Thick As Thieves was provided by Megabit Publishing for review. Thank you!
When Thick As Thieves was first announced, it was due to be a PvPvE extraction heist game, where multiple thieves were after an artifact, and you had to steal it for yourself while foiling the plans of others.
Shortly before release, however (as soon as April 2026), the plans changed, and Thick As Thieves became a 1-2 player co-op heist game, with the removal of all PvP, many previously promised features, such as a "living world", as well as areas and characters that are present on the Steam store page no longer being available.
Because of these last-minute changes, Thick As Thieves comes across as a very bare-bones game, more of a proof of concept, really. There are just 2 maps available, each with various contracts, which are essentially different sets of objectives that change certain things about the map, such as guard patrol patterns. Each time you play, the locations of certain key items will also be different, so there is a little variety going on, but not enough to really hold your attention for more than a couple of hours.
While the maps are quite nicely detailed and presented, and the variety is appreciated, you will become familiar with them fairly quickly, and that causes them to lose their ability to surprise you. Having the key item be located in the Library as opposed to the Bullpen is hardly a way to increase replayability; it just merely means you might turn left down the corridor instead of right, somewhere you probably had to go at some point anyway.
Progression, likewise, is limited. You'll earn points/pounds through completing contracts and objectives, which can then be spent on unlockables, which are mostly cosmetics, aside from the 2nd map, higher difficulties, and the game's 2nd character. There are a couple of pieces of equipment to unlock, as well as 2 available from the start. These are pretty nifty and helpful tools to have, such as a smoke bomb to distract and blind guards, which is almost essential.
A key part of Thick as Thieves is navigation. This was simultaneously the coolest and most frustrating part of the game for me. Cool because you have to get out and analyze an actual map while the game still plays out, as well as use clues you find around the map to find the location of your target. Frustrating because when you're on a time limit and trying to find a specific room while figuring out where you are and planning a route, it can be a little stressful, but maybe that's the point.
Once you've got your route planned, you then have to bypass the security. Guards, Magic Eyes, Turrets, and Pressure Plates. Guards are the trickiest, moving on set patrol patterns. You either have the option to avoid them entirely, distract them, or take them out from behind, which was my preferred tactic. I did encounter a couple of issues with guards. After being knocked out, they would sometimes remain constantly "alerted" and run around the map like headless chickens, which should not have happened, as it made the rest of the mission very difficult.
Magic Eyes are best avoided, or you can use a smoke bomb to temporarily blind them. Not much to say here, get caught, and you'll likely be trapped in the area you're in for a little while and take damage-over-time unless you can hide again, but they don't seem to alert the guards, and ultimately they feel a little useless.
Turrets and Pressure Plates I largely found to also be non-issues; one is just a timed avoidance as it rotates, and the other is so easily perceptible that you should never end up touching one. Again, I did encounter a bug here, sadly, where a turret was able to perceive me through a wall, as well as fire and kill me through said wall, quite the issue in a game based around stealth.
The stealth mechanics work reasonably well (aside from the above-mentioned issues). The game has a "light/dark" system that detects whether you are in shadow and makes you more or less visible from a distance accordingly. While the idea is neat, the game can never truly take advantage of it due to its limited scope. There aren't too many light/dark areas in the game, and you're probably just going to stay completely out of the line of sight of the guards anyway. It's most noticeable in outdoor areas, where, for example, if you're under a street lamp, you can be spotted from very far away.
Given the troubled development of the game, Thick As Thieves feels like you might imagine, a game with plenty of neat ideas, but poorly executed. I have no doubt that in the months before release, game mechanics were reworked to align with the new direction the game was taking. Some things feel like they don't belong in the game or were quickly thrown in, while there are big swathes of content seemingly absent. You also cannot pause the game, even in solo missions, no doubt a leftover from when the game was meant to be an online-only extraction title. You can play without an internet connection, however.
The saving grace here is that Thick As Thieves is launching at just $5, likely a far cry from the originally intended price, with the idea that the developers will expand the game in the future, most likely through paid DLC for additional maps. I do worry whether the game will garner enough of a player base for this to come to fruition, though.
I did need to install the VCRun 2022 Redistributable to get the game to run, as the developers don't seem to have included it with the installer. If your game doesn't run, go into Desktop Mode, boot/install ProtonTricks, select Thick As Thieves, then Default Wine Prefix, then Install a Windows DLL or Component, then scroll down and find VCRun2022 and install it. The game should now work.
Thick As Thieves works great on a controller, and thus controls well on the Steam Deck; it also supports the 1280x800 native resolution of the Deck.
The game defaults to Low settings, and I would keep them there. While you can hit 60 FPS in certain areas, the game tends to hold around high 40s and low 50s, so I'd recommend that you use SteamOS to cap the framerate to 40 FPS for a more stable experience. The game still looks decent on Low settings, and 40 FPS works well given that it isn't very fast-paced.
Your power draw will be around 18-20W, depending on the area, but it's relatively stable throughout. Expect a battery life of around 2.5 Hours on a Steam Deck OLED and around 1.5 Hours on a Steam Deck LCD.
Some UI is rather small and difficult to read on the Steam Deck's screen.
Thick As Thieves contains no accessibility options, but all dialogue is subtitled.
Thick As Thieves' troubled development has unfortunately resulted in a game full of half-baked ideas and limited replayability. While there are a couple of hours of enjoyment to be had, as well as a modest price tag, bugs and a lifeless world are a far cry from what was promised.
Once you've got the Visual C Redist installed, the game runs well on the Steam Deck and is perfectly playable at 40 FPS.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
Saros was provided by PlayStation for review. Thank you!
Roguelikes are one of the more enjoyable, newer genres that have taken up most of my time. I’ve always loved grinding in games, especially JRPGs, and with this genre designed to push you to go back over and over progressively, get better and more powerful, it spoke to me. There are a ton of great ones out there. However, Saros tricked me. Despite having gameplay mechanics similar to roguelikes, the game is structured closer to a third-person action adventure, and that change in perspective makes this bullet hell one worth braving through the accessible chaos.
Developer Housemarque has really created something special again. They captured it once with Returnal, and it feels like they have stepped it up again with Saros. Bullet hell games tend to confuse me with so much going on at one time on the screen, and being in the thick of it in third person in a 3D world makes it even harder for me to comprehend. Yet with Saros, I not only understood everything that was happening on screen, but I could also comprehend and react accordingly, which had me dodging, dashing, and shooting in ways I didn’t even think I could.
It amazed me every time I got into combat. The general gameplay loop has us going from area to area, killing scores of enemies, dodging the stream of colorful balls they shoot at us, and culminating in a big boss fight. As we go to each area, we will get new weapons and artifacts to enhance our skills, as well as get currency (Lucenite) that will be used for permanent passive upgrades that will give us an edge in our run. And when we die, we lose the artifacts and higher-powered weapons, and will need to restart the runs until we can complete and beat each boss.
If this loop sounds familiar…well, that’s because it is. It’s a tried and true gameplay loop that works well in other roguelikes and keeps the constant replaying of the same areas. Some randomization of the level layouts helps, but even without it, the actual bullet-hell shooting gave me more than enough motivation to dive back in.
The assortment of weapons we can find also greatly enhances replayability. There’s a good chunk of them, ranging from assault rifles and shotguns to guns that can shoot out sawblades. Each of them has its uses and strengths, and I found myself enjoying all of them. I usually have favorite weapons in every game I play, but that wasn’t really the case here because I enjoyed all of them. Ultimately, I would get nitpicky about their stats rather than about what kind of gun it was, and the decision to make some of them automatically lock onto enemies was a good choice. There are benefits for using guns that don’t lock onto enemies, since they usually deal more damage, but going for the guns that can automatically lock onto enemies gives us one less thing to worry about, so we can focus on dodging orbs and getting those perfect reloads.
Speaking of which, I want to praise Housemarque for making an extremely chaotic game that is still very easy to comprehend. These colorful orbs can come from anywhere, and not only will we need to dodge them, but some may need to be parried. With enemies all over the map, with some being able to shoot hundreds of orbs in every direction at any given time, it can feel like there’s so much going on. Yet, I never felt overwhelmed. Every action I took felt calculated, and in a game like this, it can be a major issue if we can’t understand what’s going on. No matter how many orbs were coming at me, there were enough indicators that were obvious, along with a mini map with enemy locations and visual cues to keep me informed and able to figure out what I needed to do. The fact that the chaos successfully translated into a comprehensible state to this degree is an achievement in itself.
