IronFall Invasion Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

by Jim Smale · December 5, 2024

IronFall Invasion Review, In the campaign mode, you’ll be dropped straight into a raging war against the Dyxide invaders. Battle for the fate of the Earth over 11 action-packed levels! Along the way, you’ll find new weapons and come up against nine ever-fiercer types of enemies.

IronFall Invasion Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
1.9GB Download size.
3 save slots.
Display settings – rendering resolution slider, and brightness slider.
Controller settings – type (right and left-handed option), HD rumble, Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, sniper rifle sensitivity, aim sensitivity, and you can remap the controls.
Cover-based shooter gameplay.
Third-person view.
Opening and ongoing tutorial pop-ups.
Button prompts show.
The cover system is solid, you can stick to the surface and jump from cover to cover easily.
Two game modes – campaign, and multiplayer.
Survivor mode is a seperate game mode in the multiplayer section and is a wave-based survival mode.
Six maps for both multiplayer and Survivor – Depot, Terrace, Power plant, Tanks, LABS, and Lobby.
A full 3D game world with 360-degree camera control.
Six playable characters.
Loadout is one of three light weapons and one of four heavy weapons.
Find health and ammo in the level and it can drop from enemies.
In-game cutscenes and character interactions.
Excellent set pieces.
Online multiplayer has join and create match options.
A betting system is in the game and you can put credits on the line or pass on each game.
Three campaign difficulties – Easy, normal, and hard.
Fast loading times.
The campaign is split up into levels.
Active reload system. (time your reload bar for a fast reload) as used in the Gears Of War franchise.
You can shoot from the hip, aim down sights, and from behind the cover.
Pickups give off a glowing circle.
Earn EXP and level up online.
Fully voiced characters.
The game has a Gears Of War lite feel and that’s not a bad thing.
Click the right stick to change the over-shoulder camera side.
The health works a bit differently in that your heart rate goes up when shooting and in encounters, it goes down when you rest or get out of the situation.
Find new weapons as you play through the campaign.
Weapon selection is a quick access wheel.
Little puzzles are scattered around the world.
New enemy types are rolled out over the time of the campaign and they get cool intros.
Objectives appear and interactive elements are highlighted.
I like how during a level you switch between characters and go from their perspective.
Big boss encounters.

IronFall Invasion Review Cons:

Online is very empty.
The draw of leveling up online is just not there.
You don’t get any aim assistance for hiofore or cover-based shooting.
The timing is not as tight as you would like.
The AI has some stupid pathfinding routes in scenarios.
No grenades or throwables.
Bad checkpointing and you don’t know when you hit one.
Wooden-looking characters with stiff facial expressions.
Set pieces are just that, switches or prompts won’t show until something is resolved like killing all enemies first.
Hit detection is not great and you notice it more with grenade launchers.
Despite the objective markers, they are unclear and sporadic in appearance.
You cannot skip or fast-forward cutscenes and interactions.
The level length and how checkpoints work, it’s not a game great for playing on the go and suits a more at-home approach.
A weird bug with the land mines where it doesn’t recognize you roll over them and instead has a delayed explosion or you get stuck in an animation or the land mine will stay despite blowing up.
Whilst fun the game is very basic, it’s just a run-and-gun cover shooter.
Puzzles are very simple.
The survivor mode is single-player only.
It is generally a slow-paced game.