t get the same unique quality.
Going from Apex Legends on PS5/Xbox Series X to Switch is almost like going from a new 2021 car to a 1980s jalopy. This port doesn’t really feel like the game as a result, in many cases it feels like a more dumbed-down experience. That doesn’t mean it feels simpler, which wouldn’t be bad, but it’s less intuitive. The graphics are a major concern, but the technical elements make even the bad seem worse. Rendering distance hurts the game, as certain assets won’t load until they’re in front of players. It is entirely possible to approach a building in the game and not have the building fully rendered until the player is on top of it. This becomes a problem when dropping into an Apex Legends map, as these assets load slowly, and it’s quite possible to crash near an enemy without knowing what’s actually there. Many times, the place is not fully rendered until landing, and only then and only then is it recognized that there is another person there too. As bad as it is, fighting makes everything worse. Frame rates drop when fighting on Switch. Enemies will move like Tetris blocks on the screen, while the controls seem to snap. It becomes a game of who can shoot accurately first, as it is very tight on all ends. in handheld mode. To be fair, there is little reason to play this mode as it requires a solid internet connection. Which almost immediately de-incentivizes anyone trying to play it on the go.
However, in the comfort of a home, some may want to kick back, throw up their feet, and play on the Switch, but it’s not really recommended. The frame rate issues are more present, and the graphics are even worse. While the Switch has some serious issues when docked, the graphics in handheld mode make all the characters and items difficult to see. Strangely, there was also a lot of blur in characters and menu items, where things with the same color weren’t really distinct. Perhaps the worst aspect of playing Apex Legends out of the dock is how the UI gets mushed down (as seen above) to accommodate the smaller screen. In docked mode, the UI is very similar to the standard game UI, but the handheld versions have to do something with all this necessary information. It’s not perfect, maybe it’s even inevitable, but combine the UI with all the stutters, hiccups, and more than come in this mode, it’s best to stay playing with the Switch docked. Finally, with some serious Apex Legends patches, it seems the Switch version isn’t necessarily a bad way to play the game. If it could get the technical aspects to a more operational level, it would at least be an alternative option. However, based on what was shown at launch, it seems likely that the port will always be the worst way to play Respawn Entertainment’s popular BR. Apex Legends is now available for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. MORE: Apex Legends: How to Use Fuse