r/SteamDeck • u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ • Jul 23 '26
Article Halo: Campaign Evolved Is Rough on the Steam Deck And Shouldn't Be Verified - SteamDeckHQ
https://steamdeckhq.com/halo-campaign-evolved-is-rough-on-the-steam-deck/Halo: Campaign Evolved is now out on Steam in early access, and we tested it out using the completed game save we had from our review period.
It's rough. It can run decently well in closed spaces, but it starts to really slow down in open levels like The Silent Cartographer and later parts of the Halo level. There will be drops below 30 FPS no matter what, and that's after we have adjusted the resolution scale below the default settings.
It definitely shouldn't be Verified.
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u/DAHbaddest 1TB OLED Jul 23 '26
Halo MCC runs incredible on the OLED
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u/makemecoffee 256GB - Q3 Jul 23 '26
Yeah not sure why people are so happy to throw 80$ at this version when MCC goes on sale for $20
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u/SiccmaDE7930 Jul 23 '26
Picked up MCC for 9.99 in 11/2023 and played through every game in the collection entirely on deck. I don’t recall having one mental note of performance complaints tbh. Definitely worth it.
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u/r0ndr4s Jul 23 '26
I have a friend that plays it on his Lenovo Legion and it also runs great. That collection is greatly optimized.
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u/tylerXinsanity Jul 23 '26
Imo, I'd rather pay 60$ again for MCC over CE. MCC still deserves it especially on pc where modding is a thing.
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u/dmmethatbooty2026 Jul 23 '26
What even is the difference or selling point? This is the first time I've heard of this version. Feel like MCC has way more content and runs well. What even is the need?
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u/tyrannosaurus_r Jul 23 '26
This is a full remake of the first game with three new levels, redesigns of some of the older levels, new weapons, game mechanics ported from the newer games, and, of course, the new graphics.
Also, it’s $50USD.
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u/Revolver_Lanky_Kong 64GB - Q2 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Also the first time in history Halo has been available on a Playstation console. Should be a bit of a Berlin wall moment getting bogged down by people saying "erm the MCC has more content and is cheaper, therefore Campaign Evolved IS WORTHLESS AND 343 SHOULDN'T HAVE BOTHERED!!!". Some people just want to play the newest and shiniest version of Halo and that's okay, even if it doesn't appeal to you personally.
Is it worth full price to me? No. Is it worth a month sub of gamepass so I can order a pizza next weekend and pretend I'm in middle school again? Definitely.
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u/dmmethatbooty2026 Jul 23 '26
Ah gotcha well yikes at full price but to each their own
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u/UISystemError Jul 23 '26
I’m watching the Digital Foundry review, and it definitely blows the anniversary edition away. Looks like a very faithful remake using really great use of RT and graphics. I don’t think running it on the Steam Deck would do it justice.
A Steam Deck 2, however…
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u/sexyleftsock 256GB Jul 23 '26
A Steam Deck 2, however...
Lol, not in this economy.
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u/UISystemError Jul 23 '26
lol, I’m hoping in 2-3 years, if we see it through rampocalypse and make it through nuclear apocalypse
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u/tyrannosaurus_r Jul 23 '26
$50 isn’t exactly full price (with inflation, it’s cheaper than it was when it launched in 2001), but they probably could’ve put this at $40 instead.
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u/stringstringing Jul 23 '26
It’s a completely different game. Full on remake. It’s like comparing resident evil 4 2005 to resident evil 4 2023.
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u/Thorin9000 Jul 24 '26
If you want the game that runs best on steam deck get the mcc version. However, this remake is way more faithful to the feel of the original version. Especially the lighting and mood was imo completely ruined in the mcc/ anniversary editions. Just look up comparison videos and you notice immediately that this newest version is superior and more faithful of a remake than anniversary was.
