Modern Warfare 4 review for Nintendo Switch 2

System: Switch 2
Release date: October 23, 2026
Developer: Infinity Ward / Digital Legends Entertainment
Publisher: Activision

Believe it or not, it has been thirteen long years since a mainline Call of Duty game saw a release on Nintendo consoles – that was Call of Duty: Ghosts on Wii U. For a lot of Nintendo gamers, they’ve missed over a decade of releases in the franchise, including the recent Modern Warfare remake series leading up to this endgame to the saga, Modern Warfare 4 (not to be confused with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare). I was a massive Call of Duty fan during the Xbox 360 era, having played the original Modern Warfare trilogy quite obsessively. I became attached to the characters and each campaign expanded on the world and improved the gameplay. When that trilogy ended, however, I largely abandoned the franchise, so I never played the remake series of Modern Warfare games. My concern going in here was that I would be lost because the remake trilogy did change plot details in the campaigns from the original releases of their titles. There was also the concern of how well a new Nintendo Switch 2 Call of Duty day-and-date release with other consoles would fare and perform.

Starting out with the campaign of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, it’s built from the ground up with a focus purely on telling the story through original missions and a focused narrative – a welcome change from the much-maligned Modern Warfare 3 remake campaign, which borrowed heavily from the game’s multiplayer modes and aggravated a lot of fans. The central storyline centers around two protagonists: Captain Price and Private Park.

Captain Price returns from all three previous games in the series. This time, he is working independently from Task Force 141 in a John Wick-esque quest for vengeance. He’s working underground against all his SAS training, and eventually finds himself in conflict with people he once called his brothers-in-arms. Captain Price makes uneasy alliances in an effort to seek out the primary villain of this tale, The Archer (portrayed expertly by seasoned actor Mads Mikkelsen). The other side of the story focuses on rookie soldier Private Park, who is thrust into combat for the first time when North Korea invades South Korea in a full-scale attack. Park, alongside his squad composed of both Korean and U.S. soldiers, must put it all on the line to protect civilians and stop the invaders from taking over the nation. While Private Park’s side of the campaign stays primarily in the midst of the Korean War, Captain Price finds himself on a globe-trotting adventure that takes him from New York to Paris, Mumbai, and beyond as he seeks to complete his goals.

I really enjoyed both sides of the campaign. Creating an entirely original storyline for this campaign on the Korean conflict was a very smart move from the team, as this plot requires no real prior knowledge of the series to become invested in the gravity of Park and his friends’ situation. Captain Price’s story does offer a lot more in terms of fan service, with appearances from characters returning from previous games, including Makarov, Gaz, and fan-favorite Ghost. Their interactions include references to some of the older games. Even though some things were changed in the remakes, other details stayed the same, making me smile from ear to ear as I caught some of the nods. You can tell the creators of this story really care about the franchise’s narrative and lore, which was a genuine concern at one point in years gone by when Call of Duty’s yearly releases seemed primarily focused on the multiplayer component rather than anything else.

There are gameplay segments in the campaign that are exclusive to this mode, including vehicle missions, unique 1v1 fist fights, stealth missions, and even an open level with loads of unique collectibles to discover, which really stands out compared to the other linear campaign stages. All in all, there are sixteen missions to play, and the whole adventure is an absolute treat. I won’t spoil anything, but as a longtime fan of the Modern Warfare franchise, this felt like a beautiful send-off with a campaign of similar quality to the earlier games in the series. It may not be the best one, the original 2007 Modern Warfare campaign is still my top choice, but this one is really damn good.

The campaign, however, is just one of three big gameplay modes that make up Modern Warfare 4. The other two are, of course, multiplayer-focused, and I’m pleased to report the game has full cross-play support with all current-generation consoles and PC. The next big mode to talk about is DMZ, which has a few story missions in it that expand on the campaign’s narrative, but they are nothing more than a little bonus, and don’t impact my feelings toward the campaign one way or the other. DMZ takes place after the campaign, so I recommend playing the story mode first.

You get dropped into an area called the Exclusion Zone, where players can partake in a variety of activities – either solo or with other players. There are the aforementioned story missions, hunting out specific targets, extraction missions, and raiding enemy lines. The trick is knowing when to get out and store what you’ve earned back at the hub. DMZ is very dynamic, and it constantly feels like something is happening when you drop in and out. Rewards for completing missions are called Trait Points, and these can be converted at the hub area for crafting purposes, which, in turn, can give the player better weapons and gear. The DMZ mode has actually changed a bit from the beta, and Infinity Ward has talked about taking player and community opinions on board so they could improve DMZ. Feedback has been encouraged so that the mode can continue to grow with the community.

