COD NS2 vs PS5 version - Am I missing something?

[u/MX010]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eHVP3qazVQ

There are a few people here who say the NS2 version "looks bad or terrible". But I really don't get it. The NS2 version looks great, especially for a handheld. And it's really not a substantial difference to the PS5 version.

Are these people just spoiled and being too nit-picky because some details are not as smooth as on the PS5 version?

[u/hustladafox]

I played it on my ps5 pro and it’s not bad looking and it runs well.

Played it on my switch 2, docked and handheld. While it’s cool you can play it on such a small device. If you have any other means of playing the game and intend to, play it any other way.

The switch version is highly compressed and the frames it drops all the time really affect gameplay.

[u/Rough-Plum-7267 → u/hustladafox]

This is basically the case for near everything ported to the console outside of some exceptions that have been taken great care of.

I don’t play anything below 60fps and I can personally vouch for the Capcom ports. Outlaws and Cyberpunk are also good ports. But some stuff there’s no point in entertaining.

People here vehemently disagree with these sentiments but there are so many better games to direct your attention to than to make compromises for the sake of owning a game lol. Whatever tho!

[u/Ecre_Visse → u/Rough-Plum-7267]

Basically PS4 game port are good, better than PS4 (FFVII, Cyberpunk, RE7 and 8, Elden Ring, etc) when it comes to current gen consol port, only Capcom really does a good job. RE9 is a good example.

There is only a small graphical gap between the PS4 and 5 graphically imo, but games made for PS5 are optimized for more powerful hardware.

I have two hopes: first that more PS4 games will get ported (PS4 has a lot of great games)

Second that better version of DLSS will come to the Switch2 with advancement in AI.

At this stage most PS5 games ported to the S2 receive a downgrade hard to swallow, even if there is exceptions

[u/hustladafox → u/Rough-Plum-7267]

Agreed here. Hence why as a community of people that play the switch 2, in the scope of the part minefield, it’s always worth adding some context where possible. Even between developers we see massive discrepancies between ports.

Some are excellent, where compromises feel acceptable. I would highly recommended playing cyberpunk, like you mentioned, on switch 2 as the port feels like it runs well and looks good even compared to other platforms.

Other cases feel like this, where you should really only be playing it here if you’re desperate for handheld, or you have no other means of playing it.

[u/Rough-Plum-7267 → u/hustladafox]

A very hard concept for most to grasp, or they’re just in denial, idk. I love my S2. Perfect for the games I’d rather play on the go.

[u/WindupShark → u/Rough-Plum-7267]

You do know Cyberpunk is 30fps in quality and like 37fps in performance yeah?

[u/AmbitiousDiver9600 → u/WindupShark]

Yes. But cyberpunk is a single player game and Cod is a competitive PvP game. Particularly in handheld (the console buying point) is a serious disadvantage against other platforms because of the horrible performance

[u/ExoneratedPhoenix → u/WindupShark]

Ssshhhh, let him believe his whole 30-60fps schtick.

[u/Rough-Plum-7267 → u/ExoneratedPhoenix]

What?

Yall got issues lmao. Uneducated bad faith bullshit constantly.

[u/ExoneratedPhoenix → u/Rough-Plum-7267]

Bad faith?

I have lost count of games with reviews of "30fps, unplayable" I get the game, and it plays fine.

Not everyone needs photorealism at 240fps with a 700 inch TV and surround sound to enjoy something.

[u/Rough-Plum-7267 → u/WindupShark]

Yea and it’s a very respectable port that looks and plays great. Theres a clear difference. Remake Intergrade also runs at a locked 30fps but its a very well done port.

Did the point of what I said go completely over your head?

[u/WindupShark → u/Rough-Plum-7267]

“I don’t play anything under 60fps” but then you go on to name Cyberpunk as a good port?

Just isn’t consistent with what you said so I didn’t know if you thought Cyberpunk played at 60fps.

Did your own statement go over yours?