However, Saros does stand out from others and makes some interesting choices that mostly enhance the experience further. To make our weapons more powerful, we will consistently gain one of three attributes as we play: Command, Drive, and Resilience. These attributes can enhance one of three stats on whatever weapon we have equipped. It’s a little slow and doesn’t have much of an impact in the early parts of the game, but they can make big differences as we give ourselves more permanent upgrades in between runs to collect more and more. This works hand in hand with the proficiency system. As we collect currency in the run, our proficiency goes up, which directly influences how much each of the weapon stats can go up.
The main way we will initially get attributes is through artifacts, which can provide passive benefits like collecting extra Lucenite and healing more from Aether pickups. There’s only a limited amount of artifacts we can hold, and we can’t get rid of them normally, so choosing the right ones with the attributes and abilities you need will be key. I wasn’t a huge fan of this, since there were a handful of times I found a great artifact and had to leave it behind because I couldn’t get rid of an older one, which was a bummer.
While the ideas are interesting, I found the corruption/negative effects a little too difficult or just downright ridiculous. For the second half of each area, we will trigger an eclipse, which makes enemies more aggressive and causes them to drop more Lucenite. This also makes artifacts more powerful, giving us more attributes, but they now come with negative effects. Most of these are fine, but some are just diabolical, like increasing the dash cooldown. With how key dashing is in combat, I hated seeing how frequently this popped up. Of course, we can always choose not to take it, and we could even get a special item to re-roll that artifact, but I didn’t find it worthwhile to take it on and save those re-rolls to get the weapon I wanted. There were runs where I ended up only having 3 artifacts because of this, and the decreased frequency they show up later on, instead of the older 12 or more I would find.
And then we have destabilizing attributes. Some of these artifacts will not only have negative effects, but also have a chance of destabilizing your attributes, giving even worse effects. Two of the three are okay and annoying, but not debilitating, while the third is just awful. It can make it so you don’t get any Lucenite if you die, which can make the whole run feel pointless. I understand this is supposed to be a difficult game, but this felt a little too harsh. Thankfully, most of these problems come later in the game, but they are still quite annoying to deal with.
Still, the combat was so fun that I ended up not caring about the negatives. Even after getting the destabilized attribute that takes away any Lucenite I earned, it never stopped me from wanting to dive back in. The energetic combat never lets up; even when it might seem overwhelming, it’s still understandable. I don’t know many games that can make the chaotic, bullet hell easily discernible in third person, but they did it in ways that captivated me.
As for the story, I was actually quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it at the end. For the first 75 to 80%, I was a little on the confused side. We play as Arjun Devraj, who has come with the emergency response team, Echelon IV, to investigate why the Soltati Corporation he works for has lost contact with the other three teams they have sent to this alien planet to set up a mining colony. He awakens with no memory and is kept in a loop, while it is slowly revealed that he has other motives for being there.
At first, it seems as though Arjun’s there to do his job, but he ends up just looking for his wife, Nitya. And as the game progresses, we learn more about how and why Nitya is here. I won’t spoil anything about the story in this review, but I will say the end was very satisfying. Saros initially made me believe the story would end abruptly without a conclusion I would consider pleasing, but it came back with a better ending that felt more realistic and satisfying than I thought it would.
However, even after the credits rolled, I found motivation to go back in just to keep playing through the fantastic gameplay loop. In a way, it feels unmatched. I don’t remember the last experience, other than possibly Returnal, that gave me the same adrenaline rush and satisfaction that comes from the combat.
Saros is a third-person shooter at its core, but the roguelike and bullet hell elements feel so refined that it offers an experience worth playing through. The combat is energetic, the progression is effective, and the story will be wrapped up in a nice blanket that feels satisfying to finish. It can be a little brutal at times, especially with destabilization, but that never stopped me from continually going in for more. Saros is an incredible game, and one that I’ll keep going back to for years just to get another hit of its accessible chaos.
Our review is based on the PS5 version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
TerraTech Legion was provided by Mythwright for review. Thank you!
Ever since Vampire Survivors, there have been so many variations of the game, creating the survivors-like genre. I’m almost all of them offer some unique take on the gameplay loop, offering a different experience that scratches the survivors' itch in another way. I feel like I’ve played so many of them, from medical ones where we combine spells to ones that include a sort of Diablo 2-esque RPG system. But TerraTech Legion went in a significantly different direction. It’s still very obviously a survivors game, but the unique mechanic that sets it apart elevates the gameplay to be more engaging and overall way more fun.
The gameplay loop is simple, as it is for all games in this genre. You go around a map, kill enemies, level up, and get more powerful with new in-run upgrades. As time goes on, more enemies will come out with stronger variations, and you’ll have to pick and choose your upgrades wisely to keep surviving. As you play, you will also get currency to get permanent upgrades, so each time you go back in, you will have a better edge. It’s a proven strategy for an effective, addictive experience, and it works well in TerraTech Legion, too.
However, it’s the upgrade system that truly makes this game shine. TerraTech is a series of games that are all about modular building vehicles in real time. The first game is all about exploring an open-world sandbox, crafting, and building your own vehicle. So, when I first saw this game, I was wondering how they would translate that into a survival setting. And honestly, the way they implemented it feels meaningful.
Whenever we level up or find them around the maps, we will get crates that we can use to upgrade our vehicle that we roam the map in. We will get three options to choose from, and then we have to attach the new parts to our vehicle. We have completely free rain on how we want to build it out, as we can get building blocks, utilities, and multiple different weapons that we can attach wherever. While we do have a base vehicle, we can essentially completely modify and change how it looks and feels, as well as which directions the weapons shoot from.
The possibilities and creativity here are endless, yet I never felt like it was a waste. Every decision I made affected how I would use my vehicle. Would I pump out a bunch of guns shooting forward? Would I equip my vehicle with extra armor and spikes to ram into them? Would I pump up my boost gauge so I can travel and slam into foes for extra damage? That’s the beauty of the system. Not only do we choose what weapons and defensive capabilities we want, but we also choose how it’s going to be used.
Playing around with the system was one of the highlights of each run and made going through it so much more enjoyable. I don’t think I’ve ever played a survivors game like this, and apart from the general gameplay loop, it was hard to draw similarities to other similar games. With how many games are released with the style of gameplay, that’s a huge compliment.
Apart from that, the worlds included are varied and have different hazards, but they all generally play out the same. I do appreciate that there is a time limit for each mission before the main boss appears, so there is an end goal instead of just endlessly playing (though there is an endless mode we can unlock). And there's an ample amount of opportunities to modify your vehicle, with a good chunk of crates being available to snag.
Each world in TerraTech Legion has different levels, which increase its difficulty. We can unlock these by completing objectives on each map and upgrading one of our four operators. The four operators all have their own permanent skill trees in abilities that make them focus on different things. Some of the notes on the skill trees aren’t the most helpful, and I do wish we had a permanent upgrade system that affected everybody. The currency we get to upgrade only applies to the operator we use, so if you get a new one, you essentially have to start from no currency and upgrade it from nothing. On one hand, it is replaceable, but on the other hand, it felt like I was starting over from the beginning after I had worked so hard to upgrade and get stronger.
TerraTech Legion is a joy to play on the Steam Deck, though we can make it better with some changes to its quality settings. The game defaults to the lowest settings, which isn't awful, but I was curious why they chose the settings they did. Not only can this game look significantly better and still stick to 60 FPS, but it also has support for Vulkan drivers. For Linux devices, including the Steam Deck, this is preferred over DirectX 12 and will usually result in better performance, so I am surprised this isn't enabled by default on the Deck.
However, for this, I would recommend actually moving all of the quality settings to Medium and Shadows on High, as well as moving the Upscale Screen Percentage to 75%. This makes the game look gorgeous, and from my experience, it has stuck to 60 FPS. It does drain a little more than usual, and there may be some scenarios where there are too many enemies and explosions that start to hurt performance, but I beat multiple worlds and levels with these settings and didn't see any drops.
TerraTech Legion is easily one of the most unique survivors games I have played. It pushes the upgrade system to something that feels customizable and impactful with each block you place to build your own vehicle. It was so enjoyable to start each run and build my vehicle up to the kind of powerhouse I wanted it to be. The permanent upgrade system leaves a little to be desired, and doesn’t encourage trying to operators as much as I would’ve liked, but I didn’t mind just using one because each run felt like a new way to experiment.
