u/SunwindPC

The full Black Flag remake (Resynced) lands July 9 and it's Steam Deck Verified at launch. I put together a first look going through what's actually new vs the 2013 game. The Anvil engine visual overhaul, the reworked combat/stealth/parkour, the naval changes, the new end-game chapter, and the Rifts. Tis isn't the full review - I'm keeping all the Steam Deck performance testing, settings and my verdict for a full breakdown on July 8(Because I am under embargo) Just wanted to give you all a first look. Tell me what do you want to see tested for my full performance breakdown - battery, frame rate liiting, upscalers, ray tracing on the Deck etc?

https://preview.redd.it/hysg6lzc7h9h1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=455f852ff05a61c9733df266d5475b58042d8942

Hey everyone!

I put together 25 Steam Summer Sale deals that all run really well on the Steam Deck. Tested on OLED and LCD with real performance notes, FPS targets and battery life included. I have also made a video with Steam Deck gameplay for all these games!

I couldn't include all the good deals, so if you found some great games at great prices, please share them below!

• Nine Sols - 50% off, $14.99. Sekiro-inspired metroidvania with a parry system that just feels good. Taoism-inspired lore, gorgeous hand-drawn art. 60 FPS locked. 5.5 hours OLED, 3 to 3.5 hours LCD.
• Cyberpunk 2077 - 70% off, $17.99. Still one of the best open world RPGs on Deck. Medium/low with FSR Balanced, 30 FPS cap. 2 to 2.5 hours OLED, around 1.25 hours or less on LCD.
• My Friend Pedro - 80% off, $3.99. Stylish shooter, your best friend is a sentient banana telling you to kill everyone. 60 FPS, no issues. 4 hours 45 min OLED, 2 hours LCD.
• Ghost of Tsushima - 40% off, $35.99. Feels made for a handheld even though it wasn't. Medium/low, FSR, 30 to 40 FPS depending on scene. 2 to 2.5 hours OLED, 1.5 hours LCD.
• Balatro - 25% off, $11.24. Roguelike poker, builds absurd synergies, basically crack for deckbuilder fans. 60 to 90 FPS. 6 to 7 hours OLED, 4 to 5 hours LCD.
• Mad Max - 85% off, $2.99. Open world brawler, great car combat, aged way better than people expect. Locked 60 FPS, high settings. 2.5 to 3 hours OLED, 1 to 1.5 hours LCD.
• Toem - 90% off, $1.99. Cozy photography adventure, solve puzzles by taking pictures. 60 FPS. 7 hours OLED, 4 hours LCD. Best battery life on the whole list.
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition - 92% off, $4.79. All three games remastered, 80 to 100 hours of content. 60 FPS, medium settings. 2 to 2.5 hours OLED, 1.5 to 2 hours LCD.
• Furi - 70% off, $5.99. Pure boss rush, melee mixed with bullet hell. No filler. 60 FPS, no issues. 4.5 hours OLED, 2.5 hours LCD.
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - 90% off, $3.99. Lightsaber combat in the Star Wars universe. Medium settings, dynamic res, 30 to 40 FPS cap. 2.5 to 3 hours OLED, 1.5 hours LCD.
• Hades - 75% off, $6.24. Still one of the best roguelikes ever made. 60 FPS, no sweat. 3 to 3.5 hours OLED, under 2 hours LCD.
• NFS: Hot Pursuit Remastered - 80% off, $5.99. Underrated arcade racer, cop chases, great sense of speed. Beautiful environments. 60 FPS, medium settings. 3.5 to 4 hours OLED, 2.5 hours LCD.
• Dispatch - 20% off $23.99 Superhero workplace comedy from the Tales from the Borderlands writers. Won the Steam Awards for Outstanding Story-Rich Game. 60 FPS default. 6 hours OLED, 3.5 to 4 hours LCD.
• Rain World - 90% off, $2.49. Brutal survival platformer, you're a slugcat that's both predator and prey. World feels genuinely alive. 60 FPS. Close to 7 hours OLED, 4.5 hours LCD.
• Ball x Pit - 20% off, $11.99. Arkanoid meets roguelike, one more run energy that's dangerous. 60 FPS. 5 hours OLED, under 3 hours LCD.
• Assassin's Creed Origins - 85% off, $8.99. Ancient Egypt looks incredible on OLED. Medium settings, 40 FPS cap. 2.5 to 3 hours OLED, 2 hours LCD.
• Dredge - 60% off, $9.99. Starts cozy, slowly turns unsettling. Fishing sim meets cosmic horror. 60 FPS default. 4 to 5 hours OLED, 3 hours LCD.
• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy - 60% off, $15.99. Three classics remastered, no launcher needed. Locked 60 FPS, medium settings. 2.5 to 3 hours OLED, 1.5 to 2 hours LCD.
• Replaced - 20% off, $15.99. Retro-futuristic action, pixel art that looks unreal in motion. 40 to 60 FPS depending on scene. 2.5 hours OLED, under 1.5 hours LCD. Heaviest game on the list.
• Fallout: New Vegas - 50% off, $4.99. Still one of the best RPGs ever made. Play it blind, no guides. 60 FPS, no issues. 4 to 5 hours OLED, 3 to 3.5 hours LCD.
• Dead Cells - 50% off, $12.49. Fast roguelike, every weapon feels different. 60 FPS, effortless. 5 to 6 hours OLED, 3.5 to 4 hours LCD.
• Megabonk - 35% off, $6.49. Vampire Survivors but 3D, verticality changes the whole genre feel. 60 to 90 FPS. 4.5 hours OLED at 60, 4 hours at 90. 3.5 hours LCD.
• Cult of the Lamb - 50% off, $11.49. Roguelike combat mixed with cult management. Dark, charming, addictive. 40-60 FPS. 2.5 hours OLED, 1.5 hours LCD.
• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor - 30% off, $9.09. DRG universe turned into a survivors game. 60 FPS, no issues. 4 to 5 hours OLED, 3 to 3.5 hours LCD.
• Vampire Survivors - 25% off, $3.74. The game that started the whole genre. 60 FPS, very low power draw. 4 to 5 hours OLED, 2 to 3 hours LCD.

