Chernobylite Complete Edition review for Nintendo Switch

As I play Chernobylite on the Switch, I can’t help but shake the feeling that it sort of reminds me of the PlayStation Vita during the latter half of its lifespan. Obviously, the Vita had all kinds of issues, but one of the bigger ones was that while it had improbably become a magnet for indie games, at a certain point the handheld was no longer powerful enough to run a lot of them.

So it is with Chernobylite on the Switch. While the team porting the game over to Nintendo’s hybrid console clearly put a lot of work into making their game work on the Switch, it’s definitely straining to do so. The visuals look lousy for the most part, all blurry and unfocused. The environments pop in and out of existence as you move. The loading screens take forever, to the point that it feels like the game has frozen every time one pops up. It’s not like we need another reminder that the Switch is nearly 8-years-old at this point, but if you’re looking for an example of why a more powerful successor would be welcome, you’ll find another one here.

Chernobylite’s other issue, however, is one that the Vita would’ve killed to have: it faces stiff competition from games that aren’t hugely different from it. Not only have Switch owners been able to play both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light on it for years now, less than two months ago they also got access to the three games in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series when S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy arrived in October. While there are obviously differences in terms of gameplay between Chernobylite and those two games, when you get down to it we’re talking about shooters set in a post-apocalyptic Russian/Eastern Europe wasteland. It’s not not to compare Chernobylite to those other games, and I’m not sure it’s a comparison that does any favours to Chernobylite.

That’s kind of a shame, because, taken in isolation, I could see there being a good argument for Chernobylite. It’s got a gloriously spooky atmosphere, having pulled extensively from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to create a world that feels isolated and creepy. Even more importantly, the game also tries to do something interesting with its gameplay, adding in a healthy dose of base-building to supplement your forays into the irradiated cityscapes. It’s similar enough to the Metro games that you can’t help but notice the similarities between those games and this one, but Chernobylite deserves credit for at least trying to be different.

But it’s not so different from the competition that it can be mentioned in a separate breath from those other games. Fairly or unfairly, Chernobylite lives in the shadow of Metro and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and there’s not much in this Complete Edition port that helps it get out from under the legacies of those series.

Untold Tales provided us with a Chernobylite Complete Edition Nintendo Switch code for review purposes.