Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for May 2nd, 2022. In today’s article, we’ve got a few reviews for you to read through. Our pal Mikhail has his thoughts on Bugsnax, while I’ve got looks at Zombie Army 4: Dead War, Get Packed: Couch Chaos, and Raven’s Hike. We’ve got a number of new releases to check out, and they’re not too shabby for a Monday bunch. Finally, there are a bunch of sales that rolled in over the weekend. Lots of ways to spend money today if one is inclined. Let’s get to it!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Bugsnax ($24.99)
Bugsnax has had quite the journey from various showings at Sony events to finally arriving for PlayStation and PC. I didn’t play Bugsnax until I got my PS5 a few months after the console launched, and I was glad I waited to do that. While a lot of launch games for consoles can be mediocre, Bugsnax was full of charm and a great example of how developers could do interesting things with the PS5 DualSense controller. Following its debut, Bugsnax has now arrived on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. I was very excited to revisit the game on Switch, and also check out the Isle of Bigsnax content which arrived as a patch for prior versions of the game.
Bugsnax is a very weird game in a good way. It blends cartoony visuals, puzzles, psychological horror, brilliant sound design, and charming characters into an unforgettable package. Whenever I saw Bugsnax trailers or gameplay, I couldn’t really figure out why people kept praising it. When I finally played it on PS5, I ended up posting the word ‘bunger’ quite a bit for a week. We don’t get many games like Bugsnax these days. I don’t mean it in the sense of collecting edible creatures and feeding them to others, but in the sense of a game being unapologetic about what it wants to be.
You arrive on Snacktooth island and are looking for Elizabert Megafig who is nowhere to be found. You interact with people who know here on the island while trying to discover the mysteries hidden alongside tons of species of Bugsnax that you need to capture. Capturing these species of Bugsnax involves different puzzle elements. The tools in your repertoire grow over the course of the game, but you learn the various species’ behavior patterns and discover more about the world which makes it feel more immersive.
If you’ve already played Bugsnax and are just wondering about the Isle of Bigsnax, it is a very good free addition to the main game, but requires you to do side quests to unlock it. The new location is nice and big with large species of Bugsnax that have their own requirements for capturing. This area also has nice lore additions and I enjoyed the puzzles. What I didn’t enjoy was the performance here on Switch. There has been a patch to improve this to some extent, but it isn’t perfect.
The downside is that those who already played Bugsnax on PS4, PS5, or PC have no easy way to directly access the new content on Switch or Xbox. It would’ve been nice to have a way to access the new content directly for those double dipping to play the game on Nintendo’s hybrid system or through Xbox Game Pass.
Going from PS5 to Nintendo Switch in Bugsnax sees quite a few downgrades. Barring resolution and frame rate that are both much lower than PS5, the biggest change that you will notice is the draw distance. The frame rate targeting 30 isn’t a big deal for me given the hardware, but the other issues add to make it feel a lot worse in comparison. Load times are much longer and the draw distance is pretty bad. You will notice things pop-in much closer to you even in some smaller areas. Bugsnax still feels mostly great to play handheld on Switch, with better than expected performance.
Bugsnax was a nice showcase for the PS5 DualSense controller with great use of the controller speaker, adaptive triggers, and haptics. On Switch, it has rumble, but I was hoping to see more rumble implemented to make up for the lack of other controller features. Many games add nice HD rumble feedback when you move around, but Bugsnax doesn’t do as much as I’d hoped in that regard.