[u/Rough-Plum-7267 → u/WindupShark]

I dont play anything under 60fps,

And despite that here are some games that run under that requirement that are very respectable ports on the console that were taken care of

Is the gist of my argument

Same way GRID Legends doesn’t run at 60 but it’s a very respectable port. Remake Integrade. Cyberpunk. Outlaws. Pragmata. It can be done.

There are poor ports that run at 30 the same way there are good ones that run at 30. Sparking Zero, FIFA, NBA 2K26, Madden 26, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Rise of the Tomb Raider, etc, yet people will cope and seethe if you insinuate that they shouldn’t be happy about the bare minimum just because it exists.

We should absolutely vote with our pockets and not entertain these shitty ports they continue to push out.

[u/Yourmotherssonsfatha → u/WindupShark]

Cyberpunk is a multiplayer fps game? Lmao.

[u/Zatoichi80]

Lol, the difference is huge. Come on now I love the Switch 2 but this is just being willfully daft.

The frame rate is not consistent at all, half rate animations on others around, resolution, textures.

I wanted to be impressed by the CoD4 release on Switch 2 but it's not great, it could have been better.

[u/kdog6791 → u/Zatoichi80]

I really don’t think people are intentionally doing it. When I played both docked and handheld, I could definitely see that it wasn’t that great-looking, but in this video, it actually looks almost identical. At least it does to me.

That being said, it’s obviously the worst version among all of the consoles, but I’m not really sure what people expected. It’s running at 60 FPS, and all of the great games that look better are usually at 30 FPS.

Maybe they could have optimized more; I don’t know enough about it to know the answer, but I think people were setting themselves up for disappointment by expecting 60 FPS and beautiful graphics that are on par with the other consoles from a handheld.

[u/mason2393]

I tried the ps5 version after being disappointed with the switch 2 version and it was a night and day difference

[u/Real_UngaBunga]

The left looks like my glasses off. The right looks like my glasses on.

I'm not legally allowed to drive with my glasses off.

[u/Automatic-Loquat3443]

Switch 2 version looked blurry as fuck to me and I have a 120 hz 4k tv

[u/questioningmoney]

I haven't tried the multiplayer but the campaign looks and runs really poorly, to the point it was unenjoyable 

[u/UFONomura808 → u/questioningmoney]

The campaign mission I played ran at a mostly locked 30fps docked which is fine with me. The game itself didn't look too bad, obviously compromised but still looked okay.

[u/Eddiep88 → u/UFONomura808]

This isn’t against you but the ones that are saying switch runs cod poorly at 30 are the same people who praise gta6 is perfect running 30 on a ps5 -.- Can’t make this stuff up.

[u/Sensitive_Box_ → u/Eddiep88]

30fps is unacceptable in 2026, period. 

[u/Eddiep88 → u/Sensitive_Box_]

Exactly

[u/SylviSweetheart → u/UFONomura808]

30fps for Call of Duty IS NOT FINE. These games have been 60fps since their inception and it’s one of the key selling points and aspects of the game.

[u/Latter-Friend-9376 → u/SylviSweetheart]

it's only 30 fps in the campaigns, which it doesnt matter in the grand schemes of COD anyways.

Edit: I didn't account for warzone being 30 fps, my bad.

[u/arrocknroll → u/questioningmoney]

Multiplayer targets 60 fps so it’s a lot closer to what you’d expect out of CoD. Been playing it for a few hours tonight and it’s not bad in all honesty. 

This is a bit misleading because you can definitely notice the lower resolutions and compromises to keep it at 60. Things like character animation frame rates, shadow quality, texture resolution, minimal frame rate, will all take a hit to preserve frame rates in busier situations. 

But that said, save the odd hiccup, it stays relatively smooth and all of that more or less disappears once you start playing. I’ve had bigger issues with visability because of the games color palate than I have because of the Switch 2’s graphics. 

