Steam Deck - How's about that gaming?

Before I continue, I need to stress that I have a lot of opinions on the Steam Deck, and I want folks to read this. Not only that, but every day I’m learning new stuff every day with the Steam deck.

Because of all of the above, this will be a series of continuous blog posts on the Steam Deck - feel free to skip certain blog posts and focus on other ones that interest you.

How’s about that gaming

So the games I mentioned in the last post work really well at 60fps (thanks to those great mods for fixing physics issues related to higher FPS on previous GTA games). Just to recap, they were:

• Manhunt
• GTA Vice City
• GTA 3
• Bejewelled 3

But what about modern(ish) games?

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Steam Deck happily runs GTA V at 60fps. Sixty. Frames. Per. Second. Even on high to low settings. For me, this absolutely boggles my mind. I accept the fact that GTA V is well over 12 years old at this point, but still. GTA V is not a simple game in terms of graphics and technical capability. There is a lot going on under the hood in GTA V! The fact that the Steam Deck can do it and barely make any noise out of its fans is impressive. Not only that, this was 60fps with all the settings whacked up (except for water reflections - I’m not a monster!!).

And of course, GTA IV runs flawlessly at 60fps too. Funnily enough, when that game came out, nearly every PC struggled to run it at 30fps. And here we are. In 2022, we are running GTA IV on a handheld device at 60fps. I am shooketh.

It’s not just GTA IV and V! Saints Row: The Third and IV run at 60fps too without hitches! I think these games had FPS drops on my old gaming rig - and yet!! It’s here!! In handheld form, running at a smooth 60fps!! It makes me laugh, because my Nintendo Switch can barely run these games at 30fps without drastic graphics options turned down. And yet these games run at 60fps on High setting - not Ultra, that does tank the frame rate. But still!!

Admittedly, I have yet to run DOOM (2016) or DOOM Eternal, as I got sidetracked by the things going on in next section. However, I do know that DOOM Eternal has some secret magic sauce to keep its frame rate locked in at 60fps, so I think it is kind of a pointless endeavour to try out. That, and I actually hate playing DOOM Eternal - I much prefer the DOOM 2016 version.

At some point, I will actually need to get a modern-modern game like Elden Ring or something. Right now, it’s not that I’m scared of the performance or anything, but I’m simply not interested in any modern offering. Elden Ring seems cruelly punishing, which is not the kind of game I enjoy, and Spider-Man is a game I played on PS4 but didn’t get much out of; I felt the environment is very Ubisoft-y - same goes for Horizon: Zero Dawn for that matter. I may end up spending money of The Last Of Us: Part 1, but paying £70 for a game I’ve played before just to see if it doesn’t set my Steam Deck alight is… cruel.