The ambitious port of Apex Legends landed on the Nintendo Switch earlier this month, so how is it holding up? Digital Foundry has now put Panic Button’s conversion to the test by trying out the latest version of the game based on patch 1.07.
In terms of resolution, the game runs at 720p in docked play, with “dynamic resolution scaling down to 1066×600 minimum” and 576p dynamic in portable, with a “960×540 minimum”.
DF marks a number of cuts – textures lack a tremendous amount of detail, shadows are affected, draw spacing is pulled back and obscured by fog, effects are scaled back, and details of trees, bushes and ground objects are also greatly reduced. Then there is the removal of the “vast majority” of grass and foliage, which is considered an “overcut”. It results in a reasonable experience:
“What users effectively get is a good enough, albeit lower poly, view of the game world. Everything is as it should be and properly rendered within reach. Think of it as a less complex but decent enough rendition of the world. Reflections are also retained., lens flares are retained, while dust physics is present and correct. Enemies also render in the same range, crucial for a fair experience for all players. Switch-exclusive perks are thin on the ground, but gyro targeting is included. “
The performance is clearly Apex Legends’ biggest talking point on the Switch – with frame rates tumbling to “the low 20fps” during firefights. Beyond this, the goal of 30FPS is maintained, but that’s still only half of the framerate players on other console platforms, running the game at 60FPS.
“The main problem is that frame rate issues arise during confrontations with other players – right where the performance should be at its best. In addition, there is a sense that the frame rate can collapse simply by being close to other players. – an unlikely kind of early warning system? “
Digital Foundry says the cuts are “so severe” that the final recommendation is to disable the crossplay functionality (which is automatically enabled) to play exclusively with other Switch users and even the playing field.
Have you tried Apex Legends on the Nintendo Switch? What are your thoughts so far? Leave a comment below.