Being the madman that I am I have picked up four separate modern gaming handhelds in just the last 12 months. I´ve written before about the joys of handheld gaming but what's curious was my initial reaction to the Steam Deck announcement. I really wasn't that bothered even though in hindsight it sounded like an ideal system for me. After three long days it finally clicked that maybe I should jump on board with a pre order. The reasons for such scepticism has been Valves’ continuously flawed efforts in the hardware department over the years. Sure they make billions with Steam, selling digital games to PC gamers. It works incredibly well. But the track record with hardware such as the Steam Link, Steam Controller and Steam Machine is incredibly poor.
The Steam Link was probably the best of the three, which you plug into your TV and stream games from your PC. It worked but it was still a bit of faff. You had to have your PC on at which point just play on that? The Controller looked like an Owl so huge aesthetic points for that but I could never click with the touch pads instead of analogue sticks. Finally the Steam Machine was to be Valve’s answer to the big consoles, a device that could be stuck under the TV but still a PC. Even with multiple companies supporting the product to give many options the sheer price of them was off putting. Why spend so much when you could just buy a PC that can do the same but more?
With all that on my mind and after discussion with friends I had talked myself into buying one. I mean why not right? Interesting that they tried to launch a new product in the middle of a pandemic and chip shortage. This was in July 2021 and it was a first come first serve queue. Valve stated that they should get all pre orders out by the end of 2022. It was going to be a long twelve months….
The Models
There are three models to choose from, with the base model at £349 with a standard 64GB memory, the middle model with 256GB SSD memory and the top model has double at 512GB SSD, priced at £459 and £569 respectively. Granted they are not cheap, you can get the OLED model Switch for cheaper than the base price but as an entry point to PC gaming its incredibly appealing. It’s speculated that Valve is selling these at a loss, it seems like they packed a lot of tech in.
That base memory isn't good mind and for once its a major problem with PC games is the sheer file size, Borderlands 3 clocks in at 120GB but fortunately a microSD card can be added. Swapping files between these is simple enough though slow. I went with the middle model, I’d wanted the SSD but not having to pay out another 100 for what seem like unnecessary extras. I waited many months for my pre order to be ready, with early reports coming in March 2022 about how damn good this device is. The wait continued until my pre order arrived in July and shipped within nine days. Seems to be on the long side and now customers can order at any time with the average wait being a week.
The Device
Finally got my hands on it! And It´s probably the best feeling handheld to hold, the moulded grips feel snug in the palms with the shoulder buttons being very satisfying to use. Head and shoulders over the Switch or smaller devices like 3DS. It’s weight has a decent heft but lighter than expected, comfortable enough to hold for quite a while. Where it does lack is the screen, it’s impressively chunky but can't hold a candle to the sharpness of the new OLED Switch. This seems an easy change in a future iteration but granted the current screen does the job. The main two questions for any handheld is how does the battery hold up and what is the games catalogue like?
The battery is actually decent enough for most games, it depends on what you are playing. Elden Ring will struggle to hit two hours whereas Stardew Valley will take you until into the wee hours! More intensive games will obviously be a drain but it’s a great compromise rather than not even having these games à la Switch. A top tip is to set your games to 40FPS, they still run pretty smooth but give you a boost in battery. It charges pretty quick and if used docked it will also charge whilst playing which is handy. But two hours is good enough to play one of the best games of 2022. A worthy compromise.
The Games
The star of this device is the back catalogue which I thought I was ready for with my smorgasbord of over 700 games ready to go! Well so I thought, each game has to be checked and verified for the device which the list has slowly grown over the past few months. For the most part you can just install whatever you want and see if it works. Some like Elden Ring have been specially configured and run beautifully. Others like Halo take a bit of messing about with files and selecting a specific Proton driver. Annoying but nothing a quick google cannot solve.
For me this device was made for retro gaming and playing anything that’s been out in the 2010´s. The emulators are basically inbuilt and just need to be install with the touch of a button. Ridiculously easy to get that fan made Pokémon game running! For me though is delving back into classic games like Fallout 4 or Shadow of Mordor. In sales these are like £4 each which is a bargain. I forgot just how good SoM and its Nemesis system is. But there’s the rub, the console is cheap for its parts and everyone I have spoken to has been buying a lot more Steam games than usual. Valve fucking got us!!!
There is an official dock which is a bit pricey at 80 but most USB C ones will work allowing you to hook up to a TV with a keyboard and mouse or wireless controller. Third party docks are cheaper and do the job. The Steam Deck has a fair amount of set up even on both the hardware and software side which can be a bit off putting. Plenty of videos online to get you going and once it´s sorted it is a bloody brilliant device. That can be a bit daunting, particularly if a game just randomly stops working.
It´s strange, in the first couple of weeks I absolutely smitten. It is much easier to hold than the Switch and the sheer options of games to play on the go blows everything out of the water. But as time went on the minor annoyances slowly built up. Shell shaders updating everything single bloody time you boot up the console. The fan going wild at times with the sheer heat pouring out. The case is great but it's so bulky. At times I yearn for the simplicity of the Switch, just fire it up and jump into a game in no time.
Ah one final annoyance is multiplayer. With the ridiculous back catalogue it meant the opportunities for playing games together at work over lunch was incredibly enticing. Step forward Borderlands fucking 3. Even after the ridiculous install size getting Goaky, Drayton and myself to sync up online for co op play is an absolute nightmare. We have attempted three times and still have not even unlocked vehicles yet! I’ve heard that other people are having no problems with other games so let’s just chalk this up to Gearbox being useless.
Don´t get me wrong, the Steam Deck is incredible and I am very happy it’s there to push the tech and industry on. Hopefully with a bit more refinement it will become easier to use. I mean Halo Combat Evolved on the go? Worth the price of entry for me!