Despite Its Classification, Frostpunk 2 Is a Good Game for The Steam Deck

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Despite Its Classification, Frostpunk 2 Is a Good Game for The Steam Deck

As a seasoned gamer who has been through countless generations of gaming consoles and handheld devices, I can confidently say that the Steam Deck has truly revolutionized portable gaming for me. While Nintendo’s Switch continues to captivate with its exclusive titles like Zelda and Mario, it is the Steam Deck that opens the door to a vast library of AAA games like Elden Ring, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Cyberpunk 2077.

Although Nintendo’s Switch has continued to thrive in the handheld gaming market even as its rivals have ceased operations entirely, Valve’s Steam Deck provides an advantage that the Switch lacks: access to a vast array of some of today’s top-tier games. While the Switch boasts titles like “Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” and “Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe”, the Steam Deck offers games such as “Elden Ring”, the “Resident Evil 4 Remake”, and “Cyberpunk 2077”, in addition to over 10,000 other verified titles. Regrettably, “Frostpunk 2” is not among those available games at this time.

Recently unveiled, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 dystopian city-builder from 11 Bit Studios, Frostpunk 2, has finally arrived, and it seems to have been well worth the wait judging by the positive reviews it’s receiving. On Steam, Frostpunk 2 currently boasts a “Mostly Positive” rating based on over 6,300 user reviews. However, if you look closely at these reviews, you’ll notice that Frostpunk 2 has a Steam Deck verification status of “Unsupported,” which implies that the game isn’t officially compatible with Steam Deck. Yet, this isn’t entirely accurate. In reality, it is possible to run Frostpunk 2 on Steam Deck, although it might require some additional steps or workarounds.

Frostpunk 2 Could Be The Perfect Steam Deck Game Soon

Frostpunk 2 Is Currently an Enjoyable Experience on the Steam Deck

Strategy games and the Steam Deck are a perfect pairing. The Steam Deck’s sleep mode allows players to quickly hop into a strategy game, place a few buildings, organize a few armies, complete an objective or two, and then pause the game mid-session, which is a valuable feature when sessions can last for hours at a time. Frostpunk 2‘s campaign lends itself well to this pick-up-and-play approach that the Steam Deck excels in.

Even though Frostpunk 2 is marked as an “Unsupported” title on the Steam Deck, it performs surprisingly well out of the box. Launching Frostpunk 2 on the Steam Deck for the first time reveals that its settings are already optimized to match the Steam Deck’s hardware specifications. For example, the game’s window size adjusts to fill the entire Steam Deck screen seamlessly. Additionally, the graphics settings will be set to low by default in an effort to maintain a smooth gaming experience.

On lower graphic settings, Frostpunk 2 maintains a clear appearance on the Steam Deck, and its performance stays impressively stable, often reaching 30FPS or higher. The default control scheme for Frostpunk 2 on the Steam Deck is surprisingly user-friendly; the right trackpad functions as the mouse cursor, while the triggers act as left and right mouse buttons. Even the default UI and font size of Frostpunk 2 are well-suited for the smaller screen of the Steam Deck. Given that it’s an unsupported game, Frostpunk 2 performs surprisingly smoothly from the get-go.

Frostpunk 2’s Steam Deck Performance Isn’t Perfect Just Yet

It’s understandable why Frostpunk 2 hasn’t been officially supported yet on platforms like the Steam Deck. The battery life of the handheld console is significantly reduced when playing this strategy game, with it only lasting around 45 minutes to an hour. Additionally, as the player expands their city, the frame rate can occasionally decrease noticeably, although this is mostly apparent when zooming in for a closer look at buildings and districts.

While there’s some more fine-tuning needed to optimize Frostpunk 2 for the Steam Deck, the perfect gaming experience might not be too distant. In the meantime, enthusiastic players can enjoy a satisfying gameplay experience with Frostpunk 2 on their handheld device.

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2024-09-25 22:04