The ambitious port of Apex Legends landed on the Nintendo Switch earlier this month, as it stands? Digital Foundry has now tested the Panic Button conversion, trying the latest version of the game based on patch 1.07.
In terms of resolution, the game runs at 720p in docking, with “dynamic resolution scaling down to 1066×600 minimum” and 576p dynamic in portable, with “960×540 minimum”.
DF highlights a number of cuts – the textures do not have a huge amount of detail, the shadows are affected, the shooting distance is pulled back and hidden by the fog, the effects are reduced, and the trees, bushes and details of ground objects are also massively reduced. Then there is the removal of the “vast majority” of grass and foliage, which is considered to be “cut too far.” The result is an acceptable experience:
“What users get effectively is a good enough, albeit smaller, rendering of the game world. Everything is as it should be and it plays correctly at a distance. Think of it as a less complex but decent enough rendering of the world. Reflections are also preserved. , rocket lenses are kept, while the physics of the canvas is present and correct. Enemies are also in the same range, essential for a fair experience for all players. The exclusive benefits of the switch are thin on the ground, but gyroscopic aiming is included. “
Performance is obviously the biggest talking point of Apex Legends on the Switch – with frames framing at “low 20fps” during fights. Apart from that, the 30FPS target is maintained, but this is still only half of the framerate players on other console platforms running the game at 60FPS.
“The main problem is that frame rate issues come in during confrontations with other players – exactly where the performance should be at its best. In addition, there is a sense that the frame rate can start to bend simply by closeness to other players – some kind of unlikely early warning system? “
Digital Foundry says the discounts are “so severe” that its final recommendation is to disable cross-game functionality (which is automatically enabled) to play exclusively with other Switch users and even the playing field.
Have you tried Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch? What are your thoughts so far? Leave a comment below.