Doom took PC. PS4, and Xbox One by storm last year, with a fast-paced, modern take on the series’ classic formula. Stomping demons back into hell was great looking, well-optimized, and one of my games of the year. Bethesda announced that it would be bringing some of its past hits to the Nintendo Switch, and Doom is the first of several points we’ll be seeing.
The Nintendo Switch is impressive in its own way, but it doesn’t have nearly the power of Sony or Microsoft’s consoles, much less a high-end gaming PC. We were curious to see if all the crisp, bloody picture remains with the Switch version, or whether it’s a muddled mess. Below we’ve analyzed just how close Doom is on Switch to the PC version graphically.
Doom Nintendo Switch vs. PC Low and Ultra Settings
We compared the Nintendo Switch version of Doom to the PC version on low and ultra settings. We used the following test machine to take footage of the PC version and a stock Nintendo Switch for footage of that version of that game.
- CPU: Delidded Intel i7-7700k clocked to 4.8 GHz
- Cooler: Corsair H100i v2 AIO liquid cooler
- Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z270-A
- RAM: 16 GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4-2400
- GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 AMP! Edition
For all three recordings, we set motion blur on medium. For PC Ultra settings we simply turned everything possible to Ultra and the resolution to 4K UHD. For low, we did the opposite and adjusted everything to the lowest setting possible.
Also: Doom (2016) Review
Right off the bat, the Switch’s draw distance and textures are lower than even the lowest PC setting. The Switch version is also locked to 30 fps, as opposed to the 60 the PC version was running at in this footage. I tried to sync up a few parts for a more direct comparison, so check out the beginning of the game, when Doomguy gets his armor, and when he picks up the shotgun to more readily see the differences between each version.
As distracting as the Switch’s odd hyper depth-of-field look can be, it does have one significant advantage over any other version: it’s portable. There’s no other way to play Doom on the go right now, so looking at it from the perspective of the Switch as a portable gaming system, Doom is very impressive. However, from a stationary gaming standpoint, any other version trumps it in graphics and framerate.
The decision to purchase the Switch version or not should come down to whether you plan to take it on the go. If you play it in handheld mode a lot, this is an excellent addition to your library. If you use the Switch in console mode more though, you might want to look into getting it for another console, or better yet, PC.
At $59.99 Doom for the Nintendo Switch is somewhat baffling. It’s an inferior version for a much higher price than you can get the PS4, Xbox One, or PC version for. The game fills a niche that the Switch is still wanting for, but your better off spending that $60 on a Switch exclusive that offers an experience you can’t find anywhere else.
