Paladins: Champions of the Realm

Paladins: Champions of the Realm is a fun and exciting shooter, and we forgive its small hiccups and the reduced variety for the simple fact that it is available for free. Being a hero shooter, it is possible that not everyone might enjoy it. But FPS fans who own a Nintendo Switch do not have many alternatives, and our advice is to download it and try it, even if your not convinced. Who knows, you might love it in the end.

Paladins has its own unique identity and deserves your attention. Hi-Rez studios has crafted a solid online hero shooter with some fun and unique twists on the genre.

Paladins could be amazing, but it’s all a bit too convoluted. As it stands it’s still a great experience, but for casual players who just want a team-based shooter, they may find the list of options a little too long. But it’s fast-paced with solid shooting mechanics and although some of the champions are a little generic, it’s trying, which is more than others can say in the shooting genre.

Paladins fills a fairly significant gap in the Switch’s library, and should hopefully continue to grow as a great multiplayer shooter on the system. Some general bugs and long queue times aside, what’s here is - generally - an excellent experience.

While locking the game behind a £25 Founders Pack might be a little cheeky for a game that’s actually free-to-play, the game itself is an easy sell. As exciting, tense and rewarding as Overwatch, Paladins: Champions of the Realm brings the cross-platform hero shooter to a new platform without sacrificing the moreish gameplay tenants that’s made it such a hit with both gamers and pros. There’s a definitive learning curve for those looking to play competitively, but it’s nonetheless one of the console’s best new multiplayer additions.

The problems of Paladins in Switch are rather technical, because in the rest of its aspects is like the other versions. It’s not the kind of game that one plays waiting for an epic adventure, but an exclusively online game that usually does not have a deep story and simply tries that we play some games to have fun and pass the time.

While Fortnite is deservedly garnering a ton of attention, don’t let Paladins slip past you. It has fun characters, a fair progression system, wildly addictive combat, and a vibrant look that makes each battle a real rush.

Paladins is one of the best free to play games available, and nothing changes that on Nintendo Switch. If you're looking for an online shooter to either take seriously or just play casually, Paladins is a great option that you can take on the go. Only a few technical issues drag it down from being great.

Paladins is a fun shooter, and encourages long-term play with its unlockables and level-up progressions. It loses to Fortnite in the addictiveness stakes, though, and isn't helped by a less-than-seamless matchmaking system.

I would have liked more context to the action, better realised characters, and more involved levels. And, of course, some kind of single player experience. But, for what it is, as a no-frills Overwatch clone, Paladins gets the job done. It’s a game I’ll likely be playing for quite some time to come, because it certainly scratches a very specific itch.

Paladins is a worthy addition to the Switch, but it feels a bit soulless and shallow despite its breadth of heroes.

For now, my recommendation is to hold off purchasing Paladins if you’ve never played it before. Hopefully the stability issues will have been updated in time for the free-to-play release and you’ll be able to give it a try before sinking money into it. If you have some friends to play and develop strategizes with, the experience can be rewarding.