Multiplayer Video Game, Among Us by InnerSloth LLC

Among us is one of the most surprising games of 2020 mostly because it’s not from 2020 at all in September this year InterSloth’s 2018 multiplayer title experienced a massive surge in popularity.

Among Us

How exactly this game managed to become so well known so fast will always be a mystery to me but it’s one that I will eventually solve as soon as I figure out the imposter but just when it seemed like everyone had played Among us a new version released for the switch. Expanding its reach even further as the first version of the game on a console. Although it does share the same five-dollar price as on pc rather than the free version available on mobile after spending hours playing among us on the switch.

I can safely say that its simple premise and complex social scenarios are just as exciting as they’ve ever been and the handy new control options are a welcome treat however this port also serves to highlight many of the improvements that would make the game a better experience. Overall among us is a multiplayer game between 4-10 people you play it either online or locally as long as everyone has their own device.

Among Us game features

The game features simple colorful graphics and there are three maps you can play on with one more on the way the premise seems simple. Each player works to complete largely mindless tasks scattered about a spaceship. However, there is also at least one imposter, or as the website describes a parasitic shapeshifter on board whose objective is to sneakily kill everyone before they can finish their tasks. The imposter can sneak through vents leading to some seriously satisfying stealth kills and even sabotage systems around the map forcing crewmates to drop what they’re doing and head to a particular room.

Thus controlling the flow of traffic and strategically putting the pieces in place, playing as the imposter requires you to think differently you have to be hyper-aware of your actions making sure no one sees. You jump in and out of events or when you go in for the kill otherwise you’ll be the prime suspect. Although it’s not necessarily game over if that happens as there can be up to three imposters working together leading to even more complex scenarios such as if one imposter throws their teammate under the bus and that’s where the real brilliance of this game comes in because during gameplay no one can talk to each other at all.

At least until a body is reported then the surviving crew must debate the situation before voting on who they think the imposter has pointed the finger at the right person. The impostor is immediately ejected into the cold vacuum of space and the crew wins but guesses wrong. You’ll be down another crewmate as they get ejected instead of everyone else returning to work including the imposter until another body is found. Among us, the game is all about observation and trying to determine the truth from a lie as you poke holes in your friend’s stories or desperately try to cover for your own.

It’s the type of game that will ruin then rebuild and then proceed to destroy friendships you can even try to frame others by falsely accusing innocent bystanders to throw them off your trail but in case they turn the tables on you. You better have an argument ready to convince others why they are lying about you being the killer and best of all it is still absolutely thrilling on Nintendo Switch and that is probably because it’s nearly identical to its mobile and pc counterparts boasting.

Among Us gameplay & controls

The same gameplay distinctive art style and even menu layout and thanks to cross-platform play I can enjoy the game with anyone online regardless of which platform they’re using whether it be switch pc or mobile using a standard controller did feel a bit strange at first compared to the keyboard and mouse controls that I was used to but the gameplay is simple and easy to familiarize with even for a first-timer to be the difference between using a keyboard and mouse and a joystick was unnoticeable.

When walking around the ship but it became obvious when I started completing tasks certain tasks in particular just feel more tedious and sluggish with a joystick rather than a mouse but thankfully that’s where the new control options come in handy each taking advantage of the switch’s hardware first is touchscreen support which is compatible with all tasks and makes a select few especially more efficient such as the wires and key cards. However, because you only use the touchscreen in short bursts I found it unnatural to lift my hand from the buttons just for a quick input sacrificing.

My grip on the device was an unnecessary trade-off for the few seconds that I might gain the next addition is gyro controls which allow for more precision in certain tasks as with touchscreen support. I had to remind myself to use this function however, in this case, it made completing tasks far more efficient and downright enjoyable blasting asteroids feels exciting and engaging using gyro whereas with button presses it feels slow.

Although gyro controls are only available in docked or tabletop mode which is strange considering they would work just as well in handheld the last addition is rumble which is mostly atmospheric. When passing certain machinery on the map your controller will vibrate to coincide with the environment that said it actually took a while for me to figure that out. As I found myself repeatedly confused as to why my joy-con was rumbling since it didn’t seem directly connected to anything and more often than not it took me out of the experience rather than enhancing it.

