Review for Paladins. Game for Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network and Xbox One, the video game was released on 02/05/2017 The version for PC came out on 08/05/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 12/06/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 03/05/2017
Like it or not, Nintendo is changing. Mind you, his is a very slow process, despite this the Japanese "turtle" is heading towards the same path taken by the other two competitors albeit with some reservations. Some consequences of this change can be observed simply by opening the Nintendo Switch eShop and browsing the available titles. Starting from June, among the many software that can be purchased in digital format, there are also Fortnite, Paladins and Pokémon Quest: all free-to-play titles that only a few years ago would have been impossible to see running on Nintendo hardware.
Yet here we are to review Paladins, a title with humble origins that despite the excessive power of Overwatch has still managed to create a loyal circle of fans that extends to all publishing platforms.
In these pages we have already had the opportunity to talk about Paladins, for those who do not yet know him, however, you just need to know that it is, no more, no less than an online multiplayer hero shooter which takes inspiration from great classics of the genre such as Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch. Therefore, it is not a revolutionary product and it tries to reinvent the genre it belongs to, despite this it still manages to entertain the player so much as to keep him glued to the pad for hours. What is the secret of this success then? Well first of all, the team responsible for the project is Hi-Rez Studios, already author of the more than discreet SMITE, after which a constant dialogue with the community of players, a fundamental feature in order to smooth and improve this type of products.
At present, Paladins is based on a class structure divided into four macro categories: i Front Line they have high defense stats and are great for protecting targets and teammates, i damage they have the highest offensive power and at the same time a decent level of agility, the class Support offers heals to teammates while i Flank they have a good attack and a high agility. Within each category there are then more specific roles such as snipers or bombers and this allows players to adopt the style that they consider best suited to their needs and habits.
From the point of view of game modes, we can find the classic team deathmatch, conquer the area, escort the load and, depending on the period, a specific seasonal event. The matches can be both classified and unclassified and Hi-Rez Studios has also made available a simple but effective interface to create customized matches down to the smallest detail. The various modes guarantee a frequent rotation of the maps which, with some rare exceptions, have proved to be of good quality as they also offer a considerable vertical development.
Coming now to the thorniest question, yes, Paladins is a free-to-play even if for now the Nintendo Switch version can only be played after paying € 29.90 to buy the Founder's Pack. What exactly does it contain? Well, all the heroes included so far as well as those that will be added in the future and some cosmetic items. This does not mean that the lootbox and season pass will be absent, but fortunately neither of the two elements is in any way useful to obtain advantages during the matches as they give the possibility to obtain only skins for the characters, voice packs and other purely decorative frills.
Speaking more in detail of the conversion instead, Paladins on Nintendo Switch is truly a half miracle. Although Unreal Engine 3 never officially supported the hybrid console, Hi-Rez Studios was still able to fine-tune it until it reached the 60 frames per second in both dock and undock mode. No content has been cut, the polygon count is identical and it was therefore decided to save mostly on texture quality, resolution and special effects. For the occasion, a dynamic resolution was used, now a practice in many modern titles, which in the case of particularly complex scenes is lowered to continue to guarantee an always fluid and pleasant experience. And the contents? No content was cut: in the first weeks Paladins lacked the event mode, last week the software was updated, however, bringing it perfectly on par with all the other versions. Finally, on the space occupied front, we are around 9 GB, 3 less than the PC version.
From a control point of view, the work done is certainly good and without input lag, however, the aiming control via gyroscope is missing, which would drastically improve users' accuracy. Even the netcode is solid: finding a game is sometimes a matter of seconds, and the title is perfectly playable in both dock and undock mode. In this regard, if you want to play some games while you are not at home it will be sufficient to use the data connection of your mobile phone: even through it the experience remains satisfactory and reactive. To report then the cross play between PC players, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch: a great way to have a high user base and therefore not risk the premature death of the title.
Don't be frightened by the nature of Paladins: even if it is a (future) free to play, the quality shown by the product is quite good not only in the gameplay, but also in the netcode. The version for Nintendo Switch was then converted very well and although not as beautiful as the PC and Xbox One counterparts, it is still pleasant to play thanks to the constant 60 frames per second. In short, even if it is not Overwatch, the creature of Hi-Rez Studios still manages to do very well what every multiplayer title should aim for: entertain!
► Paladins is an RTS-Shooter-Strategy game for Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Network and Xbox One, the video game was released on 02/05/2017 The version for PC came out on 08/05/2018 The version for Nintendo Switch came out on 12/06/2018 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 03/05/2017
