Does the Dead Space remake work on Steam Deck?

Dead SpaceThis is an extremely scary game which gives the player tools to be an engineer and puts them in a huge planet-cracker vessel that asks them to live. It is a terrifying game that gives players the tools of an engineer, puts them inside a massive planet-cracker ship and asks them to survive. Dead SpaceMotive Studio, the developer of remake, did not launch for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, as they were focusing their efforts on a current-gen title that was starkly lit. For a title that relies so heavily on building an atmosphere of dread and tension, players might wonder if it runs on Steam Deck, Valve’s portable platform.

Steam Deck does not support Dead SpaceAccording to our colleagues at The Verge: the game has been patched by a Steam Deck developerHotfix for Proton, the program which allows Windows games on Linux platforms. (These are the Dead Space remake is not among Valve’s list of “Steam Deck Verified” games, though the 2008 original is.) The Dead SpaceRemake is now available on Steam Deck. Polygon has tested it.

Can the Dead Space remake be used on Steam Deck

Slow survival horror games like Dead Space is a good fit for the Steam Deck’s controls, whereas a more frantic co-op shooter like Warhammer 40,000: DarktideIt can be awkward and clunky. The Steam Deck’s controls make it feel natural to guide protagonist Isaac Clarke through the USG Ishimura — the setting for Dead Space — and while the experience is less immersive than playing on a PC, the Steam Deck does a perfectly fine job at depicting the flickering lights and streams of gore on display.

One part of the game felt better on Deck than PC: the zero gravity sections, like navigating around a centrifuge or through a part of the ship that’s been exposed to the vacuum of space. There’s still plenty of room to completely mess up an encounter, but at least I never found myself losing track of a Necromorph or dying to surprise projectiles. The one troubling exception I found was that using Kinesis — an ability that allows Isaac to control items and obstacles with his RIG suit — on the fly felt a little less intuitive, which means I flubbed a couple of fights.

It was great fun to run from Necromorphs and Isaac, while hiding under a blanket in the darkness, snug as a dormouse, wrapped in an acorn. It was great to see you bounce off. Dead Space on the Deck at launch, it’s worth giving the Ishimura another shot.