The Steam Deck really is the coolest and most exciting gaming device I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing in quite some time. And not only does it allow me to play my vast Steam library on the go, but it also does an admirable job presenting high-fidelity versions of a ton of games that will also mostly run smooth as butter. But it’s still a tossup whether a particular game might be unsupported (or just hasn’t been deemed Deck appropriate yet). This can be especially true for newer, smaller games, or even beta versions of games.
So when I got the chance to dive into Salt 2: Shores of Gold, an upcoming indie open world pirate-themed survival adventure game, I was actually dreading how it might run on the Steam Deck. I pretty much assumed there was no way it was going to work. A lot of that also stemmed from the fact that there weren’t yet any user-created control schemes, which wasn’t itself a huge surprise. But boy howdy, did my face light up the first time I pressed a button and the onscreen button prompt indicator actually showed the correct input. This meant that, if nothing else, at least Salt 2 has built-in controller support.
But the more I played the beta, the more I realized that not only does Salt 2 have dedicated controller support, it also runs pretty frickin’ well on the Deck. There were some minor stutters along the way, which I assume stems from the taxing, highly detailed and realistic water effects that are constantly churning (except when you are in one of the game’s interior locations, which don’t seem to suffer from the same stuttering issues).
I’m still messing around with the settings to see if I can lessen this effect or get a more consistent framerate, but even if this is the best it gets, it’s beyond good enough for me, considering I get to enjoy this cool little gem of a game.
Oh, and it looks absolutely stunning. Just look at this sunset!
So yeah, overall Salt 2: Shores of Gold is shaping up to be a real gem on the Steam Deck. And hopefully the full release will be able to deliver a more well-rounded experience, content-wise, to make this an even better Steam Deck companion.
