Atomfall Steam Deck Impressions – PC Port Features, Rog Ally Performance, and More

Before providing our comprehensive review of the game “Atomfall” developed by Rebellion, I have a special feature focusing on the PC port, its performance on Steam Deck and ROG Ally, along with additional insights. Notably, Atomfall has been Steam Deck Verified prior to its release. Due to limitations, this pre-launch feature will primarily showcase screenshots from the initial stages of the game. I’ve played beyond these early hours and will discuss performance in more detail later, but for now, I can only share images from the beginning. In spite of these restrictions, Atomfall is one of the relatively few newly Steam Deck Verified games that seems to truly merit this rating, based on my initial playthrough.

Atomfall PC graphics options and display settings

With Atomfall on PC, you have the flexibility to modify various visual settings for an optimal gaming experience. You can switch between exclusive fullscreen, borderless, and windowed display modes. Adjust your resolution from 1024×768 up to 4K, enable or disable v-sync, set a frame rate limit (30, 60, 90, 120, unlimited), adjust the background frame rate limit (15, 30, matching foreground), scale resolution (50% to 200%), select a graphics detail preset (low, medium, high, ultra, custom), alter screen brightness, turn HDR on or off, enable async compute, and toggle mouse lag reduction.

As a gaming enthusiast, I can’t help but be thrilled by the customizable graphics settings in Atomfall! You can fine-tune elements like anti-aliasing (ranging from off to ultra), shadow detail (from low to ultra), reflection detail (same range), draw distance, texture detail, water detail, and even toggle features like ambient occlusion, screen space shadows, motion blur, tessellation, and obscurance fields. Each setting offers a wide range of options, allowing me to tailor the game’s visuals to my preference for an optimal gaming experience!

Atomfall accessibility options

Despite not focusing on graphics, Atomfall offers several user-friendly accessibility features. For instance, you can customize text size, the transparency of certain UI elements, various NPC color schemes, crosshair color, HUD scale, traversal indicators, enemy icons, and more. Furthermore, you can tweak camera-related accessibility settings such as screen shake, sway, bob, and similar effects. Additionally, there are audio assistance and control assistance options available.

Atomfall PC control options

In Atomfall for PC, you can customize input bindings across gameplay, user interface, player menu, and beyond. Notably, certain options can be set as “Hold” instead of a simple button press. Apart from the regular control settings, there’s also a Default Left-Handed configuration that mirrors the original setup, plus two single-hand presets: one for left-handed players and another for right-handed ones.

Atomfall Steam Deck performance

As a gamer, I was initially hesitant when I learned that Atomfall had already been Steam Deck Verified, given my past experiences with developer games sporting this label. However, to my delight, Atomfall runs and looks fantastic on Valve’s handheld device, provided some adjustments are made. Given its simultaneous release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, I wasn’t surprised by the smooth gameplay experience but it’s still refreshing to witness.

I’ve personally tested the initial playthrough sessions twice with different graphics settings and later gameplay hours, just to ensure consistency. As anticipated, the performance fluctuates significantly between indoor and outdoor environments in open zones.

Before delving into the suggested settings, it’s worth noting that Atomfall offers comprehensive controller compatibility, 16:10 screen support, Steam Cloud synchronization, and a comfortable user experience on the Steam Deck. However, there’s currently no HDR support available, which is indicated as unavailable in the build I tested, even when using an external HDR display and the “SteamDeck=0 %command%” launch option.

Atomfall Steam Deck recommended settings

For Atomfall on your Steam Deck, there are two options for settings: one offers a stable performance across all areas or higher indoor performance with lower frame rates outside. Since Atomfall consists of smaller, interconnected locations instead of a continuous open world, I call these areas the “open zone.” If you prefer a more consistent experience, I suggest using a blend of the low and medium preset with the render scale at 90, running the game at 800p. To maintain a frame rate of 40fps, use the Steam Deck’s quick access menu to cap it. Lowering shadows to “low” was crucial for maintaining performance during outdoor combat. Keep in mind that these settings are more conservative, but they ensure a stable gaming experience.

To achieve a smoother gameplay with higher frame rates, it’s recommended not to limit yourself to a 40fps cap. Indoors on Steam Deck, the game can easily exceed 60fps when most settings are set to medium, but shadows are kept at low. However, you might experience occasional drops down to the low 40s outdoors. If you’re okay with a slightly variable gaming experience, this setting could work well for you.

If you prefer a consistent 60fps outdoors, you’ll need to adjust the settings. Lowering them to the low preset and reducing the render scale to 90 or lower should do the trick, although it may drop as low as the high 50s in crowded areas. The overall gaming experience remains good under these conditions, but keep in mind that it can be somewhat sluggish during busy scenes.

Atomfall ROG Ally performance impressions and recommended settings

Switched over to the beefier ROG Ally for a spin. To my delight, Atomfall sports a launcher here. Unlike the Steam Deck where it dives straight into splash screens and title scenes, on this rig, you’re greeted by a launcher that offers customization of graphics settings (which can also be tweaked in-game), gameplay, or a peek at Rebellion’s social media hub. During my testing, I ran it in the 25W mode with a 5GB VRAM setting.

I was curious about testing Atomfall’s limits on the ROG Ally, so I gave it a try to see its potential. Running at 1080p resolution and scaling render to 75%, the game maintained approximately 70fps during combat in open-zone locations. Indoor scenes even managed to reach the 120fps target regularly. When playing with native 1080p on the low preset, you can expect around 40fps outdoors, with frames often exceeding 60 indoors at times.

Out of interest, I experimented with the ultra settings at 1080p resolution on my ROG Ally, and I noticed that the frame rate frequently dropped below 20 frames per second. To be honest, I didn’t anticipate it being playable, but I did want to check out the visual differences using this setting.

The game “Atomfall” performs exceptionally well across both PC handhelds and consoles, as demonstrated here, making it an effortless recommendation so far. Keep an eye out for our comprehensive review coming soon. “Atomfall” launches on March 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store). It’s also available on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

2025-03-21 18:56