There was once a time when handheld gaming consoles were severely limited when compared to their living room brethren. The idea that a top-tier action game could be ported over to a portable seemed like a laughable dream. Then in 2017, the Nintendo Switch came along and things started to change.
Bethesda has been a powerful driving force in the revolution. First, it stunned gamers by bringing Skyrim to the Switch with a totally respectable port of the gaming epic. It wasn't long after that we saw Doom shamble onto our beloved Nintendo handheld. It now seems as if nearly anything is possible.
The next offering will be Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Released in 2017, Wolfenstein II garnered seemingly endless praise from critics and players alike. If you've never had a chance to play it, you are in for a rip-roaring treat.
All that being said, what exactly do we know about the forthcoming port to Nintendo Switch? Let's take a look.
June 11, 2018: Video of Wolfenstein 2 running on the Switch!
Yesterday we saw some pretty amazing footage of Wolfenstein 2 actually running on the Switch make it out of E3. Thanks to Nintendo World Report we now have visual confirmation of Wolfenstein running on our favorite handheld in the real world.
That right there is more than nine minutes running undocked on the Switch and I have to say that its looking buttery smooth. It seems as if Bethesda is committed to proving that there's nothing the Switch can't do. With a little less than two weeks to go until this baby drops, this sure does help push Wolfenstein 2 to the top of my Switch buy list.
June 5, 2018: Clear your hard drive and get caught up!
In a pre-order listing on the Nintendo UK site, we recently discovered that Wolfenstein 2 is going to be a bit of a hungry hungry hippo when it comes to storage space needed. While your Switch has 32GB of internal storage, it seems that Wolfenstein 2 is going to require "at least 23GB" of space in order to install. So start mentally preparing yourself to delete every other bit of software off of your Switch, or get out and get yourself a nice fresh microSD card.
In other news, Nintendo has released a handy dandy trailer in order to get you all caught up on the backstory of Wolfenstein. It's not required watching, but if you want to get to know the story before release day, this is a great way to do it.
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April 26, 2018: Wolfenstein 2 will be released on June 29, 2018!
If you are one of the folks patiently awaiting the release of Wolfenstein 2, you won't have to wait long. Bethesda recently announced that you will be able to get your Switchy little hands on it June 29.
Who do we have to thank?
As previously stated, Bethesda seems to be responsible for the major push to bring games like Wolfenstein II to the Nintendo Switch. However, they are not alone in this herculean task. It was recently revealed that developer Panic Button would be involved in the Wolfenstein port. Panic Button is the company that helped bring Doom and Rocket League to the Switch. They know a thing or two about fitting massive experiences onto the Switch so I think we can expect a decent port.
How close will it be to the console experience?
If Doom is any indication, then I think we can look forward to an impressive yet imperfect experience. When bringing games of this size to the Switch, there are, invariably, going to have to be some sacrifices made at the altar of processing power. The fact of the matter is that the Switch just doesn't have the muscle that full-sized consoles do. In the case of Doom, this translated to a slight drop in frame rate. In all likelihood, it won't be perfect but it will definitely be fun.
Recently, at PAX East, Bethesda treated fans to about 25 minutes of Wolfenstein 2 running on the Nintendo Switch. It's pretty hard to deny that it looks fantastic and will be a relatively faithful port on an arguably lighter piece of hardware.
If you haven't done it yet, you can rush over to Amazon and pre-order a copy for. $60
We live in a brave new world where it seems that almost anything is possible on a Nintendo Switch. From awesome indies to the porting of titles that we couldn't imagine five years ago, the Nintendo Switch is the little console that can.
Will you be playing Wolfenstein II on your Switch?
Are you going to dive right in and preorder or will you be waiting to see some reviews? Let us know.
Updated June 2018: Added hands-on video of Wolfenstein running on the Switch undocked!
