Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 delivers a smooth, fluid first-person shooter experience at a steady 60fps, but the visual presentation suffers noticeably, particularly in docked mode. The game's commitment to competitive parity with other platforms appears to have come at the cost of graphical detail.
A Return to Form for Call of Duty
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 could signal a serious return to the series' best form, marking the first Call of Duty title on a Nintendo Switch console. The Mirror's Liam Ryder was among the first to try a pre-release build during Call of Duty: Next 2026.
Having grown disillusioned with the series' increasing skill gap and movement focus in recent years, Ryder found MW4 to be the most fun he has had on a Call of Duty title since 2019's initial Modern Warfare reboot. The game felt like a middle-ground between the high-speed mechanics of Black Ops and the more tactical battles of classic Modern Warfare.
One Glaring Visual Issue
While gameplay remained crisp and responsive, the visuals left a lot to be desired. Graphics appeared soft and smoothed out, with other operators' movement looking jittery. Weapons looked flat and environmental details lost their crisp edges, though this was purely a visual issue with no mechanical impact.
Ryder noted that for competitive multiplayer, the visual trade-off is the right call, but on a bigger screen it can be jarring. He called it the only disappointment from a game that otherwise felt balanced, and sincerely hopes Activision and Digital Legends address it before launch.
Open Beta and Future Prospects
The Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta arrives this weekend, offering players across all platforms a chance to try the new title. The Switch 2 hardware handled the game without stuttering or framerate drops, and the Joy-Con 2 gyro controls offer a chance to equalise against mouse-and-keyboard players.
Ryder found MW4 felt more natural in handheld mode, though he remains intrigued and optimistic about the game. If it works as brilliantly on PC, PS5 and Xbox as it did in his experience, minus the visual issues, then Call of Duty could really be back.
