During the recent review of Doom: The Dark Ages, an attempt to launch the game on the Steam Deck was hindered by a bug preventing it from starting on SteamOS. Initially, this was not viewed as a significant issue, as the Steam Deck’s three-year-old hardware is believed to be beneath the minimum specifications recommended for the game, which requires ray tracing-capable graphics cards.
However, over the weekend, Valve released a preview build of a new SteamOS version that enabled Doom: The Dark Ages to launch on the Steam Deck. After conducting some tests, it became apparent that the game is surprisingly playable, although users need to reduce the graphics settings significantly.
With all graphical settings adjusted to “Low” and FSR upscaling set to “Performance,” Doom: The Dark Ages was playable at the system’s native 1280×800 resolution, achieving a steady frame rate of 30 to 40 fps.
This screenshot was captured on a Steam Deck while running “Low” graphics settings at a resolution of 1280×800.
The fire effects displayed in the game showcase impressive visuals, even on the Steam Deck.
While the absence of advanced lighting effects may be noticeable compared to “High” graphical settings experienced on a high-performance rig such as the Nvidia GTX 2080 TI, the fact that a ray tracing-focused title operates successfully on the Steam Deck remains a noteworthy achievement. The possibility of implementing an “Ultra Low” graphics setting tailored for the Steam Deck could potentially improve performance further, should Bethesda prioritize such a development.
Although the game looks better at a higher frame rate, any effort to gain additional graphical fidelity in Doom: The Dark Ages tends to overwhelm the aging Steam Deck’s processor. On “Medium” settings, frame rates consistently fell below the 30 fps mark, and at “High” settings, performance dropped further to around 20 fps, leading to a significantly degraded playing experience.
Reducing the game’s resolution did improve frame rates; playing at 768×480 resolution resulted in approximately 45 fps at “Low” settings and nearly 30 fps at “High” settings. However, the low image quality at that resolution was reminiscent of the pixelated display found on the Nintendo 3DS XL, which may not be a worthwhile trade-off for slightly better performance. It is advisable to deactivate the FSR Frame Generation option on the Steam Deck, as enabling it typically worsens performance.
Despite these challenges, Steam Deck users can still enjoy a playable experience with Doom: The Dark Ages. This accessibility is particularly reassuring for gamers awaiting the anticipated release of the more powerful Steam Deck 2.0, which Valve is presumably developing.
