Rooftops & Alleys was provided by MLMEDIA for review. Thank you!
This was reviewed on the 1.0 version of the game.
I feel like the Parkour game genre has been a bit of a missed opportunity for a while now. Sure, we had the likes of Mirror's Edge, but we haven't had much in the way of a game that focuses on quick and smooth movement, combined with tricks in a free-roaming environment. Rooftops & Alleys aims to fix that, and the best comparison I can make is that this is essentially Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, but with parkour.
Rooftops & Alleys' concept is a solid one, and it plays pretty well! The controls may take some getting used to, but once you are, the game isn't too complicated to control. There are a few button combos to remember to pull off moves like quickly vaulting over objects, climbing up ledges quickly, and especially performing mid-air tricks, but the game strikes a balance between having enough depth that it takes skill to perfect and not being overly complicated, making it frustrating to learn. Still, once it sticks, it feels very satisfying.
The game takes place across a series of 6 maps, all free-roam environments which you can explore and find challenges within. The maps are fairly small, and each has 8 challenges. These challenges are either time trials, where you have to navigate the course using your parkour skills quickly, or trick rushes, where you have a certain amount of time to pull off some cool parkour tricks like flips and rolls, in an ever-decreasing arena.
There are 30 time trials and 18 trick rushes. On the surface, it doesn't sound like a lot, but they are tough, and you will need to have a pretty good mastery over the controls to get gold on each challenge. There aren't any leaderboards. Once you've beaten the gold medal time, there's not too much point in playing the challenge again, which is a real shame and a huge missed opportunity for a game reliant on scores and times.
The game supports multiplayer for up to 4 players, adding a degree of replayability through game modes such as TAG and CTF. You can also do a freeplay session online, where you can mess around and have some fun.
The movement itself does feel pretty fluid and smooth. Managing to string together moves is satisfying and allows you to maintain your speed. However, you get annoyed with yourself when you mistime or forget a button combination, causing you to slow down at a certain point. There's also ragdoll physics in the game for when you make a mistake.
The game can also be played in first-person, but even though I'm someone who generally doesn't suffer from motion sickness, not even in VR, I almost instantly felt nauseous when attempting to play the game in this mode. The FoV is set extremely high (I would guess around 130-140), which creates a weird effect on the camera lens, which I wasn't able to deal with. The FoV is also not adjustable.
Enjoyment of Rooftops & Alleys is probably going to come from mastering the controls and figuring out how to go fast. Once you've done that, there are a few challenges to beat, and you're done. A skilled player could complete every piece of content in the game in under 2 hours. There's a multiplayer mode, but it's a bit sparse in terms of players, with a maximum of 10 players online when I was playing. Hopefully, that picks up, but you may struggle to find others to play with once you're done with the minimal solo content.
Rooftops & Alleys works pretty well on the Steam Deck. The controls are great on a controller or gamepad, and the game fills the Steam Deck's display without black borders.
I recommend running the game at "Medium" settings, with a 60 FPS limit enabled using the in-game limiter. I wouldn't play this game at a frame rate below 60 FPS due to its precise nature, as it kind of ruins the flow.
Some maps can play on High, but if you do want every map to play at a locked 60, then Medium is the way to go.
As for power draw, the game tends to use around 15W-17W, giving us about 3-3.5 hours of battery life on a Steam Deck OLED, and around 2-2.5 hours on an LCD model. Temperatures were around 60C.
Rooftops & Alleys offers limited accessibility options, primarily focused on alleviating motion sickness while playing in first-person mode.
Rooftops & Alleys might best be enjoyed online, provided you can find other players. There is some solo content, but once you have a grasp of the controls, it's just a few short (1 Minute or so) challenges for you to complete. There are no leaderboards and no "career" mode of any sort for progression, which is a bit of a shame.
As for how Rooftops & Alleys runs on Steam Deck, it runs pretty well, with the game holding 60 FPS in all scenarios at Medium settings, and the controls are also ideally suited for controllers.
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.
