Total Chaos from Apogee Entertainment and Trigger Happy Interactive on Nintendo Switch 2 is a powerful horror experience, taking inspiration from horror classics and pushing the survival horror genre forward.
Playing through the game’s initial three chapters, I have much to say about the terrifying adventure out now on Nintendo Switch 2.
Update (4/29/26): The publisher released an update addressing my performance concerns. This impressions piece has been updated to reflect the Day One Patch.
Silent Shores – Premise/Story
The game opens with the player character, named Tyler, sailing to Fort Oasis to look for a missing person. Arriving on the island, it’s clear something went very wrong. Guided by a mysterious voice coming from his radio, he ventures deeper into the madness of the island.
To say I was on edge during my play time would be an understatement. Studying the world around Tyler, picking up on the deeper narrative with journal logs and audio diaries, had me piecing it together.
Silent Haunts – Exploration Gameplay
Total Chaos’ gameplay involves exploring dangerous areas while managing your resources and interacting with objects in the game world. Pressing switches, looking around for key items (keys, fuses, etc), and paying attention to the world around you
Overall, the solutions to the game’s puzzles are clear to the player, and it’s a matter of perception and using mastery of the level design to progress.
Sanity Mechanic
This comes into effect with the game’s ‘Sanity’ mechanic, where the more Tyler loses his mind, the more the level wraps.
It can be the only way to progress forward, making balancing your literal sanity key to moving forward in some sections of the game. Restoring sanity is simple. It’s done through players finding savepoints and activating them.
The Right Tool for the Job – Crafting and Item Management
A cornerstone aspect of Total Chaos is how the title pushes players to collect and use everything to move forward. From basic healing items with no negative side effects, some items that have positives and drawbacks, and various weapons to discover, there’s always something worth finding.
Using items effectively, however, is leveraging the game’s deep crafting system. By collecting blueprints throughout each chapter, Tyler can create powerful healing items and melee weapons to combat the insanity around him.
Nail Biting – Combat System
Speaking of powerful melee weapons, Total Chaos has a great combat system. It invokes memories of Condemned: Criminal Origins, with Tyler able to use heavy attacks (ZL), light attacks (ZR), dash (A), and block/parry (B). This is linked to the game’s stamina system, which tied all of Tyler’s actions.
Balancing when to use more powerful weapons (like a spiked pipe) and speedy weapons (like a knife) is key to victory. Other items, like throwable brikes or guns, can be used in combat as well. Though guns specifically are used for major moments.
Haunting Encounters – A Boss Highlight
A highlight was in Chapter 3, where I had to use an SMG Rifle to take down two powerful monsters. However, the journey in finding that firearm made it all the more worthwhile.
That being said, shooting is loose and doesn’t feel as polished as the melee combat. Despite that, the combat system works great and adds to the horror experience.
Primed Perspectives – Controls on Switch 2
With the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Total Chaos, the game leverages the console’s mouse mode controls. You can use the right Joy-Con to have precise aiming, making it feel closer to the PC version of the game.
While I used the mode for a short while, similar to my issues with Mouse Mode in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, the small size of the right Joy-Con, combined with major buttons harder to reach when in Mouse Mode (inventory, dodging/blocking, etc), makes it a novelty more than anything.
Portable Seas – Presentation/Performance
Alongside the inclusion of Mouse Mode support, Total Chaos on Switch 2 looks great on the handheld hybrid. Playing the horror experience in portable mode, the console’s large 1080p screen and good contrast made every trek through the darkness tense.
A particular highlight is the game’s outstanding sound design. Playing with both headphones and the Switch 2’s impressive speakers, I felt tense from the nightmarish roars, the uneasy winds, and other atmospheric audio elements.
Impressively, the game has an unlocked frame rate, doing its best to reach 60 FPS at 720p in portable mode, featuring a similar target in Docked Mode (though at 1080p). Some areas manage to reach that 60 FPS target, but in more open areas and when a swarm of monsters is on screen, the frame rate drops.
It’s more than playable, but an option to cap the frame rate at 30 FPS would’ve been a welcome inclusion. Thankfully, a Day One patch is out as of this writing, adding in a Quality (30 FPS) and Performance (Unlocked 60 FPS) options.
Accessibility Options
Regarding Total Chaos’ accessibility options, the game does feature a ‘Tourist’ mode. This allows players to play the experience with many of the game’s more nuanced mechanics (hunger, bleeding, and weapon durability) turned on or off.
For those genuinely struggling through the more challenging encounters, this is a welcome inclusion. But if you want something more challenging but fair, you can select a chapter with a gear loadout (having the most or the least items).
Closing Thoughts on Total Chaos
Overall, I walk away from my initial hours of Total Chaos horrified, but in the best way possible. It’s a scary game that balances Silent Hill and Condemned’s horror, all while being horrifying in its own special way. The idea that this was originally a Doom II conversion is astounding, given how in-depth and fleshed out so much of the experience is.
You can play Total Chaos on Nintendo Switch 2 today! The game is also out on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG).
The publisher provided a code for this impressions editoral.