The game feels perfect on the Steam Deck as well, with settings we can push up to make it look beautiful on the smaller screen. It's a great game to play, especially on the go.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
TAMASHIKA was provided by EDGLRD for review. Thank you!
When I go to events, I get to check out so many upcoming, incredible games. It’s pretty amazing seeing what developers are able to create, and the ideas they have that are so wildly different than the mainstream games. One of those games was TAMASHIKA. From far away, it looked like a fast-paced, first-person shooter, so I went closer, and I saw one of the weirdest games I had ever seen. With a setting that looked like it came right out of LSD Dream Emulator and arms that looked like they were drawn in MS Paint, TAMASHIKA caught my interest almost immediately.
And weird doesn’t even begin to describe the experience. There’s almost constant bright flashing colors, Japanese characters that will come up on the screen, a world that looks like it’s unfolding right before you, in these green blob aliens that you have to kill as you run around. Yet, despite the weirdness, I find it hard to put down.
No, there isn’t actually much content in the game, and it can be completed relatively quickly. After going to the tutorial, you basically get to play one procedurally-generated level and try to get as high as you can on the leaderboard. Now the level does change each day, but I wouldn’t go into TAMASHIKA expecting depth.
However, you can’t expect a core experience to be so tight and fast that you’ll feel compelled to keep on going on the same level over and over to get the best score possible. You’re armed with a pistol and a knife, and the pistol will not run out of ammo as long as you are hitting enemies. Every time you hit an enemy, your score goes up, and it can only be solidified. Once you deflect the bullet from a glowing enemy. If you miss, your accumulated score that isn’t solidified goes away. You have to be precise and act fast, or you will not be able to succeed.
This is expertly combined with fantastic audio and visual design that accentuates some of the actions you will need to be taking. For example, deflecting bullets to solidify your score will pop up with flashing lights, giant Japanese text spread across the middle of your screen, and a very clear audio cue telling you when to deflect. That means in every run, you’ll have to watch and listen to what happens. I actually tried playing this without sound, and I found it significantly harder to survive. Thankfully, the soundtrack is a blast, filled with engaging beats that had me popping my head while I was shooting the green aliens coming at me.
On top of that, the levels are designed oddly so that you won’t have to think twice in the moment as you’re running around them. Sometimes it will be straightforward, following the white line on the ground to where you need to go next, but sometimes, there will be gaps in the level, and you have to find a yellow balloon that you can teleport to by shooting it. Sometimes, the yellow balloon is just out of sight, while other times, it could appear right where you killed the last enemy.
This is the perfect example of a quality game that will hook you in despite only technically having one level. But one level is all it needs to let that weirdness entice and bring you in, where you can only go back and keep trying to get your score as high as possible, and wait until the next day to do it all again in a new level.
Ahead of its release, TAMASHIKA was rated Steam Deck Verified, and it definitely deserves it. The game runs flawlessly at 90 FPS, looking as it’s supposed to, and works perfectly with gamepad controls. There were maybe one or two times where there were some slight stutters, which can really screw up the gameplay, but these were so far a few that I don’t think they’ll be an actual issue.
While these kinds of games aren't generally good on a gamepad, this one does well. It has a nice balance with aim-assist that it feels great to quickly move the camera around and shoot.
TAMASHIKA is a weird, fast-paced FPS that doesn’t need an overwhelming amount of content to prove its worth. The balance of visual craziness and audio cues turns each run into a skill-driven rush to kill every enemy on screen and get to the end of the level as fast as possible. And with how tight the core mechanics are, it’s hard not to love every second of it. The game is extremely small, and I mean, only one procedurally-generated level small, but I still couldn’t stop myself from playing that same level over and over until the next day comes, and I can try a completely new level to top the leaderboard.
And because it isn’t a very demanding game, it runs almost perfectly on the Steam Deck. I did encounter a slight stutter here and there, but this is ultimately going to be an incredible experience on the go that fits perfectly.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
SAMSON was provided by Liquid Swords for review. Thank you!
Of all the trailers for upcoming games that I consistently see, none of them excited me as much as Samson. It felt like the game just appealed to me, with its gorgeous graphics, action-packed gameplay, and seemingly unique direction. And knowing it was being made by ex-Just Cause developers, I had my hopes high. However, I think I had them a little too high, because what I was met with was a frustrating mess that I found hard to enjoy.
I was going into this, hoping for the gameplay to take center stage, bringing forth intense action, both with hand-to-hand combat and with cars. While there are a few moments where it seems to work okay, I mostly found myself annoyed. The two main gameplay elements that we will play around with the most are the hand-to-hand combat and vehicle-related jobs like car chases, races, and takedowns. But in each of these two elements, there are some major issues that keep it from being fun.
With hand-to-hand combat, there were more times than I could count that my dodging or parrying just did not work. Lots of times, especially when fighting multiple enemies, it will not know who to target, and animations can break. He can also be futile when multiple enemies throw punches at the same time, and the parrying window is a little too small.
On top of that, the controls and movement just feel awkward. Swinging punches may never land, the dodging distance isn’t far enough, and moving around just doesn’t work well. And with how often animations broke, I sometimes couldn’t even tell if I punched an enemy. I would run up to a person I needed to attack and start a heavy attack, but they wouldn’t flinch at all; sometimes, they would just stand there or immediately attack me back. This led to my death more times than I could count, and it was infuriating.
Now, there were moments where I actually did enjoy the combat in Samson. Fighting enemies one-on-one can be fun when the animations aren’t breaking, and I love using objects to smack them across the face and see spit fly from their mouths when I punch them. On top of that, being able to throw weapons was another nice touch that made me want to seek them out and use them more often. So, despite the issues here and there, there is some fun peeking through, but it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.
Jobs that require using our car are a little less frustrating, but still have a good chunk of issues. Handling the cars could feel slippery at times, making it feel like I was driving on ice rather than a road, and it was very easy for my car to get damaged beyond immediate repair. Luckily, we can break in and steal other cars if that happens, but by the time we get to it, the job could either fail or you could get run over by the other cars that will not stop, even if you’re in the middle of the road.
On top of that, just trying to attack others using the car's moveset was a chore. Each time I tried to use moves like side ramming, my car would go in the opposite direction of where the enemy car was, no matter what direction I looked. The only way I was actually able to complete those missions was by regularly using my nitrous boost and slamming them with the front of my car, which felt like it defeated the purpose of having these moves to begin with.
And trying to get away from the cops or gangs, while we are wanted, was equally frustrating. It felt like it would take too long to get them off my back, and every time I was very close, they would come out of nowhere to start the timer all over again. Paired with the icy handling, it was just difficult overall.
This is all wrapped together by a semi-roguelike system where we will level up, get perks, and grow stronger as we consistently have to make a specific amount of money each day. This system disappointed me a little bit as well, as I was expecting a little bit more customizability when it comes to how we focus on our stats. Instead, when we level up, we level up one of four stats, which gives us static perks each time we do. This means we may have to go through and get some perks. We don’t necessarily care for, like taking significantly less damage while holding $0, just to get to perks that are much more appealing.
Upgrading these four trees also increases different stats, whether it’s health, power, or adrenaline. This does help us in the long run, but it also forces us to upgrade different trees, specifically to get the stats up that we want, and I just wish the system were more freeform. There are collectibles that we can find that will give us experience and give us some extras, like more action points to do more jobs before the day ends, or extra nitrous boost for cars, and there are some side-quest-ish stories we can find around the world. They are nice bonuses to have to complement the otherwise frustrating gameplay.
The structure of the gameplay reminds me of a roguelike. Each day, we have a specific amount of ability points, or AP. We will use this AP to take on different jobs, accumulating money and experience. We have to make a certain amount of money each day to pay off our debts, and if we die during the game, we lose all the money we have. So, every day we take on multiple jobs, get experience for permanent upgrades, and if we die, we basically have to start over from zero.
I don’t mind the structure as much, but the way we get stronger just doesn’t feel impactful enough. While we have our upgrade trees and perks, we also get a little buff throughout the three tiers of each day. I called this little because I almost never felt the impact of them. Recover a little health after each enemy dies? I have a perk for that. Get a little defense boost so I can survive a little longer? Try going up against five enemies at once. Can my car cause more damage to other cars in jobs? Let’s see if I can land any of the attacks my car has. It’s a nice thought, but it almost feels negligible when actually playing.
However, we do have a gorgeous world to explore. There’s something about Tyndalston that’s just stunning. The gritty world, the reflections in the water, it all looks cinematic in a way. It reminds me a lot of how I felt about driving around Los Santos in GTA 5 for the first time. It was nice to just explore and take in the sights, and I felt the same thing here.
