Valve’s portable system pulls off PS4 games with aplomb.
The Steam Deck has been garnering praise for its performance while also drawing criticism for bugs, compatibility issues, and battery life. Valve's portable gaming system has had a somewhat mixed reception among reviewers while still inspiring impressed reactions. Among the latter is Digital Foundry who tested the higher spec'ed Steam Deck, and found "console quality handheld gaming". DF even said it was more comfortable to use than a Nintendo Switch even though the Deck is much larger and heavier than the less powerful Switch.
Meanwhile, those gamers who own neither a PS4 or PS5 but have been wanting to try out Sony first-party titles such as God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, which have been ported for PC, can play them on the Steam Deck – and they'll find very good performance to boot.
Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War, both of which have been admired for their graphics and smooth animation, and are standout showcase titles for the PS4, run at a remarkably sturdy 30fps on the Deck. If the framerate cap is removed, highs of 45 frames-per-second can even be reached, which means the Steam Deck sometimes outperforms the original console equivalents, although Valve's machine is outputting a lower resolution.
Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding runs in 720p at a steady 30fps in equivalent settings to a PS4. While dropping to 720p may sound lacklustre, the Steam Deck does only have a 7-inch screen meaning the lower resolution won't be as noticeable as on a large TV screen or monitor.
While the Steam Deck does wonders with the specs it has, there are limitations with its CPU as can be expected on a portable gaming system, which means games such as Days Gone – with its processor-intensive zombie hordes – will see frame rates dropping during such encounters. But overall performance is comparable to a PS4 when running these PC ports of PS4 games on the portable Steam Deck, which is an impressive achievement.
However, it's important to remember the Steam Deck is still more like a PC than a console, (thanks, Pushsquare), which means players will have to tinker and play around with technical settings and modulations in order to secure the best performance from these games. But once they do, the Steam Deck can pull off extraordinary results considering its modest size.
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