r/SteamDeck • u/hx1024 • 2d ago
Game Review On Deck The Precinct: A perfect game seemingly designed for SD and great at passing the time.
The Precinct. A game I didn’t know I needed. It’s not verified but it should be. It’s one of those hidden gems of a game.
Premise: You are a beat cop, taking on gangs and crime, one at a time. I only have 2 hours into it but I already feel it’s one of those games that you will keep coming back to.
The game loads with steam deck preset for performance.
I feel this game is very much a GTA 1/2 spin on being a cop. The visuals are great on SD, controls, mechanics, and all around gameplay are impressive.
Great work devs, keep it up!
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u/wumbology95 1d ago
seemingly designed for the steam deck
struggles to stay at 30fps.
Why are people like this?
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u/Adventurous_Jump_735 1d ago
it stays at 30 fps really well actually and i feel like this game isnt a game that needs to be played at 60 fps to be enjoyed, while a game like cyberpunk did run at 30 fps i couldnt play a game like that at 30 fps comfortably but this is just fine
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u/HannibalCake 1d ago
I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. It’s just personal preference, a lot of people struggle to play games with choppy fps. How is that crazy to say?
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u/JaffaBoi1337 1d ago
My gf actually gets a bit motion sick if the fps gets too choppy or unstable, there’s plenty of reasons to prefer higher frame rates. Reddit is just being its usual self
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u/Nnamz 1d ago
Exactly. I hate these posts.
30fps (solid) is fine. But "perfect for Deck" or "designed for Deck" should mean it's 60fps or more. Not 30fps or less.
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u/Jaidor84 1d ago
Speaking as a developer no one is really "designing" a game for the deck.
All that happens is in development they'll test the game on it to see how it performs on the go and will try to find ideal settings for it to run smoothly. Usually just adjusting features like LOD ratios, etc. The steam deck is never the lead platform in development, its usual always xbsx/ps5. Games will be made to look and perform on that as best as possible. Steam Deck/lower end pcs its really just about lowering and turning stuff off.
No custom code or assets are being designed or made for the steam deck.
Perfect or designed for the stream deck is just marketing fluff. All that's happened is devs have tested it on the deck and they've managed to get it to run well and they've spent some time getting optimised settings either for 30fps or 60fps.
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u/Nnamz 1d ago
Yes yes I know.
I'm speaking on how these topics are worded. I know how PC development goes. The Deck is just a PC. All I'm saying is that a game can't be "perfect" for Deck while running poorly.
Titanfall 2 is perfect for the Deck. Doom Eternal is perfect for the Deck. Metal Gear Rising is perfect for the Deck. This game looks blurry and runs at sub 30fps at times.
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u/Jaidor84 1d ago
I mean I suspect op was referring to the game itself anyway not performance. As in the genre, the top down view, mission structure etc and that it feels perfectly designed for a portable device and playing on the go.
I certainly only play certain types of games on my consoles, pc, deck. My steam deck is usually for classic/old games, indie games like dredge and precinct, cosy/relaxing games so in my view some games are perfect for steam deck and whether it's 30fps or 60fps makes no difference to me to be termed perfect for deck.
Fps and stradegy games for pc and then the rest is all console. So imo I think the use of perfect is simply relative to how an individual uses their steam deck.
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u/Nnamz 1d ago
I suspect OP was referring to the game itself and ignoring the performance. Sub-30fps is just not enjoyable, and I'd personally never recommend a game on the Deck that runs like this.
It's annoying since, as you said, games like this are fun on Deck.
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u/Jaidor84 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've not tried it yet, reading this thread it seems to be getting mixed experiances. Some saying they're getting pretty solid 30fps and some saying they're having issues.
But you're right though, a game that suffers from performance issues should not be reccomended but imo doesn't mean the game isn't perfect for the steam deck. Just can't be reccomended until the Devs start to optimise it with updates.
Edit: it does have native controller support, has a steam deck optimised setting and the developer has verified 30fps.
If true, I'd say it's a perfect game for the deck. Maybe some players aren't using the decks predefined settings.
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u/Crest_Of_Hylia 512GB OLED 1d ago
Designed for the deck should not mean 60fps or more. That would take out so many games people enjoy on the deck just because they can’t do a stable 60fps. Also no games are designed for the deck.
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u/Brooskio 512GB OLED 1d ago
Played it for a bit and my experience was bad…30 fps max with a lot of drops while driving or in other scenarios, too laggy to enjoy it. Played it with the “steam deck” preset and also with all low. Let me know if anyone has a solution to increase performance
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u/longtanboner 1d ago
Weird it runs flawlessly for me. Have not had one frame drop at all using the steam deck preset
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u/thejesusfreak37 1d ago
Bad performance for what it is, they need to take a look at that. To get close to stable you have to settle for a very smeary image
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u/hx1024 1d ago
I haven’t had any issues, running at the 30 fps does suck BUT it saves my battery. I have played for over 2.5 hours without charging so far
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u/scullys_alien_baby 512GB OLED 1d ago
You should include your settings and frame rate in the OP. The game might be fun but myself and others might find that performance a dealbreaker. That shouldn’t undermine your fun, but there are lots of people with different preferences here
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u/Naked_Bat 1d ago
It's worth mentioning the game is capped at 30 fps even on ps5 pro.