And as for the story, it’s an interesting take, but it was never a motivation to keep playing. We go back to our hometown of Tyndalston after a job in St. Louis landed us in jail. Now, we have to do jobs across the town to pay off our debts each day and bring our sister home. There are some little story bits throughout, but this is the overarching plot of Samson.
While I was hoping Samson would be playable on the Steam Deck with some compromises and downgrades, I can’t say it is. The game is rough on the Deck, almost never getting to 30 FPS on the lowest possible settings. Walking around was manageable, but trying to drive or fight was a nightmare. Even still, if I pushed myself hard enough through the consistent drops and stutters, I could still play. It just isn't enjoyable.
And turning on in-game frame generation only made things worse. It would still stay below 30 FPS, with some times going to 35 FPS, but the amount of stuttering and input lag was insane. The ghosting of models when driving or running around was clear as day. It arguably only made everything worse.
However, I will admit that using lossless scaling frame generation was a step up. At 2X, it feels significantly smoother and almost makes the game playable in my eyes. But the input lag was still noticeable, and there were still times when the game would stutter badly when driving. So while it does seem to improve framerate smoothness, the cost is still going to make it hard to play the game on the Deck, especially when model pop-in is an issue, and cars can appear out of nowhere.
Samson is the game I really wanted to enjoy, but all of the bugs and awkward controls led to too many frustrating moments. When the combat works, it can be fun, but it’s rare for this to happen, whether it be walking around or in a car. The world itself is gorgeous, and I can sense an interesting story here, but it was hard to find myself excited to keep playing, and find out when it was so frustrating to just complete one job.
I would also say this is not a game to enjoy on the Steam Deck. Lossless scaling makes it a little bit more bearable, but the core issues that it has still remain and can’t be fixed with frame generation.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
After almost six years since its first reveal trailer, it's safe to say that Cyberpunk 2077 lives as one of the most anticipated games the industry has ever seen. At the time, it was hard to grasp the idea of CD Projekt RED, the Poland-based development team behind the masterpiece The Witcher 3, one of the defining trademarks of the RPG genre, releasing a brand-new massive RPG set in an entirely different environment. Expectations were sky-high, but sadly, it didn’t live up to them on launch. In fact, it was the exact opposite.
When Cyberpunk 2077 launched, it became one of the biggest disappointments in recent gaming history. Countless game-breaking bugs, underwhelming visuals and animations, horrendous enemy AI, frequent crashes; too many problems to count. I played it on release day, and it felt noticeably unfinished, almost as if it had never been properly play-tested. The situation became so severe that refunds were offered across all game stores regardless of playtime or purchase date.
Still, the gaming industry has seen some incredible comebacks. No Man’s Sky, Fallout 76, and Final Fantasy XIV all launched in rough states, faced massive criticism, and were buried with their disappointment. Yet with enough determination, vision, and relentless support, they proved there was a gem hidden beneath the surface. Polish, and lots of it, is what makes the gem shine.
And Cyberpunk 2077 ultimately endured the same redemption arc after countless hotfixes, the massive 2.0 update in 2023 that fundamentally reworked core systems, and most importantly, showcased a genuine labor of love from the developer. Today, it offers players a smooth, immersive experience in its wild dystopian future, a beautiful and ambitious RPG that finally feels complete.
In Cyberpunk 2077, we control V, a charismatic mercenary with big plans and even bigger dreams. In a city like Night City, dreams are currency. Everyone wants to become a legend, and V is no different. Alongside their partner Jackie, V takes on increasingly dangerous jobs, climbing the ladder in a world ruled by corporations, gangs, and power-hungry elites. Things start small: street deals, fixer contracts, risky gigs. But one job changes everything.
A high-profile heist that promises fame and fortune goes horribly wrong. In the chaos, V ends up with a mysterious biochip implanted in their head. That chip carries the digital personality of Johnny Silverhand, a long-dead rockstar and terrorist with a deep hatred for the corporate world. Johnny isn’t just a voice in V’s head; he’s slowly overwriting V’s mind.
From that point on, the story becomes more personal than political. It’s no longer about becoming a legend; it’s about survival. V is racing against time, trying to find a way to remove the chip before it completely erases who they are. Along the way, they form fragile alliances, dive into Night City’s darkest corners, and question what identity, legacy, and freedom really mean in a world where even your mind can be altered.
At its core, Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t just about dystopian tech or corporate conspiracies. It’s about mortality. About what it means to leave a mark. And about whether becoming a legend is worth losing yourself.
Initially, the game offers three different life paths: Nomad, Corpo, and Street Kid. On paper, this is a very risky design choice. If the differences between them are too small, the whole system feels pointless. Why even pick a background if it changes nothing? But if the differences are too drastic, then you’re basically locking major content behind multiple playthroughs, forcing players to replay the entire game just to see everything.
Thankfully, your chosen life path doesn’t completely rewrite the main story. You won’t feel like you’re playing three entirely separate campaigns. At the same time, it’s far from meaningless. It changes dialogue options, offers unique ways to approach certain situations, unlocks additional context in conversations, and makes some relationships feel more believable depending on your background.
It’s not a Resident Evil 2 situation where you feel like you’re missing half the story if you don’t replay it. But it’s also not a cosmetic choice that exists just for flavor. The balance is smart. Players who want to experience the game once won’t feel punished, and hardcore fans who replay it will still discover new perspectives and subtle differences that enrich the experience.
One of Cyberpunk 2077’s greatest strengths is its characters. Night City doesn’t just feel alive because of its lights and chaos. It feels alive because of the people in it. The game does an exceptional job of writing characters that feel layered, flawed, and human. They have their own motivations, fears, and agendas. They’re not just quest givers standing around waiting for you.
Conversations rarely feel like filler. Dialogue flows naturally, and many choices feel meaningful and personally reflective of the characters and world around you. You can build trust, burn bridges, form genuine bonds, or create lasting resentment. What makes it even stronger is that the game gives you space to care. You spend time with these characters outside of main missions, seeing their vulnerable sides, ambitions, and mistakes. At some point, you realize you’re no longer just completing objectives; you’re making decisions that affect people you’ve grown attached to. You can admire them or hate them, disappoint them, or you make them proud. That emotional involvement makes the bigger story moments hit much harder.
Let’s talk about the gameplay… and yeah, we really need to talk about it. Not because it’s purely amazing or terrible, but because there’s just so much happening at all times. Cyberpunk 2077 feels like a “jack of all trades, master of none” kind of game, at least when it comes to gameplay variety.
You can play it as a full run-and-gun shooter, kick down doors, steal cars, cause chaos GTA style, and just go loud every single mission. Or you can slow things down, plan your approach, put a silencer on your weapon, and move like you’re in a stealth military game. You can barely be seen, barely be heard, and clear entire areas without anyone realizing what happened. And if that’s not your thing, you can lean into hacking and basically play as a cyber-mage, taking down enemies without even pulling the trigger. Or you can go full swordsman, rushing in with blades, parrying attacks, reflecting bullets, and turning every fight into a fast-paced bloodbath.
Then, there’s the RPG side of it. You can completely immerse yourself in your own version of V, shape your build through skills, perks, cyberware, weapons, and loot, and approach situations in ways that genuinely feel different. It’s not just cosmetic customization; your build changes how you think, move, and solve problems.
At times, it almost feels like playing several subgenres at once. Shooter, stealth, action RPG, immersive sim, all blended into one package. But here’s the problem. Every aspect I just talked about has already been done better somewhere else.
The gunplay feels solid, but not groundbreaking. It works, it’s satisfying enough, but it doesn’t have that tight, refined punch you’d expect from a pure shooter. Stealth can be fun, but it’s often too forgiving and a bit shallow compared to games that are fully built around stealth. Melee combat, especially early on, can feel clunky rather than precise and skill-based. And honestly, all of those are understandable because when a single mission can be approached in five or six completely different ways, you can’t realistically expect each of those paths to feel like a fully fleshed-out standalone subgenre.
It would be unrealistic to design a deep military stealth system, a top-tier FPS combat loop, a complex hacking simulator, and a refined melee action game all within the confines of one single game. So no, the combat isn’t bad, it just rarely shines. It’s there to experiment with, to toy around, and to express your build. It serves the role-playing, and that supports the experience, but it doesn’t dominate it.