As a pretty huge wrestling fan who watches anything and everything wrestling-related, I was pretty pumped to give WWE 2K25 a go and review it. Despite not having experienced the last one or two installments, my familiarity with the prior WWE 2K games is pretty high, having sunk countless hours into Universe Mode and downloading hundreds of Community Creations. There is much more of the same here, but better!
WWE 2K25 continues the long-running wrestling video game series, developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. This latest entry improves on existing mechanics, introduces new gameplay mechanics, modes, and an updated Showcase. This time, it centered around The Bloodline Dynasty. While next-gen console players get exclusive access to the newly hyped “The Island”, PC and Steam Deck users still get a pretty fantastic experience packed full of customization, engaging game modes, and tons of replayability.
Before diving into the new mechanics and game modes, it’s worth highlighting early on that WWE 2K25 has surpassed my initial expectations of how great this game looks on the Steam Deck and how it performs. It is incredible! More on that further below…
Reeling through the new mechanics, we have the addition of a free, third-person camera mode that offers greater freedom to be the cameraman and get some pretty cool angles during entrances, and in the midst of the action. Turning this on allows free camera movement with the right stick. The typical right-stick commands, like pinning or picking up opponents, would then require holding RT alongside them - not the biggest change, so it's worth playing around with. This is especially useful in the more chaotic matches, where you can use this to help see what your Superstar is doing, as it can get a little hard to focus on timing your reversals and actions right.
One of the things I have always loved about these games is the sheer variety of game modes that they include to appease all types of fans. There is quite literally something for everyone here, and while I doubt many will be in love with every facet of WWE 2K25, I’m sure there will be one or two that you low-key become obsessed with.
Chain wrestling makes a welcome return, further refining the technical grappling aspects of the game. This is usually triggered by Superstars who have the technical ability, and you’ll be thrown into a mini-game where you will select your grapple action and try to beat your opponent in finding the right angle to focus your stick on to get the upper hand. We also have the return of intergender wrestling, where men and women can wrestle each other! But unlike previous installments, if you’re in a mixed-tag scenario, the men and women can just go at it, without the need to force a tag!
MyFaction remains a highly addictive game mode where players collect wrestler cards from the past and present to form a faction of four male and four female superstars. Different card tiers introduce unique stats, forcing players to adapt to various match stipulations and rulings, continually needing to grow their collection. Outside of the online play, which I have never gotten along with on WWE games, there is plenty to do.
World Tour is a new area in MyFaction, where you travel across themed cities across the world and complete specific tasks to earn rewards and new cards. For example, Philadelphia, the home of ECW, features more extreme match types, and Rob Van Dam can be found here. We also have Faction Wars, a gauntlet-style mode where your health doesn’t reset after each match and you face progressively tougher "Boss Factions," and Weekly Towers, which offer simpler objectives compared to other modes, providing a unique card once complete.
While microtransactions are present and extremely tempting early on, grinding through MyFaction mode without spending any real money is possible and can be rewarding. My favorite part of this mode is the ability to create unique tag teams and use Superstars you would see or dream of using anywhere else! What would you even call a tag team of Solo Sikoa and Jake “The Snake” Roberts!?
MyGM also returns with its biggest update in a while, introducing online multiplayer. Beyond this, the mode feels similar to past iterations, balancing your booking decisions with frustrating restrictions. MyGM is probably my least favorite area to sink my time into. The mode just feels very light and restrictive. However, I guess that is part of the challenge, and it is still a welcome mode that I am sure others adore. It just isn’t for me.
If you want a freer and more sandbox-style fantasy booking sim, Universe mode is where it’s at. Again, very much the same as last year, you can fantasy book to your heart's content, pushing and burying whoever you wish to, completely overhaul the WWE schedule and weekly shows, add/remove titles, and bring legends back. Essentially, book and play your way, crafting whatever stories you want. It doesn’t provide any of the required strategizing or rulings set in MyGM, it just serves as the ultimate space for your storytelling.