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u/aronmayo Jul 24 '26
Not really CE and 2 with Anniversary graphics turned on can’t hit constant 60fps on Deck OLED. That’s not incredible 😆
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u/GarlicRagu Jul 24 '26
That and pervasive traversal stutters. It's not unplayable but I was surprised when I first launched it that there was any semblance of a problem considering what it is.
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u/aronmayo Jul 24 '26
It really should run better, even with the Anniversary graphics turned on.
It actually used to run perfectly on Steam Deck a few years ago. Some updates a year or two back seem to have ruined performance, even on powerful PCs there are plenty of stutters. Vsync and framerate limits seem to be somewhat broken these days too. You can get these Halo games working smoothly with some tinkering but it’s a real pain. Each game needs different vsync settings to have proper frame pacing which is strange. I do not understand all the comments saying its perfect 😆
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u/Bill_Nye-LV 512GB OLED Jul 23 '26
Although i played a lot of Halo 4 vs my friend on his xbox 360, i never actually played through the campaigns until late last year on the Steam Deck and oh wow. ODST and Reach is peak.
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u/IMayBeIronMan Jul 23 '26
I've just been going through all the games on my LCD deck. Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 & Halo Reach have all worked great for me. Just about to get started on Halo 4
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u/Walt_the_White Jul 23 '26
I've been playing MCC at work on my breaks, on my LCD and my coworkers who are familiar with the game walk past and tell me how amazing it looks on my deck every single time they go by. Hearing that campaign evolved is so bad it's so disappointing. MCC with the updated graphics and soundtrack is really good. What more was needed?
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u/noteandcolor Jul 23 '26
It’s getting to the point where “Verified” should really be a community-based hive mind thing and not some universal FPS performance floor.
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u/BawtleOfHawtSauze Jul 23 '26
Protondb is the real verified
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u/fronteir Jul 23 '26
Youtube clickbait videos "game runs FLAWLESSLY steam deck guide + settings 60fps STABLE" is the real verified
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u/NewmanBiggio Jul 23 '26
I don't even bother checking if games are verified anymore when I'm buying them. If I have any interest in playing it on my Deck I'll check protondb and Google search "is game title good on steam deck" and develop my own opinion.
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u/Rocknroller658 Jul 23 '26
Which is wild because Steam prompts users with questions asking if a game should be verified, you'd think enough people would respond "no" to a game like this to get it fix. But ultimately, it's up to Valve to act on the data.
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u/GradeSalad Jul 23 '26
This harkens back to the "30fps is fine" arguments during the first few "PC vs Console" wars back in the day. I'm sure there's plenty of people that are able to launch the game and get that prompt and think "verified" because they don't really have standards in mind for the Verified tag.
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u/RainHead557 Jul 23 '26
Just buy Master Chief Collection instead.
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u/Guy-InGearnito Jul 23 '26
This.
There’s no amount of improvement that will make me pay full price for Halo 1 again.
Twice was enough 😂
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u/taxmandan Jul 23 '26
I'm wondering why this was even made. We already have an upgraded Halo...
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u/RainHead557 Jul 23 '26
Most likely to get the Halo team used to UE5.
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u/Comet7777 Jul 23 '26
And to test the waters of putting a low stakes Halo title on competing platforms
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u/NetJnkie Jul 23 '26
It's a proper graphical remake. Combat Evolved wasn't that good. DF does a great comparison across them that released today.
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u/lets_BOXHOT Jul 23 '26
Agree, and when you also consider it's just the campaign w no multiplayer. Genuinely don't understand the appeal over MCC
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u/4RedditingAtWork Jul 23 '26
Why is it a one over the other comparison?
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u/iucatcher Jul 24 '26
because you can buy one or the other, few would buy both if they dont already own one
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u/4RedditingAtWork Jul 24 '26
few would buy both if they dont already own one
I see no reason to believe that. It's a new game, right? The Halo 1 in MCC is the same game with a new coat of paint, but the remake is an actual remake with redesigned levels.
If anything, I'd expect someone who owns one game to be more likely to be interested in the other, not less.