However, rumble does improve one task in particular on the polis map where your controller vibrates harder the closer you get to spotting an object through a telescope unlike other cases of the rumble in the game. This one felt naturally incorporated one of the biggest shortcomings among us across all platforms is the lack of native voice chat since communicating with others is essential to making the game work while there is a built-in text chat feature, which you are forced to use in public games.

It’s not the same as communicating verbally even on pc and mobile where it is easier to type relatively fast and on the switch, it’s even worse the conversation could completely change before you finish typing. Your thoughts as not only does it take forever to type on the switch but the virtual keyboard pretty much blocks the entire view this means you can’t read what others are saying as you write and you might miss essential information.

Now you could plug in a USB keyboard or use the touchscreen to type faster but the virtual keyboard still blocks the screen regardless and the entire process still feels clumsy as a result many have turned to third-party apps like discord, which is still the best way to play with friends and makes the experience more fun, unfortunately, that is something that’s a bit trickier on the switch. As it requires a second device like a phone or a pc though that might also have its benefits too making it easier to mute yourself or others when needed during gameplay in lieu of voice chat a better text interface would be much appreciated.

A quick chat feature which is a list of pre-made messages that you can customize and send for example blank was sus I saw them leave blank before the body was reported simple options like these would make sending chat messages far more efficient on the switch. In the end, this issue revolves around the game as a whole rather than the switch port in particular. The lack of a built-in voice chat is a huge bummer for a game that relies solely on social interaction and we can only hope it will properly be built in one day.

So that it can actually mute and unmute players before and after meetings which would be brilliant but for now discord will have to do or god forbid the built-in text chat one feature missing entirely from the switch version is a cosmetics shop which has admittedly always been a bit confusing. When it comes to the game on pc and mobile on pc you automatically own various hats and outfits from the start and can purchase pets through microtransactions on mobile.

You only have some hat options from the get-go however you can purchase from a wider variety of pets and outfits the Switch version starts you with the same base cosmetics as mobile except there is no shop. Meaning right now it appears there is no way to purchase pets or outfits on the switch. Hopefully, this will be added soon but considering it shares the same five-dollar price as the pc version it feels odd that the base content is not the same performance wise the online experience ran well.

What is among us and why is it so popular?

Once I was in a game with no noticeable lag but getting into a game or at least a public one was an issue for me as for minutes on end I received error messages telling me each match was full only after multiple refreshes was. I finally able to join a room this is likely a side effect of the game’s popularity but hopefully, a better matchmaking option will eventually be implemented but even once I got in I had to cross my fingers.

As there’s no way to know the rules of a match until you join you see among us has a variety of customizable settings many of which completely change, how players think and strategize for example toggling confirm ejects will hide. Whether or not the person you ejected was an imposter raising the stakes as no one knows how many impostors are left in my case I joined five matches in a row that had player movements set to 175 percent while moving fast is certainly fun.

It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for so I had to continuously leave matches and try again I also encountered a strange glitch that seems exclusive to this version where I was unable to cast a vote if a meeting was called. While I was in the event as an imposter thankfully I found a workaround by pausing and unpausing the game but hopefully, this will be patched in the near future.

Overall Among us on Switch retains everything that’s so wonderful about this thrilling multiplayer party game practically everything from the pc and mobile version is here. The only major differences being the lack of cosmetic purchases and the annoying on-screen keyboard and while the new gameplay options such as gyro controls and touchscreen support might not go a long way.

They certainly take creative advantage of the switch’s hardware, however, playing Among us on the Switch also makes some of the game’s bigger issues even more obvious notably the lack of a native voice chat system. Among us with friends and voice chat is by far the ideal way to play and while we can do that with third-party applications like discord a built-in voice chat functionality would go a long way and the fact that the switch requires a second device to communicate with your friends.

Like a phone or pc makes this all the more apparent despite that Among us provides a truly unique experience fooling your friends is thrilling and likewise working together to solve. The mystery of knowing that someone in your group is behind it all is just as exhilarating the switch version might not change much in the grand scheme of things but I am so glad this game is reaching a new audience and for that reason, I liked Among us on switch a lot.

Reference: YouTube