We then have MyRise, which is WWE 2K25’s career mode, and lets you take your custom superstar from Indie Darling to future Hall of Famer. While the story here is never anything special and usually a little silly, it’s still fun and not too long-winded to play through. Your dialogue choices impact small areas of the story’s direction, which leads to different outcomes, and more importantly, different rewards. Rewards include things such as different arenas, outfits, and clothing options, as well as past superstars (such as Scott Steiner, and Alundra Blayze) and earlier versions of current stars (like 2017 Rhea Ripley, 2012 John Cena, and even Cody Rhodes’ Stardust!).
There are also a bunch of MyRise-exclusive characters you meet on your journey who are also unlockable and can then be used in other modes. These rewards are incentives to play through and complete this mode. The only downside is that some of the rewards can only be obtained after a second playthrough.
The final mode that has been a staple in past years is Showcase Mode, and this time around, we go through The Bloodline Dynasty. All those familiar with the Anoa’i family and The Rock’s lineage know that this family has been ever present in WWE, but it feels so much larger when you work your way through the stories told here. What I love about this mode is the integration with real-life moments you get to replay, alongside the ability to rewrite history like helping Umaga become WWE Champion, Tamina, or having Yokozuna annihilate Hulk Hogan. All of these matches are woven between each other thanks to the narration of Paul Heyman who does an incredible job sucking you into each match's story, while also teaching a nice little nugget of WWE history each time.
Every scenario you are thrown into has a long ol’ list of mini-objectives and one or two timed objectives to complete during the matches. Completing all will typically unlock the superstars involved, the legacy arena, and the title involved, too. However, the timed ones were incredibly annoying to complete at times. It's almost as if the AI knew that I had 30 seconds to get them outside the ring and hit two heavy attacks because they just suddenly decided to become a reversal king and keep running away!
If you just want to dive into a Royal Rumble, an Elimination Chamber, or take part in Bloodline Rules, you can do so in the quick play mode. One of my favorite new match types for this year is the Underground Rules match. Here, the ropes have been ripped off, and there is a crowd of onlookers surrounding the ring. The objective? Win by submission or knockout. I’ve sunk plenty of time here, mostly putting legacy titles on the line and trying out some wrestlers that fit the “underground” vibe. Rezar has been my go-to.
There is a Performance Center that walks players through the basics, and it also provides you with in-game currency as you progress through it, allowing you to get a start. The game is pretty easy to pick up anyway, with adjustable difficulty levels.
As touched on earlier, online matches can be fun, but I had a lot of trouble with lag, which seems to be a known issue for some, and certain players have learned to manipulate it to their advantage. This is very annoying when you come across this, and is one of the main reasons I tend to keep WWE 2K25 as a mostly offline experience personally. With the exception of Community Creations, which has some great custom wrestlers based on real athletes, and helps keep the game feeling fresh.
The game looks incredible, the character models are crisp, the lighting and animations exceed my initial expectations, and overall, I am so impressed by how great everything looks. Wrestler entrances, facial expressions, fluid movement, enhanced commentary, and crowd noises enhance your gameplay experience and bring an elevated level of realism to the WWE 2K25.
There will naturally be a slight bias here, given that I am an existing fan of the franchise and sport, and just love playing these games, but I believe that WWE 2K25 is great. Of course, it is that much more special if you are a fan and familiar with the company and stars, but even as a neutral, there is a lot of fun here to be had, balancing realism and simulation with an enjoyable match engine and modes, tons of customization, plenty to grind for and unlock, and flexibility and the variety of ways to play is more than enough to keep you occupied and coming back for more and more.
Controls are mapped well, with no need for any tinkering at all, load times are surprisingly quick, and there is little to no interruption when going from match to match in all modes. There is a lot to love here in terms of performance.
On the Steam Deck, WWE 2K25 runs beautifully. It maintains a solid 60FPS frame rate, with more chaotic matches dipping to around 57-59FPS, but this is not noticeable in the slightest. By default, the quality is set to medium, but you can whack that on high with no dips in performance at all. That is the same for all other areas of the in-game settings. You can max it all out without worrying about any performance dips if you wish to.