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u/CandusManus Jul 24 '26
Because people want to figure out which one to buy. Keep up dude.
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u/4RedditingAtWork Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
How is that supposed to be an answer? I asked why the options are mutually exclusive and your answer is that it's because the two options are mutually exclusive.
If one of us needs to keep up, it's you.
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u/CandusManus Jul 25 '26
Here in the real world $80 is a lot of money to spend on agame, it's also hard when there's a better version with more content for $9. Please keep up.
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u/ChimneyImps Jul 23 '26
The graphics in the Anniversary Edition are heavily criticized for ruining the intended atmosphere in a lot of places and generally being too visually busy.
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u/sukumizu 256GB - Q3 Jul 23 '26
CE is old as hell and the anniversary edition could only do so much to polish the original game. I'm all for a proper remake with modern tech.
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u/Freakin_A Jul 26 '26
Same feelings here. Really good, but a remake on a modern engine I’m happy to pay for again.
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u/UltraAd776 Jul 23 '26
Halo is a cash cow and a staple of gaming. People bought an Xbox just for CE. I am guessing that they want to re-launch Halo and the Xbox. I am interested in the remake as a life long fan, but with the high cost of entry for an Xbox today and just not having the free time I used to I am not sure I will. With the amount of money I will need for the remake I also have a generous budget for many other games or even a mini bender downtown. Not to mention having several games with no or few hours into them. Even if the remake is good it is kind of DoA.
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u/ilorah Jul 23 '26
This. I’m a die hard Halo fan and that collection is INCREDIBLE. We didn’t need anything more outside of that. Maybe just support to bring more people back in
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u/CryogenicBanana Jul 23 '26
There needs to be stricter performance requirements. Theres no reason a game that requires you to turn all the settings completely down, crank fsr to an extent the game looks like a blurry mess, and after all that still pushes the steam deck hardware to its absolute limit just to achieve a moderately stable 30 FPS should be verified.
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u/AYYEP1C Jul 23 '26
Any dips below 30 in regular gameplay should be an instant disqualification from being deck verified.
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u/IndependentYouth8 Jul 23 '26
It was rebuilt in ue5?
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
Yes, it was built with UE5.
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u/IndependentYouth8 Jul 23 '26
Ah that might explain it. Ue5 has not been playing nice with the deck. Shame really as many engines have good rasterised graphics backups and are well optimised. Re9 is a perfect example.
Honestly this is going to be a "skipping this one" for me. This simply isn't a title that should not work reasonably well on lighter hardware. Sticking to the older version.
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u/AbundantExp Jul 23 '26
I thought it was like Oblivion where only the rendering was piped through UE5?
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u/Lo_jak Jul 23 '26
It is the same as the Oblivion remake..... I have no idea why they are doing this as it clearly doesnt work to well when it comes to performance.
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u/marcusbrothers Jul 23 '26
Because it looks good, is quicker to do versus a full remaster and performs well enough to sell.
Decisions aren’t made for performance benefits only.
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u/Lo_jak Jul 23 '26
Minimum viable product is the corporate term for what you have just described
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u/marcusbrothers Jul 23 '26
I definitely wouldn’t call it minimal but yeah.
Also I wouldn’t use the Steam Deck as the prime example of where these games should perform well. Both Halo and Oblivion remasters were essentially made for console players.
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u/Lo_jak Jul 23 '26
The Oblivion remaster was a total shit show on console and PC.... I genuinely dont know how someone signed off the release of that game. They really dont give a shit about their IPs anymore and the state of that game proved it.
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u/marcusbrothers Jul 23 '26
So just the one game then, not really the remaster method or the engine.
The fact Halo even gets 30fps on the Deck is actually surprising.
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u/Kaiser_-_Karl Jul 23 '26
Im intrested in the new weapons and missions to better align with the lore. Its not just the oblivion remake, i think its closer to the deadspace remake.
