No More Room in Hell 2 Steam Deck Performance Impressions

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A copy of the game was provided by Torn Banner for review/testing. Thank you!

No More Room in Hell 2 has just officially released into early access, and I couldn't be more excited. I loved the original mod, and after getting a chance to try out the sequel, I was having a blast. I didn't get a chance to try it on the Steam Deck though, but with it now publicly released, I decided to give it a go and see if this is something we will get to enjoy with the Steam Deck.

I have talked to the developers who have said they are not aiming for Steam Deck compatibility, nor does it have controller support. I am going into this expecting the game to not be that playable, but I feel compelled to test regardless...for science!

When I first tried the game out, I was met with a black screen, which made me a little worried at first. Luckily, Proton Experimental is the compatibility layer that will allow the game to launch. Proton 9.0-3 and Proton GE 9-15 did not work, with Proton GE immediately crashing the game.

While it takes a little long to load, I did end up loading into a match! I want to give props to the team for not blocking out Linux/Steam Deck users with anti-cheat even though they aren't targeting the Steam Deck right now, so much appreciated.

In the first section, I was actually getting really great performance. I started out in a cave and kept to around 50 - 60 FPS. This is at the lowest possible settings with FSR 3.1 enabled at Ultra Performance, so it wasn't the most beautiful looking, but it was holding at a solid framerate. However, once I started to move towards the power plant in the middle of the map, and more zombies and props came in and populated more detailed areas, framerate began to dip. It was slow at the beginning, but soon, looking around could drop framerate to 23 FPS. And this isn't at the center of the map, where you could see a TON of zombies on screen in a very detailed area. I can say with confidence that framerate will tank there.

If you are going to play, you will also have to change up your controller configuration to be able to turn on your flashlight and crouch, as well as open your map.

While the team isn't targeting the Steam Deck, I do see some hope. This is an early access title, and performance improvements are being worked on. With how well many of the opening and outskirt areas are performing, I think we could see some improvements to make it more playable on Steam Deck. It will take some time for sure, and it could be a long time before it is fully playable at 30 FPS, but it's definitely possible down the line with sacrifices.

If you want to play this game now, I would stick to Desktop computers, using Moonlight to stream it to your Steam Deck, or even use a more powerful handheld! I tested this on the ROG Ally X and it was running decently. Minor drops in the middle of the map, but it held strong at 30 FPS for the most part. The game itself is awesome, and if you have some way to play it, I would definitely do it! It is an investment, and the team will need to work on fixing bugs and improving network connections, but I have hope they will be able to do it.

No More Room in Hell 2 can be purchased on Steam for $29.99.

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