Video: Overwatch On Switch "Works" But It's Far From Perfect, According To Digital Foundry

As someone who doesn't have anything but a Switch, this version does its job well enough. No it's not perfect, and if you have it on another system, then obviously it's better there. But for what it is, it's good, and I've been having fun with it the last few days. Hope we get more heavy-duty multiplayer first-person shooters in the future. Now there's no excuse for games like Titanfall, Apex, Rage, or TF2 to not be on Switch.

Not surprising. Obviously, the main draw for the Switch versions of games is the hybrid nature of the system. I for one am willing to take a hit in the technical department if it means playing games wherever I want.

@KryptoniteKrunch
Me too. Everyone was praising Doom for being so demanding and nobody gave a crap about 30fps. Yeah this is a multiplayer shooter, but loads of games have functioned just fine despite this. I'm someone who enjoyed playing Call of Duty on the Wii of all things, and it was a blast. XD

The Paladins comparison really hits hard, though. There's no good reason for it to run at 30fps. I understand why the texture quality was lowered, though it is slightly disappointing, it's fine.

I’ve only ever played Overwatch on a Switch and it seems good to me. Perhaps as a comparison I might notice something lacking, but as a stand-alone game I have no issues.

@CurryPowderKeg79
Most 2D games (at least in North America and Japan) were 60 FPS on the NES, SNES, Genesis, etc. with occasional slowdown in some games. And there were plenty of 3D games in the arcade that were 60 FPS by the time the N64 launched (such as Virtua Fighter and Daytona USA)

It is better than I had hope, I mean I’m gonna continue to play on my One X, but the switch version is fun. It feels like Overwatch and that is pretty cool in my opinion. It’s worth playing.

The motion control is disappointing tho.

Eh. Its Overwatch. I have it on a tricked out PC and I have it on Xbox One X. Now for the first time ever, I can play it outside, on the train, and in bed. I'm over the Digital Foundry "omg! there's 16 fewer pixels and ambient occlusion!" nonsense. And I say that as a DF Patreon subscriber.

Meanwhile there are a ton of us leveling up in Switch Overwatch right now. Join us. Or dont. But dont let (gasp!) a handful of texture maps stop you. Big deal.

Wouldn't buy it even if it was a flawless port, because Blizzard.

I have to wonder who the market is for clearly inferior ports of games like this. They’re always going to release at a much later time to much lower sales with much lower performance. You can’t honestly make me believe that people are playing these kind of games at a competitive level with a pair of Joycons or tilting their Lite around like a mad man to use motion controls. This really is nothing more than a novelty, so people can say that they’ve played Overwatch while sitting on their toilet like it’s some grand accomplishment in their lives.

@JR150 The excuse is EA.

@personauser93
Why do console gaming elitists act as if handheld gaming and every aspect of it is some sort of new thing? This has been happening since the Game Boy. Games like Contra 3 and Street Fighter 2 on Game Boy were released years after the console versions came out. And of course the GBA was known for it's SNES and Genesis ports some of which were very good and some very bad ones (Earthworm Jim, MK Advance, and Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis) despite being more than a half decade old and the GBA being more powerful than any 16 bit console.

@Toy_Link
People are simply trying to downplay the Switch and act as if it doesn't matter because they feel like their precious (insert whatever they play on here) is low-key threatened by the success of it, so they bash it in order to make it seem less impressive than it actually is.

Personally I feel as if the Switch can coexist alongside other systems, because its doing its own thing and isn't catering to the beefy console demographic. It has its own demographic. Even with the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett on the horizon, the Switch still has portability, and well known faces like Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Splatoon, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, and more.

TLDR. Switch is doing so well that some people try to deny it.

The idea of waiting years to finally play Overwatch and end up playing This - I find downright depressing.

Guess I should Be thankful I can still prioritize gameplay and just overall quality when choosing where I play my favorite games.

Another futile attempt of fitting a round peg in a square hole.