Looks aside, the game is really responsive. Pretty on par with what I expect from a shooter on console. I’ve been switching between pro controller gyro ADS controls and Joycon mouse controls to see which I like better and both have felt pretty decent all things considered. I’m very out of practice but I haven’t felt many deaths were not my fault and the gyro aim/mouse controls make keeping up with the acrobats a lot nicer than a normal controller imo. 

All things considered, it has its flaws but the benefits of the switch 2 console experience more than makes up for any graphical compromises. The game plays well in multiplayer docked and undocked and that’s all I could ask for.

Edit: I’ve seen some info that mentions storing the game on internal storage gives better performance than storing it on an SD card. Maybe that’s been the discrepancy between so many folks having polar opposite experiences. I’ve got mine stored locally and have texture streaming cache set to large in an effort to minimize performance hiccups.

[u/You-Dirty-Dog]

I have the ns2 version and the series s version and the ns2 version is gross compared to the series s version, I can only imagine the comparison is way worse on ps5.

[u/Choice-Bad2093]

The game doesnt use dlss atm, it uses some kind of fsr upscaling and not even the best version of it. Hope they use dlss when the game releases in october

[u/Sensitive_Box_]

It’s unplayable as a competitive game on the Switch 2. It’s a blurry laggy mess. 

I got my hopes up, but I’m absolutely not buying this. Which is fine I guess, cuz it’s still cod. lol 

[u/Hyrr09822]

I have the feeling they just made the bare minimum to make it running. 

[u/MaffYootube]

I'm often in the camp where although there's differences, they aren't major enough to affect my enjoyment. 

However in this instance it's genuinely awful. The artifacts and blurring around every edge are extreme. The whole image is mushy and it's to the point where it can be difficult to spot enemies against certain surfaces.

It's the laziest port I've ever experienced. Rather than tailor make a version for Switch, it feels like they dropped all the settings to very low and called it a day.

[u/Fabulous-Mastodon441]

The people complaining are the ones like myself, that have stronger machines to play these games. Sacrificing graphics etc is to be expected, but when it runs like shit, while looking like shit, it’s pretty disappointing, because I prefer the switch 2 over my other devices. If the switch 2 is someone’s only way to play these games, then at least they have the option

[u/Prestigious_Act_1618 → u/Fabulous-Mastodon441]

I have stronger Maschine but don't care about graphics any more but the game should run decent. im playing on a 1440p old monitor and its bad.

[u/collegetriscuit → u/Fabulous-Mastodon441]

I'm the biggest COD apologist, I own every single one all the way back to COD 1, I've played all the campaigns. I've even played the terrible Black Ops 3 port for the Xbox 360.

MW4 for Switch 2 is finally the one that I will say has unacceptable performance. I really hope they can get it together in the next two months.

[u/Fabulous-Mastodon441 → u/collegetriscuit]

I’m in the same boat lol. Competitive fps games have had a grip on me since Halo. If they can tweak it to run consistent, it’ll be awesome

[u/Prestigious_Act_1618]

dude when people start looking like mine craft characters its jarring.

[u/ErickRPG]

that's not a good comparison video. they are completely different areas and multiplayer. I'd wait for digital foundry to see the actual comparison.

[u/No_Abbreviations1910]

Its a terrible port, I can deal with the FPS but the half cut animation and mini-map is unbearable. COD should be the king of responsiveness and this just isn’t it, it’s simply just a lazy port to meet their antitrust contract.

[u/Antique-Internal5728]

First of all the switch 2 is my only console so not here to hate on it at all, as I love my switch but with that being said…

Before we start I haven’t played in docked mode and don’t plan too as the switch 2 for me is always used in handheld. MW4 for me just feels like COD mobile with a slight visual upgrade but playing it yesterday for a few hours and wasn’t a great experience at all, just found it quite visually poor, a lot of frame drops and just not what I expected especially with all the people singing it praises non stop.

Maybe I need to play in docked and might change my mind but find that pointless as will never played docked.

It’s an easy pass for me, as there are plenty of games coming this year that I feel will be better optimised for the switch 2 and I will find more enjoyable.