While the visual and performance cutbacks are ones I expected going from PS5 to Switch, Bugsnax not making full use of the Switch’s unique hardware capabilities is disappointing. I was hoping we’d get gyro control options or proper HD rumble to try and offer more immersion, but neither are present in this release. You do get the complete game with the Isle of Bigsnax right from the start though. If you already played Bugsnax on another platform, you should stick to that one to experience the new content, but for those who haven’t jumped into Snacktooth Island yet, the Nintendo Switch version of Bugsnax is a fine way to do so. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed putting in more than 20 hours into it on Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite. -Mikhail Madnani
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Zombie Army 4: Dead War ($49.99)
Rebellion keeps on pulling off great Switch ports, and Zombie Army 4: Dead War is another one. The graphics take a bit of a hit and the framerate is half of what it is on more robust consoles, but all told it looks and runs quite well. Play alone or in co-op with friends as you take down hordes of zombies in grotesque fashion with your sniper rifle and other weapons. If you’ve played the Sniper Elite games, it’s that with zombies. If you’ve played Zombie Army Trilogy, it’s that but more. There’s very little unexpected here, and that is totally fine.
If you’ve tried out the previous Sniper or Zombie Army games from Rebellion and bounced off of them, there is likely nothing here that will change your mind. Similarly, if you’ve enjoyed any of those games you will be happy with what you get here. Zombie Army 4: Dead War is more of what Rebellion has shown it knows how to do best: realistic playgrounds filled with plenty of action, stealth, exploration, and thrilling opportunities to exercise the capabilities of your arsenal. A solid port of a very satisfying game.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Get Packed: Couch Chaos ($14.99)
My family and I are always looking for more silly co-op party games in the vein of Overcooked!, and it’s a constant battle to find something that my son doesn’t find boring and my wife doesn’t find too difficult. Get Packed is no Overcooked!, but it’s a very good time all things considered. Very similar to Moving Out, your goal is to go into spaces and try to carry out as many things as possible before time runs out. Each shoulder button acts as the grip for one of your character’s arms, so it’s very easy to understand. You’ll probably cause damage while doing this, which costs you some money and impact your final score. You can bring specially highlighted items for bonus money, which may offset those losses a bit. There are also a bunch of minigames to play once you’ve exhausted the campaign stages.
Indeed, my biggest knock on Get Packed is that there isn’t a whole ton to the campaign. You can wrap it up in a single evening, and unless you’re interested in chasing high scores it’s over all too quickly. The minigames are actually pretty fun and help extend the joy a while longer, but I certainly hope to see more of the core content added via expansions or something in the future. An entertaining game to play with your friends or family, regardless of their level of skill.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
Raven’s Hike ($3.99)
The mechanics of this game could hardly be simpler, but the developers have pulled an enjoyable, challenging romp from them. You’re Raven, and you need to make your way to the exit in each stage. You can’t walk around, and you can’t jump. All you can do is shoot your grappling hook out in the four cardinal directions and cling to the wall. Easy enough in the first stage or two, but those walls start getting spike linings and more hazards start to appear. You’ll have to use expert timing and plenty of mid-air grappling to get very far.
Raven’s Hike plays well, has some great level designs, and manages to feel fresh from start to finish. If you like tricky action games, you should give this one a shot. Just be warned that it doesn’t take long before it starts swinging hard.
SwitchArcade Score: 4/5
New Releases
Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator ($19.99)
We have been seeing some odd takes on familiar gameplay concepts lately. Here’s another one. It’s a trading sim, which is one of the oldest types of games you can imagine. Buy the goods low, sell the goods elsewhere for a high price, and amass a fortune. It’s just that the goods in question are a bit unusual this time around. Not for those with weak stomachs, to be sure. It’s a fairly straightforward take on the concept in the mechanical sense, but there are bits of narrative tissue to hold it all together. Pretty good, though it does fly by a little quickly.
Fly Cat ($3.99)
It’s Flappy Bird, but with a flying cat instead of the bird and some dogs instead of pipes. Tap the button with the right timing and see how long you can survive. Unlock more cats as you go. Not something I would buy, but perhaps you might want it.
Car Parking Simulator ($12.99)
BoomHits, who should not be confused with BoomBit, has a very BoomBit/PixelMob-like game for us today. In spite of the title, you’ll do more than just park cars here. You get ten different vehicles to drive, a bunch of missions to complete, and a decent-sized area to drive around in. This time you’re roaming around some kind of large home center/shopping area, with multilevel parking and lots of buildings. This will probably be on sale for half-price in a month or two.