The only option that wasn't turned to max was the sharpness when using Dynamic Upscaling. I found that setting the sharpness in the graphics setting to 6 hit the sweet spot for character models, with any less looking poor, and any higher, not looking as clean as it did on 6. But that was my own personal preference, and if you think it looks fine on 10, go for it! You'll still get a buttery smooth performance.
Testing the Benchmarking in-game, throws itself into a chaotic, eight-man Hell in a Cell match with lots and lots of moving parts, with the results only proving what has been shared here, with an average of 59.6FPS, meaning that Visual Concepts has done a great job optimizing this for the Steam Deck. I turned off FSR to see if we could hit a consistent 60FPS in benchmark mode, but it seems to have made no difference from a quality or performance perspective. My recommendation is to leave it on, but you can go either way. One thing I noticed was that cut scenes tend to default to 30FPS, even when amending the in-game settings to 60FPS… maybe a bug, or something, but nothing to really sweat over as they still look great.
The only area that prevents WWE 2K25 from being a “Best on Deck’ game is the battery performance. I found that if you are going from match to match, which you likely will be, the battery won’t last very long. The expected life span is between 1.5 to 3 hours, with the latter half being where more time is spent in menus or modes like Universe or MyGM doing the “admin” stuff. But if you are like me, and grinding match after match in MyFaction, that battery life is going to drain fast…
I tried to extend the battery life a bit by lowering the frame rate, but I noticed that gameplay dramatically slowed down. It did provide an extra half an hour or so of estimated battery life, but with everything moving slower, you are probably going to lose that half hour waiting for the referee to count to three!
In all honesty, though, I can’t complain at all. WWE 2K25 looks and runs amazingly. It seems that the "out of the box" settings are the (only) way to go. WWE 2K25 will be a mainstay on my Steam Deck. Until 2K26 is out, that is.
WWE 2K25 includes a few accessibility-related options within its ‘Extras’ section. You can adjust the difficulty, add subtitles to all areas of the game (besides in-match commentary), fully customize the control layout in-game, and choose from one of two mini-games when using submission moves and pinning. One being a button mash, and the other a more precise method. However, some of these mini-games have a default option in events like Showcase mode and MyFaction, which cannot be amended and therefore may not be suitable for some players.
While “The Island” may be missing for us PC and Steam Deck folk, WWE 2K25 still delivers an outstanding experience, packed with content for all types of fans. Whether you thrive on the competitive grind of MyFaction, enjoy the creative freedom of Universe Mode, or just want to jump into quick matches with your favorite superstars, there’s no shortage of ways to play. The game excels in customization, variety, and replayability, with impressive gameplay, visuals, and performance, especially on the Steam Deck, making it one of the strongest entries in recent years.
That said, the game isn’t perfect. Online play still suffers from frustrating lag issues, and MyGM, while improved in some areas, remains restrictive and the weakest, least complete part of WWE 2K25. Battery life on the Steam Deck is also something to keep in mind if you’re planning long play sessions on the go. But these are all minor gripes in what is otherwise a (Dwayne “The) Rock”-solid wrestling game that blends realism with arcade-y fun in all the right ways.
If you’re a longtime WWE 2K player, I reckon you’ll find plenty of refinements and new additions to keep things fresh. If you’re new to the series, this is one of the best jumping-in points in years. It’s not perfect, but with its deep customization, stacked game modes, and rock-solid gameplay, WWE 2K25 delivers an entertaining and addictive 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.
NBA2K25 was provided by 2K for review. Thank you!
NBA 2K25 is upon us! Yes, it is another yearly sports game in the long list of yearly sports games. But ignoring any potential burnout that enjoyers of these games never seem to get, how does NBA 2K25 stack up as a game on its own two feet? As I've never played an NBA game before, seen a Basketball match in my life, or played Basketball in real life, I get the opportunity to have a fresh perspective on the franchise!
While the premise of the game of Basketball is fairly simple, some basic rules are involved, such as certain actions that result in rule violations or fouls or even different scoring depending on where you shoot from. As a newcomer to the sport, I was kind of hoping all of this would be explained, as I have no idea what you can and can't get away with in the sport of Basketball, nor was I aware that different point allocations were depending on where you shoot your shot from. Sadly, NBA 2K25 explains none of the actual basketball rules to new players.
