The ambitious port of Apex Legends landed on the Nintendo Switch earlier this month, so how’s it keeping up? Digital Foundry has now tested Panic Button’s conversion and tried the latest version of the game based on patch 1.07.
In terms of resolution, the game runs at 720p in doctored game, with a scale of dynamic resolution dropping to 1066×600 minimum and 576p dynamically in portable, with a ‘960×540 minimum’.
DF emphasizes a number of cuts – textures do not have much detail, shadows are affected, the pull distance is retracted and obscured by fog, effects are scaled back and trees, bushes and detail of the soil object are also massively reduced. Then there is the removal of the “vast majority” of grass and leaves, which is considered a “too far cut”. This results in an acceptable experience:
“What users get effectively is good enough, even if it’s a lower poly version of the game world. Everything is as it should be and is properly rendered remotely. Consider it a less complex but decent version of the world., lens flares are preserved while lap physics is present and correct.Enemies are also in the same series, which is crucial for an honest experience for all players.Benefits for exclusive switches are thin on the ground, but gyro-aim is included. “
The performance is, of course, the biggest discussion point of Apex Legends on the Switch – with frame rates tumbling to “the low 20 fps” during a firefight. Other than that, the 30FPS goal is maintained, but only half of the players on other console platforms still run the game at 60FPS.
“The biggest problem is that frame rate problems occur during confrontations with other players – exactly where the performance should be at its best. On top of that, there is the feeling that the rate can start to bend by simply being in the vicinity of other players. – an unlikely kind of early warning system? ‘
According to Digital Foundry, the cuts are “so severe” that the final recommendation is to disable the crossplay feature (which is enabled automatically) 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.