@gangsterswedish - I am always reminded of the phrase, "Your memory is only as good as you believe it to been." Essentially suggesting that actively your fondest memories are piecemeal, games like Mario 64 aged poorly, but we often find ourselves remembering it is bit more... Modernized.

The mentioned Mario 64 for example, many would recall off the top of their heads that Mario supposedly had "hands." When, in fact, it's texture less balls.

So Overwatch, with poorer resolution, is going to be equally remembered to the same player as they played on X-Box. That is barring any frustration brought about the online experiences, of course.

@CurryPowderKeg79 NES games ran at 60fps. Read the third paragraph.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-02-21-man-completes-super-mario-bros-with-the-lowest-possible-score

And SNES, though of course you'd get occasional slowdown in some games.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/997614-nintendo-3ds/74192582

It was only with the N64 that we got stuff like OoT being 20fps. Even then there's over 100 games on PS1 that run at 60fps so that gen wasnt all 30fps or less.

Also, the difference here is that this is a game that has been out for years on other platforms, running at 60 or more. That obviously wasn't the case for, say, OoT.

I've played a couple hours so far and I feel it works amazingly well considering it's on the Switch. If you're comparing performance to a 1000 dollar desktop gaming PC then, sure, it doesn't look that great.

Because it's totally fair to use a game's performance on a top of the line desktop gaming PC to a hybrid portable console that you can get as cheap as 200 dollars.

@Heavyarms55 exactly, I’m starting to hate these comparisons. The outcome is always the same. Performance vs playing on the go.

Are there any comparisons of a game run on PS4 vs a PS4 Pro? I imagine the critics for the game on PS4 should be: ‘It works, but it’s far from perfect compared to what you can play elsewhere’.

@Nintendolife, Is it possible to get a feature on the matter to know how you guys (and girls?) think about it?

I have played handheld yesterday for 3 hours on the recent updated model switch (not that I expect it to make a difference, maybe in terms of throttling? BTW installed on internal memory), but had no single situation of texture pop-in or resolution changes, 720p steady 30 fps, no hiccups at all...

@gangsterswedish outside or on a train? How? Cellular hotspot? So you’re happy to play with high latency?

I played Overwatch on my Switch and I think Blizzard did a great job. We shouldn't forget that further improvements can still be made, however, they aren't required at all.

The damage control is real on here I see. Nintendo doesn’t get it, they stopped getting it 23 years ago. When they released the first console that had better GPU than PC (Voodoo) I’m confused how people keep defending their choices on hardware specs, it’s beyond me 😂 The Tegra x1 was released 4 years ago, it was underwhelming then for a console and released 4 years after Xbox one and PS4 launch. Basically we have outdated hardware that is 8+ years behind at the moment. I’m tired of everyone blaming developers when the console is the problem here.

Meh im not suprised.Paladins work on 60fps and free.I will keep playing Paladins.Thanks Blizzard.

@CurryPowderKeg79 Except for the part that 30 was not the golden standard at that time.

Have you looked up frame rates of the older games? Most of them ran at 60 fps...

@HardcoreDaBoss Oh, another Cobalt sockpuppet! Welcome back! Glad to see you come to a Nintendo fan site hating on Nintendo the first thing you do. Keep up the good work, pal!

@WiltonRoots Or is it gatorboi, EightBitMan or PCkid?

@Toy_Link @CurryPowderKeg79 I think you need to settle on what the F in FPS means - fields or frames. I think you (both) mean 60 fields per second, with two fields making up the entire image, right? That translates into just shy of 30 interlaced frames of video per second.

After all this, f**** fun playing it. To bê honest one enjoying games I actually playing... Yeahh imagine, my PC can only play it in low end, sooooo... No difference... And to bê honest, probably I'm missing something, but I don't Get the 30 to 60 fps difference. A lot More blurry like paladins to have 60fps, does it really justify?