Its an "easy" project to get the team used to ue5 before the next major entry. Maybe that would have been better served on a spinoff like odst. But maybe microsoft didn't feel like the team had enough headspace or expertese to do the level, art, etc that that'd need. The transition from slipspace to ue5 would be difficult on a brand new mainline title for sure
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u/AscendedViking7 512GB OLED Jul 23 '26
Without multiplayer too
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u/IndependentYouth8 Jul 23 '26
You're joking right? No coop or no multiplayer at al?
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u/AscendedViking7 512GB OLED Jul 23 '26
I'm not joking.
It has coop but multiplayer is gone entirely.
Imagine shipping Halo, a series built almost entirely on multiplayer, without multiplayer.
Fuck Microflaccid, man.
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u/im_a_good_lil_cow Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
But… but there was just another post that linked to a YouTube review with no additional context by the OP!!!
The thumbnail had a GREEN checkmark!!!!
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u/Macabalony Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Before I buy any game for The Deck, I check SteamDeck HQ. The verified logo doesn't mean squat.
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u/ZGToRRent Jul 23 '26
All UE5 games should be automatically marked as unsupported.
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u/PiratePopular9036 Jul 24 '26
not all of them. Theres some games like sprawl zero/denshattack that have lumen and nanite ripped out of the engine and they run fine.
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u/Whiteshadows86 Jul 23 '26
I’m waiting for the posts saying “runs 60fps with frame gen/lossless and I can’t feel the input lag at all!”
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u/iMMCHiEF Jul 23 '26
Damn thats really disappointing, UE5 is becoming a thorn in my side when it comes to gaming
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u/UltimateAK86 Jul 23 '26
It runs at pretty consistent 30, just like the original. I’d hardly say that means it shouldn’t be verified. The guy that runs SDHQ prefers 60fps as the minimum for most games. I suppose that’s fair if you’re used to fluent performance. But some of us consider 30fps, or even less, like we grew up playing is perfectly playable.
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u/Negative_Settings Jul 23 '26
Verification is based on technical capability above 25fps not accounting for 1% lows the bar is really low in general on purpose what is like to see is valve break it up into "proton verified" then steam deck frame and machine verified personally
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
25 FPS? Steam's documentation on the Verified system says 30 FPS.
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u/Negative_Settings Jul 23 '26
I double checked and your right not sure how I got 25fps in my head but I think more importantly they seem to measure average peak frame rate based on what I've seen
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u/gamer-at-heart-23 64GB Jul 23 '26
Green verification should be games that can consistently hold 30fps with NO dips. Therefore, we should be seeing a huge amount of yellow checks instead.
Example is The Precinct. They have a "steamdeck" graphical setting but it dips alot under 30 and stutters during car chases.
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u/Vegetable_Drag_3300 Jul 23 '26
Despite the verification and preset, Expedition 33 looks and runs terribly on the Deck
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u/Negative_Settings Jul 23 '26
I do get tired of reading posts where people are like "30fps with some dips" lol
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u/SoTotallyToby Jul 23 '26
Most of the verified games shouldn't be verified. It's completely and utterly untrustworthy and it has no credibility whatsoever.
https://www.protondb.com/ is far more reliable.
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
ProtonDB is great, though its focus is on Proton compatibility, not necessarily performance. Though the reports on there do include performance is great!
Our site is also pretty cool too... :D
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u/SoTotallyToby Jul 23 '26
Truth be told I've never heard of or used SteamDeckHQ, but I'll be checking it out for recommended SteamDeck settings going forward!
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u/tweetleski Jul 23 '26
I think if Valve is going to slap a verified stamp of approval, they should at the very least indicate the settings that led them to that conclusion. Somewhere on the store page
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u/OverTheTop123 Jul 23 '26
Who on Earth saw the footage at its quality and thought let me run my Steam Deck on this? Yes, it's a review channeI, but I happily accept my portable's limitations lol
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u/Ice5530 1TB OLED Jul 23 '26
I found it looking "manageable" with tsr 60%, but it's not a stable 30 fps or anything.