However, the best parts of this game are found in the world-building and atmosphere. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said this is one of the most impressive worlds I’ve ever seen in a video game. From the spectacular visuals to the bold artistic direction, everything feels carefully crafted. But more importantly, it feels alive.
The lightning is genuinely phenomenal. Neon signs reflect off wet streets, shadows stretch across alleyways, and every district carries its own visual identity. The city feels crowded, noisy, and constantly in motion. NPCs aren’t just placed there to fill space; they make the world feel active, unpredictable, and lived-in. When all of this comes together, the futuristic design, the density, the atmosphere, it creates something special. Something that goes beyond just “good graphics.” This is a six-year-old game, yet visually it still competes with major releases in 2026.
The atmosphere is so immersive and mesmerizing that it genuinely changes how you play the game. I’m usually someone who fast-travels everywhere without thinking twice. But in Cyberpunk 2077, I found myself doing the exact opposite. I would drive manually, letting the city unfold before me, or taking the long way on purpose just to experience it. Watching the gorgeously crafted environments and listening to the distant noise of the city turn simple travel into part of the experience.
Despite all the improvements over the years, some visual bugs still pop up from time to time. They’re not game-breaking, but they can momentarily pull you out of the immersion with certain areas that feel a bit repetitive. The overall aesthetic of Night City is strong, but it sometimes leans too heavily on the same visual theme. After dozens of hours, you start noticing familiar layouts and similar environmental patterns.
And then there’s the sound design in public spaces with constant commercials and looping advertisements that can become grating. Hearing the same voices every few minutes starts to wear thin. A bit more variety would have gone a long way in making the city feel even more alive and organic.
Sound design and music are often praised in Cyberpunk 2077. And while I understand the appeal, I personally found parts of it surprisingly generic. The heavy EBM and techno tracks that dominate combat and high-intensity moments are definitely hype-inducing. They fit the on-screen chaos and amplify the action, but beyond that initial energy, they never felt particularly memorable. There wasn’t a single theme that truly stuck in my head after I stopped playing.
I’m not saying the music is bad. It works, especially during combat, and it supports the immersion, but the repetitiveness and the lack of standout identity make it feel somewhat uninspired.
Sound effects also feel a bit inconsistent. Gunshots have weight, but melee combat in particular can sound underwhelming, which makes close-range fights feel less impactful than they should.
On the other hand, the performances and voice acting are exceptional. The delivery of the lines captures the characters' emotional tone perfectly. Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand is arguably one of the strongest casting choices in modern gaming, going a step further to define his character's presence.
Despite everything the game does right, there are areas where it struggles. One of the biggest issues, especially in the early hours, is how overwhelming it can feel. From the start, you’re introduced to life paths, attributes, perk trees, cyberware, weapon stats, crafting systems, quickhacks, and street cred. It throws a lot at you all at once.
At first, it almost feels unnecessarily complex. As if the game expects you to understand a dozen interconnected systems before you’ve even had time to settle into the world. But as you keep playing, you slowly realize it’s not as complicated as it first appears. The systems start making sense. The upgrades become intuitive, and the game opens up instead of suffocating you.
And then there’s the stealth issue. While missions technically allow multiple approaches, the narrative tone often nudges you toward staying quiet. Characters repeatedly suggest avoiding attention, not causing chaos, and keeping things clean. Even though going in loud is always an option mechanically, it sometimes feels like the story subtly discourages it.
From a pure gameplay standpoint, you’re free, but from a roleplay perspective, it can feel like you’re being steered in a certain direction, and that can slightly hurt immersion, especially if your version of V isn’t the sneaky type.
Side quests are also a mixed bag. Some of them are genuinely excellent. They can be funny, unexpectedly emotional, or surprisingly creative. At times, they allow you to get to know certain characters on a deeper level, strengthening your relationship with them in ways the main story alone wouldn’t. These quests feel fluid, well-written, and thoughtfully designed. In many cases, they don’t feel like side content at all, but like essential pieces of the overall narrative.
But when it comes to gigs, my experience was different. At first, they feel exciting with new locations, new objectives, and new contracts to complete. But after a while, the formula becomes noticeable. Go to point A, neutralize or retrieve something, leave the area, and repeat. Individually, they’re fine, but collectively, they start to become extremely repetitive and bloat our map due to the sheer number of them.
After dozens of hours, I found myself doing gigs less because I was curious about the story, and more because I wanted the XP, money, and materials. They slowly shifted from feeling like captivating mercenary contracts in a living city to feeling like a checklist of chores. They’re not poorly designed. They just lack enough variation to stay consistently engaging in the long run.
This isn’t just another expansion thrown on top of an already massive game. Phantom Liberty stands as one of the most fully fledged and complete DLC experiences I’ve ever played. It doesn’t feel like side content; it feels essential to the base game's narrative.
One of the smartest decisions CD Projekt RED made was not placing this expansion after the main game's ending. Instead, Phantom Liberty triggers at a middle point within the main story. It blends naturally into the narrative, without feeling forced or detached. Whether you’re deep into your playthrough or just recently started, the transition feels natural. It doesn’t interrupt the flow; it enhances it.
Dogtown, the new region introduced in the expansion, brings a completely different atmosphere to the table. While Night City is chaotic and flashy, Dogtown feels tense, controlled, and political. The environment is tighter, more oppressive, more focused. It carries a different energy, giving the expansion a flavor that sets it apart from the base game.
But the real gem is the story. Phantom Liberty focuses heavily on political themes, moral ambiguity, and character motivations. The narrative feels more cinematic, linear, and far more intense. The writing is spectacular. The dialogue carries more weight. The choices feel heavier.
In many ways, the storytelling here surpasses even the base game. The characters are more complex, the conflicts feel more grounded, and the emotional stakes hit harder. You’re not just completing missions. You’re navigating loyalties, betrayals, ideologies, and consequences.
I don’t want to go into too much detail about the story here because it deserves to be experienced firsthand. In short, Phantom Liberty is not just a great DLC expansion, but a worthwhile, strong, and plentiful addition to the overall RPG genre.
Even though Cyberpunk is a very demanding game with gorgeous visuals, it runs surprisingly smoothly on the Steam Deck. There is a default “Steam Deck” preset, but I highly recommend not using it. It’s locked at 30 FPS, and it feels way too clunky. It occasionally drops to the low 20s, especially in open-world areas and the Phantom Liberty expansion. Also, the visuals don’t really justify losing frame rate. My recommended preset looks just as gorgeous as the default Deck preset, but manages to lock the game at a solid 40 FPS.
The first thing I tried was giving up on FSR 2.1 scaling and setting it to XeSS. On most games, it works wonders, but here it felt a bit cheap and rough around the edges. Even though it helped with the blurry image, it caused the game to lose immersion and left a bad taste in my mouth. By default, the game uses the Balanced preset for FSR 2.1. Setting it to Quality mode gives perfect sharpness, allowing you to lower the detail settings without much sacrifice.
Setting motion blur to low or off is usually a matter of preference, but with a game running in the low-40s FPS range, I personally think disabling it gives a much better experience. If you like the effect, you can set it to low, like I did, since the previous FSR 2.1 Quality setting already made the game crisp enough. Other settings mostly involved turning some lower-priority options from high to medium, or medium to low. I targeted a perfect 40 FPS even in the most demanding parts of the game, and I mostly achieved it.
In the base game, most of the time it’s going to be a smooth 40 FPS. The only exceptions are when driving cars in vast open-world areas. But those drops are rare enough that they’re hardly noticeable.
The major performance issues lie in Phantom Liberty itself. Even though it’s a DLC, it’s a huge one. It contains the full foundation of the 2.0 update, and the new Dogtown map is a very demanding place to be. In open areas of Dogtown, expecting a solid 40 FPS is unrealistic. It consistently drops into the low 30s and can even dip to 28.
The good news is that during main story quests and indoor sections, it maintains the smooth 40 FPS experience. Especially after playing the game for hours at higher FPS, locking it below 30 would hurt immersion.
It’s still highly playable and looks as gorgeous as ever. The only Deck-specific issue I found was the small HUD and hard-to-read text, but luckily, you can fully adjust it in the Accessibility tab, and I highly recommend doing so.
There is a dedicated accessibility settings tab in the game, and it’s an incredibly detailed and well-thought-out option set. There are a couple of color blind modes, adjustable HUD sizes, and even a center-of-screen dot overlay.