I feel this port is getting short changed, it’s really really good. I picked up both this and The Witcher and I have to say this port in my opinion is much graphically clearer, cleaner and truer to the original. In my opinion the better of the 2 ports

I appreciate they are both different genres and The Witcher is open world, but overwatch seems to be getting put down and The Witcher over praised. I’m not knocking the Witcher port as it is great, it really is, just feel like it’s getting all the praise and overwatch getting none

Deserves much more appreciation than what it’s getting

This will be the reason Blizzard pulled out of the press show with Nintendo.
Clearly they aren't happy with the final result.

@Madder128 nah, the reason is the amount of bad press Blizzard is getting. They want to reduce the amount of times they’re in the news anywhere as much as possible until Blizzcon’s there.

yay the PS4 fanboys going on and on about an almost solid 30fps game. Sorry but I think it's fine for the game to run on 30fps.

@Quarth It always amazes me when after 3 years we are all fully aware of what the Switch can and can't do, yet people still come in and cry and moan because it's not a PS4 or a high end PC. I can only assume these people are completely stupid. "I want Xbox/PS4 level graphics parity!", they cry. Get an Xbox or PS4 then. You can't get those specs because it will be too expensive and most likely melt.

This is how it is, they need to learn to live with it or move on. It's not like it's going to magically change overnight, or Nintendo is going to release a so-called "pro" model just to stop neckbeards crying, because even that will still never be "pro" enough for them.

@Friendly suppose that could be plausible.

I always wonder if they will finally port Wow to consoles.

@WiltonRoots Yeah and no matter what these trolls try to imply, the Switch is a huge success despite it's "shortcomings". So Nintendo is obviously doing something right. And I say "shortcomings", because given what the Switch is, it's a powerful console in its own right.

Haters gonna hate, but it's pathetic signing up to a webpage that is all about something you obviously hate and go on complaining about it, when it's not for you.

I’m honestly a bit surprised by the scolding tone here. I’ve had it since launch and I thought it was a great port overall. I’ve never had noticeable frame drops. I totally get how taking some plant life out can diminish the overall experience, but come on, nobody is gonna notice some plants were taken out when they’re frantically trying to stop the payload.

This one port I feel doesn't even get close to actually making the most of the hardware.

I play OW on PC, so there's no way in heck I'm buying it for Switch, but that being said, lots of people play online shooters like this on lower settings even if they have beefy PCs (to get ridiculous framerates in the 100s). It's just too bad the fps seems to suffer a bit on Switch even with the lower graphics.

The paladins comparison really makes you wonder, why 30 fps was the limit on this, and not even locked at that.

Still, it seems solid enough to recommend to people that only have a Switch to run it on. Overwatch is a great game and should be enjoyed by as many people as possible. It's also - even after this last couple of years - kinda cool to see a game like Overwatch run on a handheld.

That is not something that I find all that interesting to do myself, not with those tiny joysticks nor with that + gyro controls. But there is an audience here, and for them I am glad that it seems to be totally play-able, even though seeing it brought to 60 fps to keep it more in line with the intended experience would have been a blessing to Switch users.

In short, the sore point is that more was expected & should have been possible seeing other ports, with the upshot ... Nintendo players can now enjoy one of the finest shooters around

@JR150 My comment had NOTHING to do with preferring one console over another one. I love my Switch, but only for games that either benefit from being portable or games that I can’t play anywhere else. These systems can all coexist, so my question remains as to why someone would buy a not so successful port of a game like this when there are better and even cheaper options to choose from if they (likely) already have more than one system.

@Galenmereth I don’t think you know how phone hotspots work...because most of them will be better than people’s WiFi

@Heavyarms55 To be fair you don't need a 1000 $ PC to play Overwatch on High in 1080p with 60 fps. It's not a very demanding game.

@countzero Can you do it on a 200-300 dollar PC? AKA the price range of a Switch. Even a desktop?

Last time I looked, a "gaming" PC for 300 dollars struggles to run games from 2010. And on a 300 dollar laptop? Not likely.

My GL551JM could not play it in medium without lagging 'm I having better experience in my switch

@HardcoreDaBoss Nintendo doesn't get it?

Uhm...they've sold more Switches in the last two years than anyone thought they would. It's a runaway hit.