DMZ is the mode I personally spent the least time with in the review period, because I could tell even after a few hours that it would be a massive time sink. I would need to dedicate a lot of free time to exclusively playing this mode to continue growing my original operative within the world. Worthy of mention is that leveling up is symbiotic between DMZ and the traditional multiplayer modes, which is a more than welcome addition. DMZ is a mode I’ll definitely spend some time with in the evenings when I’m not working, but maybe just because I’m a creature of habit, I couldn’t help myself from spending most of my time with the traditional Call of Duty multiplayer modes that are in their own dedicated segment of the main menu. 

I felt fourteen again, spending hours in the multiplayer maps and camping in areas waiting for enemy squad members to make themselves visible. Sorry, I am one of those guys. Considering how long I was out of the game in terms of playing Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, Free-For-All and more, I was expecting to feel especially rusty, but it really was like riding a bike. The controls were always one of my favorite elements of the Modern Warfare titles; they are fluid, intuitive, and always feel good to use. This game follows Infinity Ward’s design philosophy of being grounded, but satisfying to play to the letter. This praise shouldn’t be misconstrued as a lack of innovation. There are movement elements I wasn’t familiar with from the older games I played, including sliding and shooting from positions I hadn’t encountered before. I couldn’t tell you which games introduced these options, but as a returning player from a long time away, it felt fresh and still familiar. In truth, players online were absolutely decimating me in random matchmaking. The number of kills I was getting was heavily outweighed by the number of times I found myself respawning in levels, but I really didn’t care. I was having so much fun that I couldn’t get overly frustrated. I love that the ends of matches have a little highlight reel that shows the best kill of each match. Weaponry is as versatile as ever – there are assault rifles, snipers, pistols, shotguns, launchers and more. Expect to find lots of different equipment to use in tandem with your guns, including regular grenades, stun grenades, claymores and C4. Experiment with different loadouts to find what suits you! I have yet to unlock it or find it, but for nostalgic reasons, I really hope the M16A4 Assault Rifle is in the game somewhere.

Now, let’s talk about the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game specifically. After watching so many trailers for the game being played on other consoles and PC, I was worried about how Nintendo’s console would handle that level of strain. Thankfully, I’m thrilled to confirm this version is a stellar edition. The campaign is locked at 30 frames per second, and even during the most strenuous moments, the game didn’t experience any major frame drops. I much prefer this to higher frame rates that drop or slow the experience down. Concessions were obviously made to make this possible, so character models aren’t as detailed, a lot of textures are smoothed over, and some environments have a little less happening visually. Still, the game looks really decent and a lot of effort has gone into making this version of the game as close to parity with other versions. The multiplayer is flawless – I sank hours in and never encountered any issues, and it runs at 60 frames with no issues. This is a hell of an effort from Infinity Ward and Digital Legends Entertainment, and both teams deserve massive praise for this technical achievement.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Switch 2 is a glorious return to form for both the series and Nintendo fans hankering for some military gunplay action. While some graphical compromises had to be made so the game can run appropriately on the hardware, it does so magnificently, and what could easily have been a slapdash port just to have something for Nintendo gamers is instead an excellently crafted title that both new and returning fans will find something to enjoy. The campaign worked for me, and though it may not live up to the best the series has, it gets pretty close, and the multiplayer modes are as addictive as ever. DMZ didn’t speak to me as much as perhaps I hoped it would, though I hope the team at Infinity Ward takes community feedback to heart and allows the mode to continue growing alongside its player community. As is, it isn’t really my thing. Even so, I love two thirds of the gameplay modes on offer so much that the third doesn’t do much to hamper my experience. There are better-looking and perhaps better-running versions of the shooter out there, but for what Nintendo Switch 2 is capable of doing, this is a top-notch version of a game that I highly recommend. Modern Warfare 4 is FPS action at its very best, and if you’re even a tad curious, I recommend picking this one up. None of us needs to get dirty with Modern Warfare 4, because the whole game’s world, and indeed this version of the game, is clean.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 copy provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.