Crysis Remastered on Nintendo Switch is much more fun than the numbers suggest

Crysis Remastered has been released on Nintendo Switch, despite the PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One versions having been delayed based on negative fan reactions to leaked footage. So how does the game play on the least powerful hardware of the current generation?

Having spent a few hours with the game — code was only sent out last night — I’m impressed with how good this port looks and how much fun the game remains in 2020. The lighting effects in particular, and an impressively wide color palette, help the game stand out in comparison to other first-person shooters on Switch.

The numbers themselves tell the story of what you can expect. Crysis Remastered adjusts its resolution on the fly to try to keep the game running as close to 30 frames per second as possible, running at between 400p and 720p in portable mode, and 540p to 900p in docked mode, according to Digital Foundry.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WRBwVAy03O8%3Frel%3D0

That doesn’t mean Crytek was successful at locking in that frame rate, though, as the game often drops frames during busy action scenes, or hitches as it tries to keep up with environmental destruction. That means that, in the worst-case scenario, in portable mode, you might be playing a game that briefly has a resolution of 400p while only running at around 20 fps.

But those numbers aren’t everything. The resolution can turn the jungle into mush from time to time, but Crysis Remastered on Switch runs closer to the high end of those values the vast majority of the time. I was sometimes a little annoyed at the frame rate drops and blurry environment, but those moments punctuated much longer sections of play where I was happily hunting my enemies and exploring the world.

There were also multiple moments, even in my limited playing time, where the lighting effects and destructible environments all lined up in a way that was almost stunning to see on the portable.

Crysis Remastered on Switch is a great time, even in portable mode, although investing in a set of these is probably a good idea if you have hands that cramp up playing first-person shooters on Nintendo’s hardware.

Crysis has always been a story-based game with levels that offer multiple ways to get where you’re going, and the variety of tactical options offered by your character’s nanosuit give you even more choices about how you’d like to get things done. I enjoyed returning to this world a lot more than I expected, even when playing what’s sure to be the least visually impressive version of the remaster.

This port isn’t perfect, but no one expected it to be. It delivers what actually matters, though: It’s playable, it’s fun, and it looks pretty damn great compared to other, similar games on Switch.

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