Review: Earthfall: Alien Horde (Nintendo Switch)

Earthfall is a co-operative shooter for up to four players. Using team-based tactics to fortify holdouts and complete objectives, players must work together to survive.

Pros:

• Nice graphics.
• 9gb download size.
• Touchscreen support.
• Local wireless Co-op mode.
• Fov slider.
• Gamma slider and correction.
• Settings-toggle crouch/ads/sensitivity.
• Six controllers preset with invert axis, sensitivity sliders, aim assist, auto center, and vibration.
• Four difficulties- Easy, Regular, Intense and overwhelming.
• Can set AI bot skill in solo mode.
• Four default characters- Maya, Roy, Danny, and Jonas.
• FPS survival gameplay that is a love letter to the Left for Dead series.
• Many alien enemy types like ones that grab you, Pounce on you or attract more aliens.
• Can heal yourself and others.
• Weapons- Handguns, Akimbo, a Fire ax, Grenades, Shotguns, Assault rifle, and sniper. Guns are very modern looking and have attachments like sights.
• Portable barricades- Drop them in doorways or anywhere else actually. They are cool as the stop enemies but also open and close for your team.
• Events in the game like alarms that trigger when you are doing something where swarms appear.
• Ok gunplay, Has ADS and a cool feature where the crosshair adds a cross when looking at an enemy.
• Same missions set up as Left for Dead. Pick an overall campaign than one of the handful of missions within them. You can play them in any order.
• End of level performance rank and breakdown with medals doled out for excellence.
• Clear on-screen icons and markers.
• Online game- Quickplay, Host with private options and a host search.
• Set pieces add tension and teamwork.
• Quick to get into.
• A lot of fun to play.
• Just as fun in solo as it is in mp.
• Drop-in/out co-op.
• Deep building mechanic with trap placements. You can have them work in tandem or to herd enemies.
• Levels are big and have multiple routes and secrets.
• Very simple controls.
• In-game players both AI and human call out supplies and enemy locations.
• Refreshing sci-fi spin on the genre.
• Can print weapons at terminals.
• Missions are varied.
• Tons of replay values.

Cons:

• Loading times.
• Slowdown.
• Few weird looking textures.
• Feedback on damage is limited.
• Some poor level design with many dead ends and endless loops.
• A few guns feel useless.
• AI can be dumb and leave you alone or not do key objectives.
• Difficulty spikes out of nowhere.
• Lore is an unlock as opposed to being part of the story.
• Characters are all just generic characters with defining characteristics or abilities or even a decent story.
• No tutorial.
• No way to really deal with AFK and griefers online.
• Online was having a few lag issues.