You can also customize subtitles in various ways, including different sizes and colors. There is aim assist for both ranged and melee combat, and it’s highly customizable as well. It’s clear that CD Projekt RED put real effort into making the game accessible for as many players as possible across all platforms and styles.
What once launched as a huge disappointment has now become one of the strongest comeback stories. Cyberpunk 2077 is now an immersive RPG that combines multiple types of gameplay in very solid ways. Its freedom, both in gameplay and in its open world design, is top-tier. No matter the platform you play it on, including the Steam Deck, it remains one of the most gorgeous-looking games available.
The early hours can feel overwhelming, some gigs become repetitive over time, and certain gameplay systems don’t fully shine compared to games that specialize in them. But despite all of that, the incredible atmosphere, engaging storylines, and well-written characters are what make Cyberpunk 2077 such an awesome experience.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando was provided by Saber Interactive for review. Thank you!
Ever since I played Left 4 Dead, I have consistently been looking for a new co-op game that gives me the same feeling. I was hoping Back 4 Blood would do it, since it came from the original studio behind Left 4 Dead, but there was just something missing. Then comes John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. I first played it at Gamescom last year, and I was blown away. The 1 hour I had with it stunned me, and it felt like a refined Left 4 Dead with intriguing progression, customization, and an appealing semi-open world. Playing it all the way through not only convinced me it's a competent co-op zombie shooter, but it's better than Left 4 Dead.
While there is a story, I wouldn't say it should be a defining reason to get the game. The bulk of it is that zombies are here, and we need to work together and complete missions to destroy them and a gigantic Sludge God that looks like it could destroy an entire town by swinging one of its tentacles. It's okay and does the job, but the main reason anyone should be considering Toxic Commando is going to be for its gameplay, which is just fantastic.
If I had to explain Toxic Commando’s gameplay in a few words, I would say imagine Left 4 Dead as a semi-open map experience, and I love it. The gunplay feels tight, making it so enjoyable to just shoot at zombies. Most of the regular zombies are grunts and can go down in a few shots, and are one-hit kills from headshots. It’s hard to quantify just how satisfying it was to kill them and watch their heads explode; it was just fantastic.
There are special zombies as well, which was another reminder of Left 4 Dead. We have extra powerful zombies that will grab you, zombies with tentacles that can grab from further away, "Skunks" that can make zombies stronger, and even ones with bombs for heads that will try to kamikaze. However, there are some more stationary tendrils that can come up from the ground to whack you or shoot fire lasers at you. This made it extra important to watch the surroundings and make sure nothing was happening around you that you weren’t aware of.
I felt like I was on my toes at all times as I was exploring the map, trying to get stocked up on ammo, extra guns, and currency to prepare myself for the rest of the mission. The semi-open map is decently sized, big enough to drive a car through, but not overwhelmingly big in a way that spreads out activities. Everything is relatively close to each other, making the travel time between points of interest short. This was a great decision, as it keeps the action flowing with minimal downtime for travel. The balance of map size and the locations of points of interest really pulls its weight, making each run feel like back-to-back action, which larger open-world games struggle with.
Still, despite the contained map, I felt like I had a lot of options when tackling my main objective. I could go to these optional points to get super-strong, temporary weapons, stock up on spare parts to activate traps and repair mountable turrets that will help exponentially later on, and even choose from different vehicles on the map that all have different abilities. Some cars can let out huge blasts that blow away zombies, some have mountable turrets, while others can regenerate HP for all teammates around them. I consistently found myself going around the map strategically to make sure I got all the spare parts I would need later and stocking up on ammo and gear to make it through the consistent onslaught of thousands of zombies.
And playing Toxic Commando with a full team of 3 other friends makes the experience even better. Coordinating with friends to tackle the main and optional objectives, as well as managing each of the unique abilities of the four classes, elevates what was already a blast alone. I’ll admit, I enjoyed playing through some missions alone to grind currency to upgrade my weapons, but being able to have a full team with friends just further improves a winning formula.
If I had to pick out one aspect that could have been improved, it would be mission structure. Most missions followed a similar path for their main objectives: gather something, then go to a spot, and hold out for a final, huge wave of enemies. However, even the objectives leading up to the final wave were varied. One map had us finding an ID card and fighting a mutated scientist, while another had us trapping a special infected to take and analyze its DNA. Even though they all generally ended the same way, it still felt varied enough not to feel repetitive. And while the maps themselves don't change, the locations of points of interest do, so there is some minor variety when replaying levels.
Then, we have the progression system, which I found more than motivating to keep going back for more. Throughout each level, we’ll find multiple different currencies that we can use to upgrade our weapons with attachments or buy new skins for them. These, along with everything else in the vicinity, will be easily marked on the map, so it isn’t too difficult to find. A type of that, there are three different leveling systems in the game. We will level up our profile to customize our social banner, level up our class to get skill points to make our abilities more powerful, and we can individually level up each weapon. Leveling up weapons unlocks new attachments that we can buy and use, and will give us the ability to rank up and prestige our weapons. Upgrading our weapons will be the main way. We get more powerful, with some passive abilities that can come from the skill tree, like faster reloading, carrying more grenades, or increasing the amount of ammo we can carry for our primary weapon.
Initially, I actually felt there was something missing from Toic Commando's progression. However, the more I played, the more I realized just how great the system is. I found myself subconsciously going back into maps to just get more currency, so I could tune my weapon. There are a good number of attachment options to tune our guns, and bringing in ranking up, which increases the gun’s stats even further, and prestige just kept me motivated. I even found myself starting to move away from the weapon I used initially, just to start tuning it to make it a worthwhile replacement.
On top of that, the customization system for guns was better than I expected. There are good amount of skin to choose from for each gun, but you aren’t forced to just use one skin on each gun. You can actually choose different skins for different parts of your gun, making attachments like the barrel or magazine have a completely different skin from the base of your weapon. This can make your weapon look extremely unique, and I haven’t seen many games do this. It’s awesome. It makes up for the fact that the skins for your characters are pretty basic.
Now, John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando is playable on the Steam Deck, and I actually enjoyed it this way. However, there are some big compromises to playing this on the go. As I mentioned in my preview coverage for the game, I was shocked that it was even able to run on the Deck. This is a solid-looking game with a semi-open world and tons of zombies and action on the screen at any given time. So, the fact that it can hold 30 FPS most of the time is phenomenal.
The only time I ever saw the game drop below 30 is in those final wave moments. Throughout most of the levels, you’ll be facing groups of 50 to 100 zombies at any given time, but in the final wave, this is multiplied significantly. This can bring down the frame rate to around 24-25 FPS, but this is the only time it has gone down. Otherwise, the frame rate held strong at 30, which is pretty great.
I know this is a first-person shooter, which means it is much better when it’s running at 60 FPS, but to play this on the Deck at all is pretty amazing.
Even though the game is on the lowest visual quality with FSR upscaling, it still looks pretty good. There were some model pop-ins that were noticeable, but the quality was good enough that I could see zombies further away. I was even able to snipe some of them with my pistol from a distance because I could tell where the head was. The game could definitely look better, there’s no doubt about that, but the fact that it holds up so strongly, despite the sacrifices needed to make it run well on the Deck, should be praised.
However, I do want to mention that if you plan to play this on multiple devices using cloud saves through Steam, it will save your graphics settings. I tried using my cloud save on my PC with a 4K monitor, but it defaulted my game to the lowest settings and 1280 x 800 resolution.
While there aren't specific accessibility settings, there are still a good chunk of settings to change. This includes subtitle size, a profanity filter, language, audio settings, controller sensitivity and vibration, swapping shoulder and trigger buttons, toggling camera shake, and changing aim assist strength.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions and has both cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando surprised me. I expected it to be an enjoyable co-op shooter based on my previous experiences with it, but it ended up becoming my go-to game to play with friends. The gunplay is tight and extremely satisfying, and the decision to use contained maps with easy-to-find points of interest means there's action around almost every corner. There's also so much to upgrade, with gun customization being a very high point, and skill trees for the four character classes improving our abilities further. Even though there could be a little more variety, especially with character skins, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando is one of the best co-op experiences I have had the pleasure of enjoying.
On top of that, it surprisingly runs quite well on the Steam Deck. Even though we need low settings, especially for the final waves of each level, it competently sticks to 30 FPS for the most part, and looks quite good as well. This is a great way to grind and get some currency to upgrade your weapons, but I could see playing through the entire game this way as well.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
Scott Pilgrim EX was provided by Tribute Games Inc. for review. Thank you!