The tutorials cover NBA 2K25's specific mechanics, such as the moves you can do, and not the rules of Basketball. Fortunately, after two or three games, I had a fairly basic understanding of the rules and what (and what not) to do. Still, it would have been nice if there was a quick summary of The rules of the basketball game to go over.
Basketball is all about movement, and NBA 2K25 gets this right. It's fluid, the animations are smooth and realistic, and you can jostle and move around other players without clipping into them or feeling like any weird collisions are happening. It all felt just right to me.
Even firing the shots feels pretty smooth, allowing the player to control what type of shot they wish to make, depending on what buttons the player holds and what position their in-game player is in. Sprinting and using the shoot button when approaching the basket, for example, will cause the player to attempt to dunk the shot. Simply moving and holding the shoot button will bring up a gauge, and the player must release the button at the right time for an accurate shot at the basket from range.
It sounds like it would disrupt play, but it all comes together smoothly in reality, and the game's intensity is consistent throughout. I think some of the cuts away from the action are a bit lengthy, though, with the half-time panel show seeming a bit needless and all the cheerleaders and other side events going on when the game is timed out. It adds atmosphere, but as someone more interested in playing the game, I find it tiresome to keep skipping these, and an option to disable these extra cutscenes would be appreciated.
I found the length of the game, in general, to be a bit on the long side. By default, the game sets quarter lengths to be 5 minutes long each. Even at this length, each game will likely take around 30 minutes to play, considering timeouts, fouls, the side-shows going on, and the half-time panel, which all take time even if you try and skip them. However, you can shorten this and lengthen it in the options.
That brings us to the different modes you can play in NBA 2K25. A variety is open to you, such as MyCAREER, which lets you create your player and follow their career, and MyTEAM, which is essentially the same but focuses on your team rather than an individual player. Then there's MyNBA Eras, which allows you to take control of various real-life teams and play in a season, and WNBA, which lets you take control of a Women's team. Finally, if you just want to get straight into a game, there's Play Now, a Quick Play mode that lets you pick a team and then throws you into a game.
MyCAREER is probably the most interesting mode to me. However, MyCAREER and MyTEAM are online-only modes, so you must be connected to the internet to play them. This mode is pretty neat, allowing you to choose your character's appearance, stats, and what team you want them to play for.
There's also an online lobby where you can see other players and their characters and travel around the semi-open world map on a hoverboard or a... go-kart... Yeah, I'm not sure what that's all about, but it helps you traverse the world a bit easier! You can explore some different areas (including shops that want you to pay real money to use) here, and it gives the feeling of an MMO-lite social space, not too dissimilar from what PlayStation Home was.
The MyNBA mode is where I spent most of my time with NBA 2K25. You can set up quick matches between teams and play less personalized league games as real players or real teams. This is a good way to play if you just want to enjoy an actual game and aren't too bothered about experiencing the "story" of the game and following the journey of an NBA player.
Aside from a quick match and setting up a basic league, you can also play "blacktop" basketball, where you'll be playing in outdoor environments on tarmac/asphalt instead of indoor courts. This can make a nice change of environment, and it can feel a little more personal playing games here, as you can vary the size of the teams from 1v1 up to full squads.
WNBA is also here, although not in the capacity of the regular NBA. It takes a similar form to the MyNBA mode, where you can organize quick matches, play in a league, or create your player and progress through a career. It doesn't quite have the feature set of MyCAREER or the MyTEAM modes that the regular NBA has. Still, it's nice to see the feature set for WNBA continue to expand, and hopefully, there'll be feature parity in future iterations of the franchise.
Visually, NBA 2K25 hits the mark. Even at lower settings, the game still looks good, with clear and detailed character faces, hair physics, and lighting effects. There's plenty of ambient and environmental sound to immerse you into the match, too, including the occasional commentary on how the game is going.