But yeah, Nintendo doesn't get it.

Ya'll angrier than Sideshow Raheem.

I'm extremely disaapointed on the worldwide coverage of this game on all new sites, everyone is hating on it and saying it's sub-par mostly because it's from blizzard and their controversy.

The game runs near-perfectly on my switch and i mostly play docked.... it's an amazing experience for me to finally be able to play Overwatch on a console i own, i absolutely adore it, performance is really good and there's never lag for me, motion controls are amazing too, i wish more people realized how good of a Port it actually is instead of bashing it.

Honestly your second opinion isn't worth a whole lot to me here. I grabbed a copy. Let's just say i agree whole heartidly with digital foundry. I play at a high diamond tier on other platforms. The hitches and hiccups are absolutely unbareable during high chaos ult combinations. I suspect as much given how much the base ps4 struggles in these situations.

For the casual overwatch player that dicks around in QP more than taking the game seriously, you'll love it. You won't be bothered if the aesthetic has been downgraded. removing key geometry for hiding things like symmetra turrets because you just ignore them anyway and let your team die. You won't mind lining up a shot with reaper at close range, then wiffing because your frame rate data isn't keeping pace with the net code.

I mean this is the audience that remembers the SNES starfox running at 60 fps right? Should be fine.

This is the worst way to play overwatch. Even the gyro aiming is worse compared to other fps even from last gen that tried it. Killzone 2 sets a high bar here, but even lesser titles do it better.

Until they balance out the games performance, this sucker is a 3 or 4 easy. Go play it else where. Honestly handing it to iron galaxy, probably wasn't the best decision. They couldn't even get 4 player coop working on borderlands 2 on vita. They probably tries to optimize, but ultimately lazied their way through by downgrading assets and calling it a day.

If you ask me this sorry state exists because they were probably told about a switch pro which will handle the game better. Get it out the door in trash can quality, then let the updated hardware bail them out.

@NotSoCryptic
Ah yes, Star Fox on SNES one of my favorite 60 FPS games along with Ocarina of Time, Perfect Dark and Goldeneye 007!

@personauser93 It’s portable, idiot.

@Galenmereth
I don't disagree with NotSoCryptic that Overwatch on Switch should be 60 fps. I just thought it was a really weird thing to say,especially considering how well known it is that SF can't even reach 20 fps.

I would’ve liked to have seen some game footage instead of a newsfeed from Hong Kong...

Huh, thats really weird. I got it day one and the FPS has seemed really strong almost the whole way and the only texture issues I see noticeably in docked are weapons at the beginning of the game with handheld looking pretty perfect at all times.

I was actually taken aback at how well the port came out so it's a shame to see it labelled as disappointing and such.

Not played this yet on any platform but am interested to. This games release got me back into playing Paladins and i had forgotten just how much fun that game is.

Digital foundry you are really boring me now, please just go away!

Hear you go, the switch is not as technically good as pc/ps4/xbox1. See now your job is done, move along....

Well, DF recently tested RE5 and 6 and hammered them for bad frame rates and terrible resolution among other things... put in short... they hate both games on Switch. I sat down this weekend and played through both the demos and I can honestly say that I didn't experience any annoying bugs or frame drops or whatever. Everything ran just fine on my Switch. DF are pretty good testers, but sometimes they exaggerate to get clicks and that I don't like.

@CurryPowderKeg79 i wasn't born in the 80's but I grew up with the 80's equipment I played a lot of Super mario bros 1,2,3, Zelda, doctor mario, karate, double dragon, metal gear, and a lot more. I also grew up with a PlayStation even though I still played the Nintendo more. When I was a bit older I went to a garage sale that had a lot of expensive items for pretty cheap, I got a special edition gameboy color with pokemon red,yellow,gold,silver, 2 Zelda titles for about 15$ but another thing I got a game boy advanced and gameboy color and all the games together for 15$ and i played those like crazy. just a fun story i have about older game consoles i have.

@Toy_Link Starfox ran at 19 FPS. People remember it differently. That was the point.