2012’s Uncharted: The Golden Abyss wasn’t the best Uncharted game. It wasn’t even the best game on the Vita at the time, but that doesn’t matter. It’s an Uncharted game running on a handheld device, and it looks great. Those who can’t really remember a handheld before the Switch may not understand, but it’s kind of magical to see a game like this on a portable. The Vita’s future looks exciting…but it’s not. RIP, PS Vita – you deserve better.
Anyway, now that we’ve got another Uncharted game — two, actually — running on the handheld, I’ve got that magical feeling again. It feels like I’m living in the future now. The Steam Deck is Valve’s excellent handheld Linux PC that packs a fair amount of punch (especially when you see that it’s not far from the price of the Switch OLED — a machine way, less powerful). The Legacy of Thieves Collection combines PS4 hits, Uncharted 4, and The Lost Legacy, and while I’m sure it works well on a proper desktop PC, it’s fair to say I’ve only played it “on the deck.” I like it.
I’m no longer a tech wizard, mostly because I don’t have time to keep up with all the latest happenings in the GPU space, but I can tell you this. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves looks absolutely fantastic on Steam decks. I messed around with the graphics settings a bit, and by using AMD’s Fidelity FX Super Resolution 2 on “Balanced” I was able to run on the “High” graphics preset at frame rates that mostly hit 35-40 FPS.
When the pain hits, I can hear the PC fanatic clutching his chest. Locking 40 FPS with the Deck’s refresh set to 40 would have been better, but I opted for the cuter graphics. The old me hated me too, but the new me just loves perfectly playable games, dizzying on Deck’s screen. Would it impress me more if you had hardware that could play 4K, ultrawide? I do not think so.
Handhelds are always a step or two behind home consoles, and while the Steam platform isn’t as powerful as the PS5 or Xbox Series X, it feels like the gap is smaller than ever. It’s a “serious” console game that I played on the PS5 a while ago, and it looks and feels just as good downscaled. Taking it apart, the FSR2 might make it look a little rough, the frame rate isn’t a smooth 60, and the mount size will make your built-in storage cringe, but my word, kid, I’m in awe.
For a long time, I wanted Sony and Microsoft to come out with new handhelds. I love the Switch’s library of Nintendo games, but other than that, I find it a little lacking for my taste. With Deck, there is no need for any company to enter the handheld market. Load up Uncharted, Spider-Man, God of War, Days gone by, and Horizon, and you might as well have a Vita 2—albeit a little clunky.
In short, if you want to use Uncharted on your handheld, this is it. It’s not a stripped down version, it’s made to measure – it’s a console version, and it’s awesome.
Uncharted: A Rogue Legacy series Steam code provided by Sony.