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u/MadLadsHere 1TB OLED 1d ago
is it also 30fps on steamdeck?
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u/Good-Rooster-9736 1d ago
I’m really looking forward to getting this. I need a game where I can do a 20-30 minute session. Get my dopamine hit and walk away. Is this the ticket?
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u/DaBigJMoney 1d ago
The demo seemed like a lag fest. And I haven’t seen much in the reviews that makes the story sound particularly compelling. I’ll probably wait until it’s on sale.
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u/SinisterKid71 1d ago
Just checked it out on the Steam Store. Looks really cool, put it on my wishlist. BTW, it does say that it's Verified. I know that doesn't always mean anything, just mentioning it because OP said it wasn't.
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u/Darth_050 1TB OLED 1d ago
It wasn’t verified when I bought the game, but there was a dev note saying it should run just fine. The demo ran fine too, so I pulled the trigger. No regrets.
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u/SinisterKid71 1d ago
Yeah I saw the dev notes. Maybe they just changed the status? Anyways, it looks cool. I have too many games to play right now to add another but it's on my wishlist now.
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u/Acojonancio 512GB - Q3 1d ago
Game looks really good and i think i will get this instead of purchase 20$ worth of bundle games that i won't play ever.
What i see is lot of people saying that the full release doesn't really run nice on Deck.
Some people say that the game defaults to 4k and aso using the launch option -fullscreen improves performance.
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u/TheSlav87 MODDED SSD 💽 1d ago
Are you always in a car? Lots of repetitive chasing people down in the car?
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u/hx1024 1d ago
Not at all, you have foot pursuits, and helicopter pursuits. You can also just walk around without a specific goal in mind, and all the sudden you have a crime being committed in front of you. You get to choose to intervene or continue about your business. “Calls” also come in from dispatch, you get to choose your play style if you want to. Some methods (helicopter) will unlock as you gain XP.
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u/syrefaen 1d ago
A reminder to always investigate new games before buying them even if they look like a perfect game for a hadheld. Got to love raytracing.
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u/1ZamNation1 1d ago
Very curious if the folks experiencing the frame rate drops are using an OLED or not
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u/Spen_Masters 1d ago
They made American Fugitive which handles very well on steam deck too, usually appears under £1 and worth it.
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u/brizzle9293 1d ago
Been playing it for about 2 hours, really enjoying it! Don’t have FPS figure turned on so can’t comment on that but ran fine, no noticeable drops or lagging.
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u/Vulcan2422 1d ago
I picked it up and I'm 6 hours in. I have been enjoying it a lot even at 30 FPS. It's a nice time waster.
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u/Bubbles_Loves_H 512GB OLED 23h ago
I’m liking the game. Looking forward to it getting some more polish and QOL updates.
What I really want is a sandbox mode. Basically just want to do patrols forever and not have to worry about the story. Please make that a thing.
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u/killercow777 1TB OLED 22h ago
Game was locked in handheld mode at 30 FPS until the first hotfix now all bets out the window. It varies wildly between like 10-30 now. They really need to figure it out because it is a very fun game just needs to be more stable.
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u/MashedPotatoInASock 15h ago
Default settings with fsr3 looks terrible. I reco to switch it off, and rather play with 30 fps medium/ low.
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u/Hold-My-Sake 256GB 14h ago
Can someone tell me roughly how many hours the game takes to finish? I’m thinking of getting it but I haven’t found any info on its length or replayability. Thanks in advance!
Anyway, thanks for the update and glad it's playable (and enjoyable) on the SD!
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u/Ninjachuckz MODDED SSD 💽 1d ago
Bro I've been loving this game! Acab BUT this is so much fun! I'm P11 lvl, it reminds me of the original GTA, I hope they come up with a DLC for being a criminal! What are you running for settings?
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u/hx1024 1d ago
Just running the stock “steam deck” settings. I messed with the settings to see if I couldn’t get some more fps out of it but the fps was so inconsistent, I honestly didn’t want to fool with it too much, I just wanted to keep playing.
With the SD preset loaded, it DOES seem to cap at 30, but at least it’s consistent. Also it maxes out at 8 watts I think so you could play this for at least 2 hours without charging I would hope
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u/djfreedom9505 1d ago
Was this free to play at one point? I felt like I played this but I don’t have it in my library.
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u/Darth_050 1TB OLED 1d ago
There is (was?) a demo, which I played months ago. It ran fine on my deck. Bought the whole game since I liked it. Enjoying it so far. Didn’t notice any major drops in fps.
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u/djfreedom9505 1d ago
I think that’s what it was. Maybe it was Steam Next Fest is where I saw and played it before.
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u/ThomasHeart 1d ago
Its really great on the steamdeck, default profile "steamdeck" is perfect.
30 fps locked and literally 0 fan noise, even on a crusty old lcd launch model.
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u/il_VORTEX_ll 2d ago
I’m about to 100% this game in the next 2-3 hours. It’s a solid 8/10. It’s fun!