SOTANO ($4.99)
After taking a shortcut down an old side road to try to get home from the airport a bit quicker, you find yourself out of fuel and options. Like a wise person, you decide to ask if the person living in the big spooky run-down mansion has any extra gas you can use. Bla bla, you wake up in the basement with no obvious way to escape. Your job: escape. Use the items you find to solve puzzles, as one does in this sort of situation. Yes, it’s another escape room game set in a weird old house.
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Some neat stuff in the weekend sales list. All of Atlus’s games along with a few of SEGA’s games are discounted. The highly enjoyable Levelhead hits its lowest price yet. It’s never a bad day to buy Tetris Effect: Connected, and both EA and 2K Games have a number of their games on offer as well. In the outbox, there are a few cool games like Death Road to Canada and Cozy Grove, but it’s mostly the usual suspects. Scan your eyes over both of those lists just to be sure.
Select New Games on Sale
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax ($20.99 from $29.99 until 5/6)
Persona 5 Strikers ($29.99 from $59.99 until 5/6)
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne ($24.99 from $49.99 until 5/6)
Shin Megami Tensei V ($38.99 from $59.99 until 5/6)
Catherine Full Body ($19.99 from $49.99 until 5/6)
Valkyria Chronicles ($7.99 from $19.99 until 5/6)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 ($11.99 from $29.99 until 5/6)
Shining Resonance Refrain ($10.19 from $29.99 until 5/6)
Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania ($25.99 from $39.99 until 5/6)
Sonic Colors Ultimate ($27.99 from $39.99 until 5/6)
Levelhead ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/6)
Crashlands ($9.74 from $14.99 until 5/6)
Hardcore Mecha ($17.49 from $24.99 until 5/6)
Mystic Belle Enchanted ($9.74 from $14.99 until 5/6)
Puyo Puyo Tetris ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/6)
Hatsune Miku PD Mega Mix ($19.69 from $39.39 until 5/6)
Dark Nights with Poe & Munro ($3.89 from $12.99 until 5/8)
WWE 2K18 Deluxe ($26.99 from $89.99 until 5/9)
WWE 2K Battlegrounds Deluxe ($19.99 from $49.99 until 5/9)
XCOM 2 Collection ($9.99 from $49.99 until 5/9)
PGA Tour 2K21 Deluxe ($17.49 from $69.99 until 5/9)
GTA The Trilogy Definitive ($39.99 from $59.99 until 5/9)
L.A. Noire ($24.99 from $49.99 until 5/9)
Sid Meier’s Civ VI Platinum ($14.99 from $49.99 until 5/9)
The Outer Worlds ($23.99 from $59.99 until 5/9)
BioShock Infinite CE ($7.99 from $19.99 until 5/9)
BioShock The Collection ($19.99 from $49.99 until 5/9)
Borderlands Legendary Collection ($19.99 from $49.99 until 5/9)
OlliOlli World Rad Edition ($35.99 from $44.99 until 5/9)
Tetragon ($4.49 from $14.99 until 5/9)
Darkestville Castle ($4.49 from $14.99 until 5/9)
FIFA 22 Legacy Edition ($19.99 from $39.99 until 5/10)
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit ($9.99 from $39.99 until 5/10)
Burnout Paradise Remastered ($9.89 from $29.99 until 5/10)
Unravel Two ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/10)
Plants vs Zombies BfN Complete ($9.99 from $39.99 until 5/10)
Lost in Random ($14.99 from $29.99 until 5/10)
Neon City Riders ($6.99 from $19.99 until 5/10)
ABZU ($6.99 from $19.99 until 5/12)
Lumines Remastered ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/12)
Tetris Effect: Connected ($23.99 from $39.99 until 5/12)
Amnesia: Collection ($4.49 from $29.99 until 5/12)
Last Day of June ($9.99 from $19.99 until 5/12)
Ghostrunner ($11.99 from $29.99 until 5/12)
Bloodstained: RotN ($15.99 from $39.99 until 5/12)
Indivisible ($7.49 from $29.99 until 5/12)
Grow: Song of the Evertree ($16.74 from $24.99 until 5/12)
Book of Demons ($9.99 from $24.99 until 5/12)
Journey to the Savage Planet ($11.99 from $29.99 until 5/12)
Squabble ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/13)