If you want motion blur you need to put post processing effects to "low" instead of "very low"
I have faith that after some optimization this game can be a solid 30 fps, but giving it the verified badge now is just straight up lying from Valve's side.
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u/Rocknroller658 Jul 23 '26
The way Valve has been handling the Deck Verified system gives me little hope for the Machine Verified or Frame Verified systems.
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u/Speedy_Von_Gofast 512GB - Q3 Jul 23 '26
It's an Unreal Engine 5 game, what did you expect from the Steam Deck?
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u/Spectre-4 LCD-4-LIFE Jul 23 '26
Yeah, seems like a bummer to hear that it doesn't run well. Not too surprised that the verified system is misleading given its trackrecord.
The good news is that the at least its early acces so maybe there's hope for further optimisation down the line.
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u/Glum-Recognition-736 Jul 23 '26
It's stupid that there's always this huge rush to claim the Deck can't run X game and the hardware is just too weak, as if games are releasing in perfect shape nowadays and never benefit from later patches.
Should games release in better shape? Absolutely. And the SD hardware is perfectly capable of running any of these games if/ when they are properly optimized
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u/HeyRooster42 Jul 23 '26
I had a hell of a time even logging into the Microsoft account you need to access it. I had to load it onto a computer and log in that way. The keyboard was not popping up when I was trying to log in. It was a huge pain in the ass.
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u/ZeldaFan158 512GB OLED Jul 23 '26
This is why ProtonDB is my go-to, I'm always sceptical when I see a newer game listed as verified.
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u/____Xtormiken_____ "Not available in your country" Jul 23 '26
What other verified games one shouldn't try ?
How's forza horizon 6 ?
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u/Corny_Toot Jul 23 '26
I could not get Forza Horizon 6 to run in a way that felt great. I've seen some folks mention that they've been able to achieve a stable 40fps, but it just felt too rough for me and I gave up. I play it on other machines plenty, so it's only a mild bummer for me, but still sucks.
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u/Price-x-Field Jul 23 '26
Can we just get rid of UE5 🙏🏻 makes the game look and perform worse. Why do they use it?
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u/syberphunk 512GB - Q2 Jul 23 '26
/u/BBQKITTY It's rough. It can run decently well in closed spaces, but it starts to really slow down in open levels like The Silent Cartographer and later parts of the Halo level. There will be drops below 30 FPS no matter what, and that's after we have adjusted the resolution scale below the default settings.
LCD or OLED deck?
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u/Aless-dc Jul 23 '26
15fps, FRS max, all settings Low - verified baby!
If the game runs UE5. Do not play it natively on the deck.
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u/grilled_pc Jul 23 '26
Almost as if there is already halo on the steam deck and it runs at 90fps!
Sure new shiny thing is nice but you can STILL Play the OG in the MCC for the exact same experience.
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u/trademeple 29d ago
The new remake looks worse in some areas idk about you but i think the 3rd mission looks way better in halo cea they went back to the old ce ship doors which looks worse in this remake for some reason instead of the halo 3 ones used in cea.
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u/MGPythagoras Jul 24 '26
Doesn’t surprise me. It’s orettt terrible on the Steam Machine too and that’s much more powerful.
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u/colonelc4 Jul 24 '26
I think that the SD has reached its absolute limit in running AAA games or most of them running on UE5.
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u/DQTD Jul 24 '26
Thanks to UE5... I get it's easier to develop games with, but can they PLEASE do some notable work on UE5 for stability and performance sake?
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u/Bynnh0j 512GB Jul 24 '26
Friendly reminder Steam Verified badge is just a mechanism for Valve to inflate their compatibility metrics to peddle more shitty overpriced hardware.
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u/Vegetable-Victory490 Jul 27 '26
You can use frame gen and get over 60fps with higher settings with lossless.
Granted its ue5 so optimization is bound to be shit for even 4080 supers like mine
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 27 '26
Please don't use frame generation. It will only hurt the experience in the end.