NBA 2K25 feels like great fun when you're in a match. I enjoy the shooting mechanics and the way players move, and the control scheme works out pretty well once you've gotten used to it. I'm unsure that the league and MyCAREER modes were my jam, as they go relatively in-depth. With some of the abilities you have to put points into, I wasn't even sure what abilities they were with my limited basketball knowledge!
If you're a basketball fan, this is another solid entry into the franchise, and you shouldn't worry about picking it up. If you aren't a basketball fan, this game probably won't make you one, but even someone like me, with little knowledge or interest in the sport, still had some fun picking it up for a 20-minute match.
NBA 2K25, as you might expect from such a major title, does support 16:10 resolutions; thus, you won't get any black borders around the screen on your Steam Deck. The game also plays great with a controller, so you don't have any worries.
The game asks you to compile/build shaders on the first boot, and I recommend you choose to build all the shaders. It does take a few minutes, but it will improve performance.
As for performance, thankfully, it's pretty decent, so we can either opt for a smooth experience with less visual niceties or go for some graphical extras at the expense of some framerate with two presets. You will get frame drops quite a bit in the online MMO-like lobby, but the framerate is still fine, and nothing of consequence happens there.
The game does have a "Steam Deck" graphics preset, which I'll be using to set up the "Quality" preset. However, I preferred 60 FPS over the extra visual quality, so I recommend lowering the settings and playing at 60 FPS. If you'd like some visual effects like Reflections, better Shadows, and a more dense Crowd, then the Quality preset is for you.
Both presets use the same standard video settings, which I'll show below:
We're setting the SteamOS frame rate limit to 60, and we'll have no TDP Limit here.
In the game's Video Settings, we're applying the "Low" Overall Quality setting and then using the settings in the image above.
Using these settings, you can expect the game to generally run at 60 FPS. However, you may experience some dips into the mid-50s, mostly when playing first switches sides and the camera swings around to view the entire court. As the action gets nearer the basket, performance should improve and hold at 60, which is when the crucial moments of play happen.
The power draw stays in the mediocre range, with the game drawing around 18W-20W almost always. So you can expect close to 2 hours of battery life from a Steam Deck LCD and about 2.5 hours from a Steam Deck OLED.
Temperatures are fairly low in the 60C-70C range, with minimal fan noise.
We're setting the SteamOS frame rate limit to 40, and again, no TDP Limit is set.
In the in-game settings, select the "Steam Deck" preset, which was automatically applied when I first booted the game on my Deck.
At these settings, the game should offer an almost entirely smooth 40 FPS experience, with infrequent dips and stutters when the camera cuts or swings quickly, such as when play changes sides. This isn't too much of an annoyance, as the sudden camera movement glosses over a couple of lost frames.
The power draw is steady and slightly higher than my recommended settings, with the game using around 20W-21W almost all the time during play. As such, playtime is expected to be under 2 hours on a Steam Deck LCD and under 2.5 hours on a Steam Deck OLED.
Temperatures are the same as with the other preset, holding around 60C-70C with minimal fan noise.
NBA 2K25 has a good deal of accessibility options. You can disable camera shake and some rather intense flashes during gameplay that mimic flashes during real-life play to aid with photography. You can enable subtitles for the story mode and reduce the time some buttons need to be held down.
The game's difficulty is also very flexible. You can fine-tune the difficulty of the AI down to how accurate their shots are in percentage points, etc.
However, the loading screens in the game are quite intense, with fast-moving visuals and rapidly changing colors. These can be hard on your eyes, so I often looked away during the loading screens. I'm unsure if this could cause an issue for some players.
NBA 2K25 has great gameplay, with well-refined movement and shooting mechanics that work just right. There's plenty to learn here, with newer players able to challenge rookie AI and a skill ceiling that can keep being raised as you gradually learn the game. I think anyone at least somewhat interested in basketball will probably get enjoyment out of this game, and hardcore fans should pick it up.
NBA 2K25 also runs great on the Steam Deck, with the ability to play at 60 FPS or sacrificing some of that frame rate for extra visual quality. The controls also work flawlessly, so there's no reason why Steam Deck owners should hold back from picking up the game.
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.
