Switchblade is a vehicle-based MOBA where you can choose two of the many varieties of vehicles available and battle your way, alongside your 4 other teammates, to ultimately destroy your opponent's core with the help of your robot creeps. Despite featuring fun abilities and well-designed vehicles, the game still feels a bit generic which isn't too much of an issue for a MOBA - The most popular MOBAs are generally similar to one another, after all!
As amazing as Switchblade is, it unfortunately fell into the black hole that engulfs many an indie MMO - the lack of players. Even though the game is now free-to-play, its player base is still unfortunately low... to the point where it's almost impossible to get a match of 10 human players. After playing several rounds, the most I got was 3 human players, including yours truly.
Of course, there's also the issue of not having more maps to play - I only see one - and the fact that spenders (players who pay for a battle pass) can get a premium vehicle that may or may not be OP.
[h1]Watch me play![/h1]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utjCExyBSpM
- I haven't played a proper MOBA game in quite a while so please pardon me for the newb moves in my earlier matches. I'd like to think that I did better in the subsequent rounds though :)
So, the TL;DR?
[h1]Pros[/h1]
+ Many variety of vehicles to drive, each with their own sets of unique abilities, including a "Super" ability. The game mentioned something about a F2P vehicle rotation but from what I can see, you can access all of the vehicles from the get-go.
+ Astounding graphics with cool visual and audio effects. Love the vehicle designs as well.
+ Respawn rate seems perfectly balanced. After spending the cash I've earned, I never had to wait more than 15 seconds to jump right into battle again.
+ The AIs in the game can be pretty competent players at times. I lost count how many times all five of them managed to catch me off guard as I was trying to push a lane.
+ Character customization, for those who enjoy this kind of thing.
+ Fun Fortnite-like emotes. Check out the taunts: [url=https://youtu.be/utjCExyBSpM?t=153]@2:33[/url]
[h1]Cons[/h1]
- Lack of players. You'll probably end up playing with one or two players (most of which are either very high level or very low level; a.k.a. new players like you!) plus a bunch of AIs. Depending on your luck, the AI you get might be a noob; or it may not be.
- Movement controls seem a bit wonky at times. I had some trouble trying to swivel my vehicle around so that it's front is actually facing the front, but thankfully the guns that your vehicle has can be turned 360-degrees so you can still shoot while escaping from the enemy.
- Only 1 map. Could use more maps
- Not sure if this is a con since I can't tell if the Angel is OP or not, but the game seem to offer premium vehicle, in addition to cosmetics, that are only provided to battle pass owners, essentially subscribers.
[h1]Overall[/h1]
Switchblade is truly an entertaining vehicle-based MOBA game to play. It's somewhat similar to Heavy Metal Machines, except that this game is played in the third-person rather than top-down. The theme of these two games are very obviously different as well, and personally, I like Switchblade's theme a lot better. However, as an MMO, it's all about having enough players to play and this game unfortunately doesn't have enough. Maybe it's because the game's currently in early access and is not fully launched yet, but they definitely need to ramp up their marketing efforts to draw more potential players to the game in order to keep it alive.
If you do decide to play the game, make sure to bring along a couple of your MOBA-loving friends too! Your games would me a lot more enjoyable and you'll be helping the game stay around a bit longer.
[h1]Side Note[/h1]
[quote]If you like this review and would like to follow me for more, please feel free to drop by my curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33780629-The-Midcore-Gamer/[/quote]