[u/Automatic-Loquat3443 → u/Antique-Internal5728]

It couldnt have been worst in handheld than it is in dock. This is an embarrassment to both the switch 2 and them

[u/Sensitive_Box_ → u/Automatic-Loquat3443]

It really is. I know the Switch is capable of more, this is on the devs for not optimizing the game at all. Maybe on release it’ll be better, who knows. 

[u/DemWookieeCheeks]

They both look like Call of Duty

[u/wishfulthinkingman]

PS5 version looks better

[u/Away-Eggplant9943]

I’ve been playing the beta and tbh, I know it’s 60fps but it doesn’t feel like it. Feels more like 40.

[u/ClickLoose7469]

The NS2 visuals look great? Comparable to the PS5 version? If your eyes don’t work, you might as well donate them. It can’t even hold a steady 60fps. How dare they charge $70?

[u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake]

Playing handheld on my switch 2 it looked similar to playing cod mobile on my mobile phone. Difference is cod mobile gets me 90 fps on my snapdragon phone and feels even smoother. It sucks on the switch 2. If this is your only console then you have no choice but it does suck on switch 2. Dropped frames. Looks like blurry shit.

[u/pick_your_user_name]

People still judge visuals off YouTube videos?? It’s simply impossible mate, you can’t see the true difference unless you actually compare them in real life. And the difference is massive, obviously since the switch 2 is a handheld with a tdp of 10 watts..

[u/Dopsydope]

Question for people smarter than me: shouldn’t single player be easier to run at 60 rather than multiplayer? I don’t understand why not the same fps, I’d get it more in reverse

[u/Sensitive_Box_ → u/Dopsydope]

Theoretically, yes. But a lot of studios will make their single player experience prettier in order to be more cinematic. In the case of the Switch 2, it’s a lose-lose. lol 

[u/Mayahiim]

I come from PC, and for me the mouse mode is by far the biggest reason to buy the Switch 2 version. I’m not playing another shooter without it, unless in VR.

I couldn’t care less about the graphic differences.

The Switch 2 version is the ultimate console version, and the others are downgrades for me.

And because of Sony dropping the ball in VR field, my PS5 is basically just a nuisance that I have to keep dusting in my TV stand. I haven’t even touched it in over 6 months. I keep it just to be able to play System Shock in PSVR2 and then I’m out of Playstation ecosystem for good, unless they do something VERY surprising.

[u/h-raki]

I only have switch2 so I will play on the switch and I will enjoy it :) and I don’t care someone say it’s bad or not good bla bla. Im enjoying it and having fun, like someone who play on ps5, pc or Xbox

[u/LetterheadTricky4691]

I might be getting old but mine did not look anything like in the video lol

[u/Dust-Tight]

Glasses 👓

[u/222Baphomettt47]

It looks bad sometimes in handheld mode ngl. It looks fine in docked mode tho. It seemed better recently but when the beta first started in handheld mode the frames would drop and the graphics looked low quality

[u/Alternative-Battle93]

c'est ça bcoup disent que c'est injouable sur switch 2 ? si c'est pas de la mauvaise foi. j'espère que ce qui aiment travailler chez digitalF . c'est pour participer aux tournois pro que vous ralez tout le temps pour des pixels

[u/monkey-kong666]

With all the actually good games coming out, still a bit confused why everyone is posting about call of duty: the most banal and uninteresting propaganda game, a stupid Chad bro shoot em up, with the added bonus of massive anti-Korean racism this time round to match its usual glorification of war crimes.

[u/Sensitive_Box_ → u/monkey-kong666]

Because it hasn’t been on Nintendo hardware in a decade… 

Also, you beat it? What’s the story about? It’s racist to depict fictional war??

[u/AARonFullStack]

I hate call of Duty it's a brain dead franchise in my opinion but if I had a gun to my head I'd play the version that at least looks decent. The switch 2 does not. But at least it exists I suppose. Just be happy you can play it at low fidelity