Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 is a double-edged sword

After long eleven years, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 brings the franchise back to Nintendo's consoles and launches day and date on the Switch 2 to the delight of many fans of the handheld console. This is the first time a Call of Duty the game has been officially supported on a portable device since the Nintendo DS, and the first on a Nintendo console at all since Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013. But while Modern Warfare 4 being on a brand new console sounds great, it has some downsides for the wider player base.

The Switch 2 may be a powerful console, but it still doesn't hold a candle to what the PS5 and Xbox Series X can do, and that could spell some trouble for Modern Warfare 4. As the first only current gen Call of Duty game, fans may have certain expectations of what MW4 should look and work like now that the game is only optimized for current consoles, and maybe the Switch 2 will hold it back from its true potential. Also, given the Switch 2's specs and the latest rumors about which platforms Modern Warfare 4 would raise questions as to whether this is even a true title of the current generation.

Family

Modern Warfare 4 Must Do Price Vs. Ghost Justice, but can it do it?

Modern Warfare 4's reveal trailer and marketing put all the focus on a conflict between Price and Ghost, but it won't be easy to live up to expectations.

Call of Duty's troubled history with Nintendo

Call of Duty is no stranger to being on Nintendo consoles, although it has eluded them for over a decade now. The franchise took several detours to the Nintendo DS and Wii during its early eras, including ports in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, World at warand Modern Warfare 2to mixed results. Nintendo's consoles at the time weren't known for their conventional control systems, so playing an FPS on something like the Wii or DS was always a little awkward compared to other consoles with traditional controls. Nintendo's though Call of Duty the gates dropped regardless until a defining moment for both Nintendo and Call of Duty occurred.

Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.

Light (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)

The franchise eventually saw its final release on Nintendo consoles with Call of Duty: Ghosts year 2013. Ghosts was a low point for Call of Duty series, as it marked the franchise's first next-gen game, and fans declared that it looked ugly and washed out, unbecoming of next-gen console features. This is where a significant split occurred between Nintendo and Call of Dutyas the FPS behemoth chased better graphics and more complex mechanics with larger game modes in its next iterations, while Nintendo consoles were left in the dust as the Wii U's sales dropped, and the console couldn't keep up with the demands of newer games like full PS4/Xbox One Advanced Warfare. Not even the first Switch, launched in 2017, would be enough Call of Duty franchise to come back to Nintendo, given the Switch's relatively weak hardware.

Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 takes the franchise to new heights with new innovations

But the Switch 2 is now here, and it's a pretty powerful system for its size and power limitations. Now, more than ever, companies that once had games that might have been too advanced for the first Switch are finding their way onto the Switch 2. For example, there The Witcher 3 running on the Switch 1 was something of a minor coding miracle, while CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 not only runs but thrives on Switch 2 thanks to DLSS upscaling and smart encoding. The same goes for massive, gorgeous games like Star Wars: Outlaws and Assassin's Creed: Shadows which never had a chance to run on the Switch 1 but is doing well on the Switch 2. It definitely seems like a new era for Nintendo, and it's one that developers are happy to get on board with for obvious reasons.

The upsides of Modern Warfare 4 on the Switch 2 are clear: the console has a huge install base ready to spend money on a new one Call of Dutyit is powerful enough to run intense games without many problems, and the shared player pool for multiplayer and War zone will be even bigger than before. And if nothing else, it's a super novel experience to play Call of Duty on the go. Not even Steam Deck can claim to have Call of Duty on its list of supported games due to anti-cheat issues on SteamOS, putting the Switch 2 in a unique position as one of the only portable consoles that can run Modern Warfare 4 (and at a more reasonable price compared to the Deck and ROG Ally).

The Switch 2 transition brings some harsh limitations to Modern Warfare 4

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 campaign length interview

Up until this point, it's easy to laud the Switch 2 as a powerful handheld console that can run anything, anywhere, anytime, and while that's been true to a degree, it's not to powerful. Compared to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, the Switch 2 is pretty weak, with many of the aforementioned ports needing tweaks to work well on the system in the first place. Switch 2 fans should definitely expect Modern Warfare 4 to look like a system downgrade compared to other current generation consoles; But the knock-on effect of having to port to Switch 2 is that the game may not live up to its true potential on PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Click or tap the games that match the category

Fans should probably temper their expectations for significant visual improvements this year Modern Warfare 4 due to the Switch 2's hardware limitations. Early MW4 Game previews already show as much and show minimal improvements to the graphics compared to the latest entries in the series, but that means it's still a good-looking game. However, don't expect things like model quality, texture resolution, physics and volumetric effects to see any huge improvements as Infinity Ward develops with the limitations of the Switch 2's CPU and memory pool. There is no telling next year Call of Duty won't look amazing or push the envelope, but this year's entry is clearly an initial, transitional variant for the Switch 2 and current consoles, meaning total visual overhauls probably aren't in order as Infinity Ward figures out how best to optimize the existing engine for a new development environment.

Modern Warfare 4 probably could have been on last generation consoles

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 private park

Recently it was rumored that MW4 would be coming to last-gen consoles, which would make sense given the current state of the market. Consoles are expensive right now, and there are still plenty of people hanging onto their PS4s and Xbox Ones if they can, which means there's still money to be made on those platforms. But lately MW4 reveal the event clarified that this year's Call of Duty would be a current gen only game, but given the power limitations of the Switch 2 it's a wonder why MW4 is not on last gen. After all, the Switch 2 is closer to a PS4 than a PS5. Given the circumstances outlined, it's easy to believe that the last-gen rumors were probably true, and that the game is only coming out on current-gen for reasons beyond performance considerations.

MW4 likely won't make it to last-gen as Xbox and Activision may want to market it as a current-gen game to drive more current-gen sales as Microsoft moves into what's next for the company. Xbox's Project Helix is moving, which means that this generation of consoles is nearing the end of its lifespan, as crazy as that sounds, so it would probably be smart to phase out older consoles in preparation for the upcoming next-gen systems. Fans can't hang onto their old consoles forever, and this moment has to come at some point. Sure, there's a good chance that a last generation build of MW4 exists, but current conditions mean the closest fans will see a PS4 or Xbox One version of Modern Warfare 4 is likely the Nintendo Switch 2 version. Still, for fans who just want a current gen Cod which actually feels genius, MW4The Switch 2 port will likely prevent that from happening this time around.