There aren’t many franchises that I feel like I can keep coming back to, no matter how many times I see or read the story, but Scott Pilgrim is one of them. The franchise started as a comic and expanded to a fantastic movie, which I can rewatch over and over, and a full-fledged video game. I played the hell out of this game when it was originally released in 2010, and I have longed for a return to its hilarious, video game-inspired world. Now, after over 15 years, Scott Pilgrim has returned in Scott Pilgrim EX, and it’s almost as glorious as I could’ve hoped.
One of my favorite things about the world of Scott Pilgrim is its commitment to being a somewhat parody of popular video games. And this continues in the new game. The gorgeous pixel world of the game is filled to the brim with references to tons of other franchises. From the save points that look like the poles from the classic Sonic the Hedgehog games, to random characters and enemies that look very similar to others like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat or the popular dog from Undertale, there are just so many references packed into almost every aspect of the game that it feels like a love letter. In a way, the entire franchise is a love letter to video games, and I was overjoyed to see just how much of that love was brought into this game.
Scott Pilgrim EX also features a nice new story to tell, and while it isn’t the most compelling, it does the job and is still entertaining. After all our bandmates and their instruments were stolen by Robo Scott, we have to work together with other characters from the franchise to find and save them. This leads us to hop through dimensions, travel through Scott’s hometown in Canada, and fight scores of weird enemies to bring them all home.
With a relatively short play time, the story isn’t meant to be extremely detailed or in-depth. However, for a game like this, it works very well. I felt the wave of nostalgia going back in and meeting familiar faces, while seeing a lot of them in a new light due to the other dimensions we have to go through. It ultimately leads us to do a lot of back-and-forth, running across the map, which felt a little tiring at times, but it wasn’t as egregious or frustrating. There are indicators of where to go next, so even though it has a metroidvania-esque map, I never really got lost. Thankfully, there are some side quests here and there and challenging boss fights, but it can still feel like a chore every so often.
The new game also brings back the beat 'em up gameplay I loved from the previous game, and I actually like a lot of the changes that were made for this. Each of the playable characters has their own unique move set, which is fully unlocked from the start. This means that we can get into the action immediately with all the tools in our arsenal, all ready for us.
The combat itself is dynamic and fast-paced, and exactly what I would hope for from a beat 'em up. It was so enjoyable that I found myself grinding when I didn’t need to, just because I was having a blast, using my weak and strong attacks to make people explode into coins. These, combined with grabs, assists, technical moves, and our ultimate, created a nice balance that didn’t feel stale.
However, there are a few little nitpicky issues that I do have. I found it difficult here and there to line up my attacks, sometimes punching the air while the enemy is below me. I felt this primarily when trying to attack flying gargoyles, and I just kept missing because it was hard to gauge where exactly they were on a vertical plane. And while we can pick up items, most of them can’t be taken to other areas. Some of them can, but I do wish that were the standard for all the items instead of just a few.
As for progression and leveling up, this was actually one I liked more than dislike. Unlike other games with a leveling system, we level up based on when our stats go up. It isn’t based on any exp bar, or when we attack enemies, it all comes from items we pick up or purchase that increase one of our four stats. It’s a welcome change from the more common system with experience bars, and it creates a compelling gameplay loop of fighting enemies, picking up money, and using it to purchase food to get stronger. And with each character having their own progression, there’s enough reason I found to keep coming back.
Other than food and increasing stats, we can purchase equipment and badges that can augment our stats and give us some new abilities. It’s a nice extra to make us more powerful, though it doesn’t have much detail to it either.
Ultimately, Scott Pilgrim EX is a simple game. It doesn’t contain complex elements, but it doesn’t need to. The game still holds up as a great experience that is a ton of fun to play, especially with a friend. The game has drop-in co-op, and this makes the gameplay so much more fun. I would say it's probably the ultimate way to play beat 'em up games in general, and this one is no exception.
Ahead of its launch, I had no reservations about how well Scott Pilgrim EX would perform on the Steam Deck, and I was very correct. The game is flawless, hitting 90 FPS with a 5.5W battery drain, which makes it one of the best experiences on the Steam Deck currently. It's perfect to play right out of the box, and there isn't much more I can say about it otherwise.
In the settings, we can change the language, toggle shaking effects and hands-free running, turn on automatic back attacks, customize keybindings, and change volume settings.
The game doesn't support 16:10 resolutions, though you can change the window type to "Windowed" to stretch the screen to fit the entirety of the Deck screen (not recommended). There are also cloud saves and controller support.
Scott Pilgrim EX is a great beat 'em up that gets almost everything right. The combat is dynamic and exciting, the world is gorgeous and filled with references to other video games, and light RPG systems that made progression more enjoyable than I expected. It can feel a little too simple at times overall, and I had some trouble lining up my attacks, but it never detracts from the gameplay and is still fun, especially when you have another friend to play with.
It's also perfect on the Steam Deck. It runs at 90 FPS with an extremely low 5.5W battery drain, and it's a fantastic game to play on the go.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
High on Life 2 was provided by Squanch Games for review. Thank you!
I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about High on Life 2. The first game was marketed as a wacky first-person shooter from the mind behind Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland. With Justin Roiland's departure from the spotlight and most projects he was previously attached to, I was worried about it missing that signature style Roiland always brought with him. However, it turns out all of those worries were for naught, as High on Life 2 is a fantastic sequel that is worth the time spent running around its crazy world.
One of the big things I loved about the first game was how wonderfully weird, hilarious, and vibrant it was. There weren’t many games with settings that ever ever felt so crafted from creativity. High on Life 2 continues this trend, both through its visuals and gameplay, ultimately creating a wonderfully unique first-person shooter that stands out among the other shooters we can find today. Even the story takes a different turn from the prequel, and I love it.
The opening sequence is possibly one of the best I have seen in recent years. We play as the same bounty hunter from the first game, who has risen to fame after taking down the G3 Cartel. We go through an interactive slideshow showcasing what we have been up to since then, which includes taking down huge monsters, going on talk shows, and acting in advertisements, the usual stuff celebrities do. It's a constant barrage of parody after parody, and it's just perfectly hilarious.
However, the game really starts after that. Our sister, Lizzie, has joined a resistance group meant to help humans and has ended up way over her head, becoming a wanted criminal with a bounty on her head. We rush to the scene to save her, only to end up breaking the bounty hunter code and becoming a fugitive as well. Now, we join Lizzie's mission to take down Rhea Pharmaceuticals, a company trying to turn humans into medicine, and save the human race.
The story itself is quite entertaining, following our journey, taking down target after target to get to the CEO and destroy this entire operation. And while filled to the brim with action, it has a ton of variety to it. From the beginning mission where we discover the human zoo, to the murder mystery on a cruise ship we have to solve, and there's so much more later on in the game that feels extremely unique, it's like one thing after another, and it never stops being entertaining.
However, I would say High on Life 2's humor is more of an acquired taste. If you enjoyed the humor in the prequel and wanted more of the same, crass discussions and one-liners, along with exaggerated tropes in both the video game and TV/movie space, you will love this. I will say there were fewer jokes that landed for me than in the first game, but that could be due to my aging. There were still plenty of hilarious moments, and I loved the references I found throughout.
That variety in the story translates across visuals and gameplay as well. There are so many different places to check out that feel so distinct from each other. The human zoo is where we start before heading to the beach and cruise ship, which then takes us to a floating carport where we have to kill enemies to open up a spot to park. To keep from spoilers, I won't go into more detail, but know that it gets crazy in ways you wouldn't expect.
The bulk of gameplay will be going around and shooting aliens, though this does change a little as we continue playing and encounter new elements like the murder mystery. But the bulk of the game will be running and gunning, which feels pretty good most of the time. The talking guns all feel very different from each other, mimicking the usual weapons we would find in practical first-person shooters, like shotguns (Gus), burst rifles (Sheath), and submachine guns (Sweezy), but all with special abilities that can be used not only to kill enemies, but navigate the world in different ways (and unlock new pathways later on). Some can be zoomed in, while others have secondary modes like Sweezy changing into a single-shot, high-damage dealer.
I actually had a poor first impression of the gunplay. We start off with only Sweezy and Gus, and Knifey, of course. However, I dislike using Sweezy too much, since she doesn't do a lot of damage and makes enemies feel like bullet sponges. I started off thinking that enemies would take a while to kill, but with almost every other gun, that feeling dissipated. The enemies can still take a good chunk of bullets, but it doesn't feel spongy.
