Nintendo Switch ‘Among Us’ review: worse than PC and phone apps

• “Among Us”, a mobster-style RPG from InnerSloth, has managed to become one of the most popular games of 2020.
• “Among Us” debuted on the Nintendo Switch, marking the game’s debut on consoles.
• Pairing “Among Us” with the fastest selling console of this generation seems like a perfect match; unfortunately, that is not the case.
• The Nintendo Switch port of “Among Us” is a distinctly inferior version of the game, worse than the PC and app versions.
• Visit the Insider home page for more stories.

It’s surprising to think that in just a few months, “Among Us” has gone from being a dark party game about beans in space to one of the biggest hits in years. Blame it on the pandemic, the elections, or whatever you want, but it turns out that people love to stab their friends in the back and then shove their friends. other friends out of the airlocks.

“Among Us” debuted as a free app on iPhone and Android devices in early 2018, and a paid version for Windows PC followed shortly after. This has made the game accessible not only to gamers, but also to Twitch streamers, who have turned the game into a viral monster.

But even with that audience, the game’s PC and smartphone exclusivity has still locked a sizable number of potential players. It was only a matter of time before the title hit the other side of the gaming pond: consoles.

Although PlayStation and Xbox gamers are still waiting for “Among Us” to come to their devices, Nintendo Switch players had a chance to start playing earlier this month.

At first glance, “Among Us” and Switch seem like an obvious pairing. Not only does the Switch give you a variety of control options, as well as the opportunity to play it on a big-screen TV, but the Switch has a massive player base – nearly 70 million units sold and counting. It is one of the best-selling consoles of all time and the best-selling console of the generation. By almost all metrics, the Switch appears to be the best for another megahit.

However, sadly, this is not the case. Although “Among Us” is currently the best-selling digital download title on Switch, this is entirely due to the game’s past popularity. The truth is that the Nintendo Switch version of “Among Us” is not that great at all.

Players will notice flaws immediately when they try to join a game

When you launch “Among Us” on the Switch for the first time, you will be greeted by the same minimalist title screen and the same server list found in the PC and smartphone versions. But even here, the game shows its flaws.

In the time I spent playing the server list repeatedly showed me games on each map except the one I selected. It’s also more difficult to get into a game before it fills up because selecting a server with the joystick takes more time than simply clicking or tapping it. The game also has a weird quirk where you can’t scroll the servers with the joystick – if you go too far down the list, you just start highlighting the things you can’t see on the screen.

Of course, the server screen is only a small part of “Among Us”. What about the tasks, the many mini-games that take up most of your time in the game?

The Switch’s controls make some tasks in the game more enjoyable, while others fail miserably.

Homework is a mixed bag. Some, like using the telescope or cleaning the blades, work amazingly. The vibration functions built into Nintendo Switch controllers give many tasks a satisfying tactile response. Even after almost a dozen times doing it, I still enjoy the strong vibration that comes with throwing garbage down the airlock.

Playing in docked mode also gives you access to motion controls, which are useful for destroying asteroids or sorting fossils. One-click tasks can be completed faster than ever with a simple press of the A button. And some tasks, such as entering codes or connecting cables, can be accomplished quickly using the Switch’s touchscreen.

But the touchscreen can only be used by taking the Switch out of its dock and playing in handheld mode. This means that if you want to enjoy the game on a bigger screen, you will have to endure many tasks for which the gamepad controls do not work well.

Connecting cables means selecting each cable individually with the left joystick and then slowly dragging them with the right joystick, which is tedious. Selecting numbers or buttons to enter codes is time consuming. And if you thought that swiping the security cards was annoying with the mouse, wait until you’ve tried to do it by turning a joystick at the exact speed.

However, the gamepad controls help in other ways. Being able to open your map at any time by just holding down the L button is much better than having to press Tab or tap an icon. And walking with a joystick is naturally easy.

Chatting is frustrating, which ruins the best feature of the game.

The most celebrated feature of “Among Us” has always been its fast-paced, tension-filled “Emergency Meetings.” If you’ve been charged with murder, the key is to give yourself an alibi as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, chatting on Nintendo Switch doesn’t work at all. When you touch the text box to start typing, a keyboard appears that covers the entire screen; You can’t see what others are saying until you’ve finished typing. This stops all the conversations as players ask the same questions over and over again, not knowing that they are all repeating each other.

This could be fine if the Switch makes writing easier. But unless you’ve plugged a USB keyboard into your console, you’ll be typing using the Switch’s on-screen keyboard, one of the clumsiest interfaces out there.

Depending on how you play, you can type in three ways: using the joystick to select letters, which is slow; the use of motion controls, which is imprecise and careless; or using the touch screen, which is awkward.

Yes, playing on a smartphone means that you will also have to type with a touch screen. But unlike my iPhone, I’m not at all used to writing on the Switch’s screen, which is a bit too big for my thumbs to comfortably reach.

And since “Among Us” is a cross-play game, which means you can play with friends who have the PC or smartphone version of the game, this puts you at an immediate disadvantage. Not being able to write, accuse, or defend yourself as quickly as others will mean that you will always be drowned out in conversation.

You also can’t turn off chat censorship like you can in other versions. And for whatever reason the censor sometimes also blocks real place names in the game, like below where it had trouble because I typed the word “Administrator”.

If you want to play the Switch version and type quickly and freely, you will have to buy a USB keyboard or use a Discord chat. And at that point, why not play the PC version?

The bottom line: stick to the smartphone app or PC version

“Among Us” can be an incredibly fun game, and if you play with friends, the Switch version still has some of that magic. I can imagine that if you spend a good amount of time playing games, you will eventually get used to the quirks of the Switch port.

But it is less portable than the smartphone app and less intuitive than the PC version. Ultimately, while the game’s most devoted fans will love having a new way to play, there’s no denying that the Switch port of “Among Us” is worse than any other version.