Frostpunk 2 Review in Progress - Steam Deck Performance Impressions

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A copy of the game was provided to us by 11 Bit Studios for review. Thank you!

Frostpunk 2 is now officially out for the Deluxe Edition purchasers, and I have been waiting for this game for a long time. I have been a huge fan of the first title, so being able to not only see the second one release, but review it as well has been such an awesome experience. Unfortunately, around the time I got my key for review, I was in the process of moving my family to a new apartment, which has delayed the review. Still, I wanted to talk about it a little and give some impressions on both the game and how it runs on the Steam Deck.

The main focus of this article will be about the Steam Deck, since I want to save the bulk of my thoughts for my full review, but I will still go into it a bit.

If you have played the first one, you will have a general idea of the gameplay loop. You are building your base out to survive the cold, and instead of just building different structures, you build districts to cover the snowy land and expand those. It's an interesting take on the genre and one I love to death. It is so much fun breaking through the snow to get to the resources you need, building and managing districts, and finding ways to build them together so you can find ways to maximize your resources.

There are multiple ways to influence your colony as well. You will make decisions as you build out, try to balance different factions and not let any of them distrust you too much. There's also a counsel to enact laws that influence your colony, like making school Mandatory for children to increase your total workforce (which is needed to build districts). You can also go out and about to find more resources if you run out and research new improvements in the Idea Tree.

Mismanaging your resources could lead to a lot of issues, though. You may lose too much food, and people will die; not enough fuel for your generator will make the colony colder and kill off more citizens, and not appealing to factions can result in riots, which could kill people. There are a lot of ways for people to die in the game, and you are constantly battling the cold to make sure they survive.

There's a lot to love about Frostpunk 2 so far and there really isn't that much bad to say about it yet. I am having a blast, even if it can be rough on the Steam Deck.

Frostpunk 2 - Steam Deck Performance So Far

So, Frostpunk 2 is rated Unsupported, and while I do agree with the rating, it is still playable to me so far. When you start out, the game's default settings with TSR upscaling on Performance have it running at 40 FPS with some dips to 35. It always stays above 30 for me. Zooming out and staying further away will keep framerate up, while zooming in to see details will bring framerate way down. Even on a map that isn't super populated, this could bring it down to 29 FPS.

However, I will say that even with upscaling, TSR looks fantastic.

But by staying zoomed out, framerate has been relatively stable. I am sure it will get significantly worse as a colony grows with more districts, expansions, buildings, and more, but as of right now, I do consider it playable. You will have to keep expectations in check though. It won't be anything above 30 FPS at this moment, and while there may be optimizations further down the line, it isn't there yet. And yes, expect a lot of battery drain.

There is also no controller support, but there is an official layout made with Steam Input that works well. I needed a moment to get used to it, but when I did, everything just clicked. You can use the trackpad as a mouse with the right trigger as a left click if you choose, but there are shortcuts (and I love that the camera is linked to the right joystick.

Overall, I would say this is playable on the Steam Deck so far, but keep expectations in check and be prepared for framerate drops. If you can stomach it, going down to 24 FPS may increase stability and reduce battery drain, but as of now, don't expect anything above 30 FPS. The game itself is fantastic though, and well worth your time, but it needs a little more work to be portable friendly.

Our review for Frostpunk 2 will be out later this week, but for now, you can pre-order the game for $44.99 and play in 3 days or buy the Deluxe Edition for $67.49 and play right now, while also getting 3 DLCs post release!

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