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong ($2.24 from $14.99 until 5/16)
The Swindle ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/16)
TETRA ($8.04 from $11.49 until 5/16)
Assault ChaingunS KM ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/16)
Velocity 2X ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/16)
Pumped BMX Pro ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/16)
Just Die Already ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/16)
Narcos Rise of the Cartels ($4.49 from $29.99 until 5/16)
Peaky Blinders Mastermind ($3.74 from $24.99 until 5/16)
Hotshot Racing ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/16)
Smoke and Sacrifice ($3.99 from $19.99 until 5/16)
The Flame in the Flood ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/16)
Motorsport Manager ($4.49 from $14.99 until 5/16)
Human Fall Flat ($6.79 from $19.99 until 5/16)
Car Driver Ultimate ($8.99 from $13.99 until 5/20)
Pure Chase 80’s ($1.99 from $14.99 until 5/20)
Adventure Field 4 ($4.99 from $9.99 until 5/20)
Train Station Simulator ($2.19 from $21.99 until 5/20)
Clutter 1000 ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Fate of the Pharaoh ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Ghost: Elisa Cameron ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
1912 Titanic Mystery ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
I Love Finding Cats ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
I Love Finding Pups ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Family Vacation: California ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Family Vacation 2 Road Trip ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Mary Kay Andrews Fixer Upper ($2.99 from $9.99 until 5/21)
Airheart Tales of Broken Wings ($2.69 from $17.99 until 5/22)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 3rd
16-Bit Soccer ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
9-Ball Pocket ($2.39 from $5.99 until 5/3)
A Place for the Unwilling ($11.24 from $14.99 until 5/3)
Airfield Mania ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/3)
Birds and Blocks ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
Circa Infinity ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/3)
Cozy Grove ($9.74 from $14.99 until 5/3)
Croc’s World ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
Croc’s World 2 ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/3)
Croc’s World Run ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/3)
Death Road to Canada ($5.99 from $14.99 until 5/3)
Flat Heroes ($6.69 from $9.99 until 5/3)
Fly Punch Boom! ($2.99 from $14.99 until 5/3)
Gibbous A Cthulhu Adventure ($4.99 from $19.99 until 5/3)
Guardian of Lore ($9.79 from $13.99 until 5/3)
GUNGUNGUN ($3.49 from $4.99 until 5/3)
Jewel Fever 2 ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
Jewel Rotation ($1.99 from $5.99 until 5/3)
Jin Conception ($9.00 from $15.00 until 5/3)
Jump King ($6.49 from $12.99 until 5/3)
Old Man’s Journey ($6.69 from $9.99 until 5/3)
One Last Memory ($6.69 from $9.99 until 5/3)
Pacific Wings ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
Pendula Swing: Complete Journey ($1.99 from $9.99 until 5/3)
Pinball FX3 Aliens vs Pinball ($3.99 from $9.99 until 5/3)
Potion Party ($6.99 from $9.99 until 5/3)
Snooker 19 ($12.24 from $34.99 until 5/3)
Syndrome ($4.99 from $24.99 until 5/3)
Ultreia ($1.99 from $12.99 until 5/3)
Under Leaves ($1.99 from $12.99 until 5/3)
Water Balloon Mania ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
Wild Pinball Bundle ($3.59 from $8.99 until 5/3)
WildTrax Racing ($1.99 from $7.99 until 5/3)
X-Force Genesis ($3.50 from $7.00 until 5/3)
Yellow Fins ($1.99 from $4.99 until 5/3)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more reviews, more sales, perhaps some new releases, and maybe even a little news. I hope you all have a magnificent Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!
