FrostPunk 2 Steam Deck Performance and Quick Look

Frostpunk 2 Steam Deck Performance and Quick Look

Unfortunately, our Frostpunk 2 review code came in a little later than we were hoping and it’s a game you want to sink your teeth into. While this means we won’t be able to give our full review of Frostpunk 2 just yet, there were are few burning questions that we had heading into the game that we can confidently answer now.

Do I need to play Frostpunk before Frostpunk 2?

First, we missed the boat on the original, but heard so much great stuff about it. It currently sits at a 93 percent on Steam, and was lauded for its blending of city building, atmosphere, survival and tough decisions. We were curious to see how accessible the sequel would be for newcomers and the good news is that you can jump right in. The game has a lengthy cinematic to set the table, it also suggests newcomers start on a citizen mode before increasing the difficulty and then during the prologue mission, there are constant tutorials that are only there if you want them to be with just a click of a button.

Does Frostpunk 2 work on Steam Deck?

The second question is how does it run on Steam Deck or does it even run on Steam Deck? At the moment Steam lists the game as unsupported on Steam Deck, but the original was playable, and some research showed that people from the beta said it ran well, so we had high hopes heading in.

The great news is that from our experience playing the prologue, it plays great on Deck. It was on the default settings which was ultra high and I’m sure with a little tweaking it could run even better. I tried using both external KBM, as well as using just the deck and they both control great. It was definitely built with Steam Deck controls in mind. About the only issues were that the fan was a little loud, but I’ve heard much worse and the battery life wasn’t perfect. Used about 25-30 percent for the prologue, which took between 45 minutes to an hour, which isn’t terrible.

These were our two big concerns heading into the release of Frostpunk 2 and all of our concerts have been assuaged. I’m excited to play more, but I’ve already been acclimated to the world in just the first mission, as to survive with the prolouge with enough food, the elders had to be sacrificed.