Spent a few weeks with the INAIR 2 Pro Go Pack, which is a full AR setup - glasses, a standalone Android Pod, folding keyboard, and accessories.

Tested it extensively on the Steam Deck OLED.

Quick takeaways:

- Plug and play on the Deck
- 135-inch virtual screen at 120Hz
- The Hub lets you charge the Deck while using the glasses
- Draws about 2.5W at 60Hz, ~5W at 120Hz
- Not recognized by the XR Decky plugin yet
- The Pod runs Android with Google Play I even got PS2 emulation running on it
- Pod also works with RayNeo, Xreal, and Viture glasses
- Fan on the Pod is loud in a quiet room, fine anywhere else
- $999 for the full Go Pack is pretty expensive in my opinion. Honestly these aren't the cheapest option if you just want a big screen for your Deck or other gaming devices.

So 2.16 came out Tuesday - some Linux fixes, a dashboard bug we had for ages finally got sorted, streaming improvements. Specific AMD and Nvidia fixes.

But then the tracking log for SteamVR Got update with some major additions

A complete new controller driver diff showed up. 3D models for both controllers, every button mapped out, game bindings for Beat Saber and Half-Life, alongside some new icons and animations for finding and pairing the controllers. We can also see what the welcome tour looks like thanks to u/gogodboss testing it out on the Index

And there's something else that I noticed - a new string called AuroraPlayspace - that might be a new type of "SteamVR Home" environment

I went through all of it in the video if you want the full breakdown, but even just on paper this is the most Steam Frame we've ever seen show up in a single SteamVR Update.

What do you guys think, tomorrow™?

Update video with gameplay further in the game, benchmarks and recommended settings: https://youtu.be/bDgnjE0nncg

007 First Light on Steam Deck - First Impressions. Wasn't expecting much from a 2026 AAA title but this one actually surprised me. High settings in the opening scene gets you 30-40fps. A locked 30 on high settings might be playable. However this is just the opening mission and further down the line it might be a different situation.