To make gunplay feel even more energetic, we have my favorite mechanic in the game: Skateboarding. This replaces sprinting and just complements combat perfectly. With most games that include skateboarding, I usually expect more realistic mechanics or awkward camera angles as they balance actually skateboarding in first-person and what you can do. For High on Life 2, most realism is gone. There's no camera bobbing, you press A to jump or get out of a half pipe, and all it takes to grind is jumping onto a rail. With how easy it is to control the camera and no bobbing at all, shooting while skating is easy and so much fun. We can even knock aliens down with our skateboards by ramming them.
While running around and killing aliens is good and fun, High on Life 2 has a good amount of side content and collectibles to find across the world. And we can't forget the money we can find and earn to buy upgrades for our suit, guns, and new abilities. These will be quite helpful in the long run and are a great way to increase the longevity of the game past the main storyline.
Despite my earlier thoughts, High on Life 2 is actually quite playable on the Steam Deck, but it doesn’t come without major compromise. And while it’s still possible to play this way, the sacrifices needed could ruin the experience if you want to get as much out of the game as you possibly can.
The game defaults to the near-lowest settings, with only Global Illumination set to High, and FSR 3 upscaling on Ultra Performance, and it just barely sticks to 30 FPS during combat. The game looks okay, though the upscaling does make it look more pixelated than I would have liked. This can drop a lot further when skating around Circuit Arcadia or other open areas, staying consistently below 30 FPS.
To try to optimize it further, we can reduce the Global Illumination to Low, which does bring up the framerate to stick above 30 FPS, sometimes hitting 40. It isn't consistent, and some open areas, like the beach in Pinkline Harbor, will still drop below 30 FPS. Setting to Low does change the visual quality as well, and in most cases, it loses a lot of detail, but it does keep the framerate more consistently above 30.
It still isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing. I would still consider it technically playable, but it still isn't the greatest way to experience the game.
The game does have an accessibility tab, which includes speaking indicators, subtitle and UI size bars, changing camera motion, toggling HUD Drift, modifying aim assist, and supporting color blindness options for Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Tritanopia.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, though you have to manually change the resolution to 1280x800, and it does have cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.
Despite my worries, High on Life 2 exceeded my expectations for the sequel to one of the weirdest, most enjoyable first-person shooters I have played. With an entertaining story, engaging fast-paced combat, and a gorgeous world, this becomes a uniquely creative experience worth playing through. There are a few little issues here and there with the flow of combat at the beginning of the game, and the humor is an acquired taste, but the pros heavily outweigh the cons, making this a more than deserving addition to your library.
Surprisingly, the game is quite playable on the Steam Deck, although it does require a lot of compromise on visuals just to hit 30 FPS. Even still, it's definitely playable, and there's something to be said about that.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
Nioh 3 was provided by Koei Tecmo for review. Thank you!
I have a complicated feeling when it comes to Action RPGs/soulslikes. I enjoy them a lot, but I tend not be so good at them, and I take quite a while to complete. Still, I have a lot of fun, and of all the soulslikes out there, Nioh is one of my favorites. The fast pace of the combat and tons of loot we can find in a gorgeous Japan-inspired world have always been ones I enjoyed. So, with Nioh 3, I was so excited to get back into the series. However, what I found was probably one of the best soulslikes I have ever played, and the golden standard I will be comparing future ones to.
Nioh 3's story starts off relatively interesting, and there is some uniqueness throughout that kept me curious, but it isn't what I would consider a strong point. We play as Takechiyo, one of the grandsons of Ieyasu Tokugawa, who is set to inherit his grandfather's shogun position. He has a rivalry with his brother, Kunimatsu, who also wants the position, and ultimately, we are sent back in time to defeat invading Yokai. I liked that we were going back through different periods of history to change destiny, but it never took me in as much as I hoped.
However, the rest of the game completely makes up for it. I don't usually play the Nioh games for their stories, though I will give Nioh 3 the benefit of the doubt and say it was the most interesting to learn about.
Combat is outstanding and refined to a tee, to the point where every single fight, no matter how big or small, was exciting. The constant action of having to continually attack, dodge, and block incoming attacks all feels perfectly in sync with each other, with almost no room for any spots where it could feel stale. Nioh's gameplay has always been a high point for me, and I love soulslikes that go all in with fast-paced action (like Sekiro), but Nioh 3 feels like a step above the rest.
The general combat mechanics haven't changed much from previous iterations of the game, and it's going to feel very familiar at first. The Samurai form is what we have come to know and love with Nioh, where keeping our stamina up to continually attack with slower-ish swings that have a good chunk of power. We still have the Ki Pulse to regain our stamina, Omoyo magic, and guardian spirits to help us in our fights, and they feel as good as ever.
But that doesn't mean we have nothing new here. The Ninja Form feels like the exact opposite of the Samurai Form. Instead of the more traditional soulslike gameplay based on slower, powerful strikes and blocking, the Ninja Form is all about faster, weaker attacks and using a multitude of tools at your disposal. The specific weapons the Ninja has, mixed with all of the tools, ultimately add a completely new way to tackle foes.
Team Ninja did an amazing job at making each form feel so different from the other, but still work together perfectly. We have the slow and steady usual style of gameplay in the Samurai form, and the fast-paced Ninja form, where we move around constantly to get ourselves in a good position to deal as much damage as we can without being struck.
Switching between the two feels like second nature, making utilizing both forms during one fight very common. To complement and encourage this, some foes will have these glowing red attacks that can be parried by swapping forms at the right time. These Burst Counters can help a lot by bringing down the enemy stamina bar to grapple and deal some larger damage more quickly. And ultimately, these additions, along with the refined combat, elevate Nioh 3's combat above any other soulslike I have played yet.
As a soulslike, getting stronger is going to be fairly similar to the usual. We fight enemies, get currency, and use that currency to level up and increase our stats. However, the reason the Nioh series has captivated me as much as it has is due to its loot and equipment system. There's a ton of weapons and equipment that drops from enemies, all of which have randomized stats, substats, and even set bonuses. I am a sucker for this kind of gameplay; constantly grinding for new equipment and stronger weapons is a good time for me.
Nioh 3 takes a bit of a different approach when it comes to its world as well. Instead of the linear levels from previous entries, we get an open world to explore. It's not as big and expansive as, say, Elden Ring, but it's very sizable and filled with a lot of activities. We have mini bosses, finding collectibles like Kodama, Crucibles, enemy bases, and each map has a bunch of mini areas with an exploration level that can go up to give us extra stat buffs.
No matter the time period, each map has similar activities to do, but I had such a good time with each of them that it never felt like it overstayed its welcome. With how great combat is, I loved finding excuses to keep going around and fighting enemies, finding more equipment, and slowly completing all the activities to level up my exploration.
While the demo essentially confirmed this, Nioh 3 will not be a good experience on the Steam Deck. Even at the lowest possible settings with heavy upscaling, the game will regularly fall under 30 FPS, feeling unstable and stuttery just trying to get through it. For a soulslike, this is a death sentence. Trying to fight bosses without a stable framerate can lead to incorrect timing for dodges, blocks, and, in Nioh's case, style switches. It harms the experience too much, and because of it, I would avoid playing on the Deck natively.
This is most likely due to the very obvious high CPU usage. It makes it very hard to optimize for the Deck further, and it kills performance.
On top of that, there are some videos that just won't play, so even just trying to power through the game is going to hurt the overall experience and make it nearly impossible to enjoy.
There is a dedicated accessibility settings tab for the game. In it, we can configure controls, change whether the Style Shift and Burst Break are separated, and how they activate, toggle Grapple and Martial Arts, change guard control and stick settings, swap horizontal controls, change vibration intensity, and toggle whether dismemberment and blood are showing. You can also change language and voice, modify subtitles, and change some audio settings.
The game doesn't support 16:10 resolutions, but it does have cloud saves and controller support. The game does have HDR settings, and it recognizes the Steam Deck OLED screen.
Nioh 3 is my favorite game so far this year, hands down. The combat is exquisite with new mechanics that complement the refinements from the previous two games, while the open-world levels fit right in with the series. The story may not be the most memorable, but the action makes up for it completely. This is now my all-time favorite soulslike, and if you have a computer powerful enough to run it, I can happily recommend it with ease.
However, you will need a decently powerful PC. Playing on the Steam Deck is a no-go, and unless it's streaming, I wouldn't get any hopes up about playing this on the Deck.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
If you enjoyed this review, be sure to check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that are sure to help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got your back.