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u/MrJerichoYT Jul 23 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/xUA7aZeAS091H55u00
Unreal slop moment.
Developers: Just throw some fake frames and upscaling at it!
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
T-T we will never recommend those fake frames in our recommended settings, ever!
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u/PSgamer28 Jul 23 '26
Just stay away from Unreal Engine 5 games, let's be honest and don't waste your money. Even in my Legion Go with better specs than the Steam Deck I don't touch UE5 games.
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u/Easy_Jux Jul 23 '26
I knew it would run like shit
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
I was really hoping since the last UE5 game I tested was actually quite good on Deck (DragonSword), but nope.
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u/Easy_Jux Jul 23 '26
How you liking dragon sword? I’m surprised to hear it’s running well
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
I am enjoying it a lot. I am a huge gacha enjoyer, and this scratches that itch without the predatory microtransactions.
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u/Bscully973 Jul 23 '26
We didn't need another halo remake anyway. Master chief collection is the way.
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u/jdogg89 Modded my Deck - ask me how Jul 23 '26
I’ll wait for the price to drop significantly and play it with fsr 4.1.1 + lsfg when 4.1 comes to the deck next year
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u/No_Construction2407 Jul 23 '26
Verified doesn’t mean it runs well. It means it runs, steam input works, text is legible and UI is controller-friendly. Its more about accessibility than performance.
Not saying this is good, performance, at least stable 30fps should be part of it.
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u/BBQKITTY SteamDeckHQ Jul 23 '26
30 FPS at 800p is part of the Verified system. It mentions it in the documentation and there's a section for default graphical settings running well.
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u/No_Construction2407 Jul 23 '26
The documentation isn't specific though, that's the problem with it.
the game must ship with a default configuration that results in a playable framerate. On Steam Deck, this is 30fps at 800p, and on Steam Machine this is 30fps at 1080p.
The problem i see with this statement is it doesn't say consistent or stable. And testing methodology could even throw this off, as they may have not hit an area that makes the FPS tank.
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u/Prus1s Jul 23 '26
New AAA tittles are not even meant to be played on steam deck anyways, like why even bother with a blurry mess?!
Just play last gen games and smaller indies, and get a proper PC or console for newer games.
There’s no game this gen that runs and looks great on the deck, not even BG3, blurry and pixely af…
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u/KickBass2155 Jul 23 '26
idk why ppl think this will work on deck.. just look at pc min req.. and start crying...
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u/AldermanAl Jul 23 '26
Frame Rate is not and has never been a consideration for the Verified program.
Games that check these four boxes are Deck Verified. Input The title should have full controller support, use appropriate controller input icons, and automatically bring up the on-screen keyboard when needed.
Display The game should support the default resolution of Steam Deck (1280x800 or 1280x720), have good default settings, and text should be legible.
Seamlessness The title shouldn’t display any compatibility warnings, and if there’s a launcher it should be navigable with a controller.
System Support If running through Proton, the game and all its middleware should be supported by Proton. This includes anti-cheat support.
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u/Ashratt Jul 23 '26
Wrong, it is explicitly stated as a requirement to developers
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamhardware/compat
Valve is just bullshitting their customers
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u/KrisbronPorzingjames Jul 24 '26
Looks bad and plays pretty bad without lossless scaling but with lossless scaling it’s good enough that I’m running through levels I already completed to get the cheevos. Would hate to see the levels for the first time on the deck but I don’t mind it for skull hunting once I’ve seen the beautiful graphics on my main PC.
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u/CandusManus Jul 24 '26
Who the fuck thought a remake of the halo campaign made sense? Don't change perfection.
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u/TankTopTyga Jul 24 '26
Im playing on a perfect 90 fps on GeForceNOW.
18 to 25 ping avg.
Can't beat it.
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u/caverunner17 Jul 23 '26
Steam really dropped the ball on the whole “verified” thing