As a competitive-ish Call of Duty player, I prefer to be on PC. Glorious frame rates and upgraded accessories definitely make life easier. However, taking the game with you becomes a pain. Sure, a laptop would work, but it’s still not as portable as recent devices like the Nintendo Switch 2. Now that the franchise has arrived again on the console – the first game on a Nintendo platform since Call of Duty: Ghosts on the Wii U – it’s time to see if my time is worth investing here. It hasn’t taken long to find the Switch 2 an okay place to play, assuming you’re alright with quite a few compromises.
If you wondered whether the game itself is worth the cost, let me assure you it is. Featuring world-class gunplay, an epic campaign, fun multiplayer, and an awesome DMZ mode, this Call of Duty is the full package. I summarized my 87/100 review like this: “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 boasts the series most well-rounded experience. Excellent outings for campaign, multiplayer, and the outstanding DMZ mode come together to make for a strong Modern Warfare entry, and possibly the best of the reboot series. Infinity Ward has found their magic again – this is how you evolve a long-running franchise.” You can read more about that below in the bookmarked review.
David Burdette
What you’re here for is to find out how it runs on the Nintendo Switch 2, and I was as curious as you. While I played it during the beta, and it was simply fine, I wanted to know if there was time for improvement between then and the release. After all, a month isn’t a long time to buff out actual technical problems, although I didn’t really find any in my beta time.
Performance-wise, Modern Warfare 4 is solid on the Switch 2. Frame rates stick around 30FPS in the campaign and DMZ, with multiplayer targeting 60FPS. As per usual, gunfights add to the chaos of performance, which can cause dips. The 30FPS lock is felt most during DMZ, as the open-world setting and need to keep your head on a swivel exacerbate the stiff movement. As someone who plays on PC, this is a definite downgrade specifically in this mode. You feel the limitation the least in campaign, as the spaces are largely linear and the nature of the gameplay doesn’t fight against you.
One limitation I accidentally discovered in the campaign is HDR. You’d think this feature would benefit the Switch 2, especially given the screen supports it. With the heavy amounts of darkness in certain levels, I could barely see enough to know where I was going or even see my character, both in handheld and docked mode. It took turning HDR off to finally clean things up. I’d probably leave it off at this point; I doubt whatever extra color provided is worth it.
There have been many liberties taken with the textures to make this game run on the Switch 2. The best comparison I can think of is if you were playing a PS4 version of Modern Warfare 4, but with muddier textures. Maybe it's just the more realistic tone of the visuals, but I feel like Fallout 4's port looked better, and that’s an older game. It isn’t broken, but it doesn’t exceed expectations in the way most Switch 2 ports have seemed to since launch. The pre-rendered cutscenes make it a bit harder to swallow, as they are miles ahead of what you're seeing in the gameplay.
I’m also reminded how much I hate using the Joy-Cons for any sort of shooter. Even with aim assist at its apex, I have a hard time hitting the broad side of a barn. There are moments in the CAMPAIGN of all places I was missing a bunch of shots and dying to NPCs. This is my third time touching the campaign, so it’s not like I don’t know how to play, and I was on regular difficulty. If you have a Pro Controller, or anything else, I’d use that, even if it means putting the Switch 2 on the kickstand or in the dock. The Joy-Con thumbsticks are truly terrible for this game.
In multiplayer, I’ve had a good time and visuals seem more on par with what I’m used to, although I generally murder my settings for better framerate. This might be the best mode to play on the Switch 2, as the limitations of the framerate aren’t as heavy. The cross-platform capability is also nice, as all of my loadouts are here.
You will be at a huge disadvantage in regular lobbies, however. The Switch 2 is going to be the weakest platform of the four Modern Warfare 4 is available on, so you may fall victim to many players who just have a better machine than you do. If you’re a competitive player, I wouldn’t suggest trying to get your fix on the Switch 2. You can at least disable cross-play, but it took me forever to find a lobby to play a match. We’re talking upwards of five to ten minutes. That could improve as the game finds more hands and gets more content, but this is a constraint that isn’t helping that player base want to play more.
Speaking of content, it's no surprise that Modern Warfare 4 is a huge download. When I initially downloaded it, I saw 132GB, but after playing it, the game shrunk to 87.4GB. The latter number is more manageable and in line with other live-service games like NBA 2K and Madden. One of the terrific abilities you have on console and PC doesn’t transfer to Switch 2, however. Being able to delete the campaign, DMZ, or multiplayer to save space isn’t here. I’m assuming this is more on Nintendo than Activision, but it’s a big miss on a console that has less storage than its contemporaries.
It’s still great that Nintendo Switch 2 owners still get the full Modern Warfare 4 experience, even if the compromises required do diminish the shine of the game. That said, if you only have a Switch 2, these drawbacks won’t affect you nearly as much as they affected me. As MW4 jumped to the top of the Switch 2 sales charts for a bit, I’d imagine that thought process is true. Just make sure to turn off HDR; it'll help the experience.
