id Software's latest entry in the long-running franchise, DOOM: The Dark Ages, has been benchmarked ahead of release. Not everyone can enjoy the upgraded visuals due to the game's intense hardware demands. Ray Tracing is a requirement, so it’s no surprise that players on older graphics cards, especially Steam Deck owners, will struggle to run the game. The game also uses up plenty of VRAM, proving that 8GB cards are closer to becoming obsolete in AAA games.

In fact, DOOM: The Dark Ages initially wouldn't launch at all on the Steam Deck due to a bug, but Valve quickly addressed it with the SteamOS 3.7.6 Preview update, fittingly titled “It Runs DOOM.” Unfortunately, that fix doesn't translate to good performance, as early performance reviews on the Steam Deck show disappointing results.

540p and still under 30 FPS

According to Steam Deck HQ's performance review, during the first chapter of the game, the Steam Deck was barely able to maintain a stable 30 FPS. Even with graphics settings set to low and Intel's XeSS in Quality mode, frame rates dropped into the low 20s during intense action scenes.

Things only got worse in the game's open-world section, and neither setting FSR to Ultra Performance nor lowering the resolution to 960x540p could save it. The visuals became noticeably blurry, and frame rates still dipped to around 22–23 FPS during combat. Unfortunately, Frame Generation didn't help either. In fact, enabling it made frame rates drop to just 11 FPS, the image quality took a big hit with heavy pixelation, and gameplay was plagued by input lag and severe slowdowns.

It’s worth holding off for now

Judging by Steam Deck HQ's results, it’s safe to say that the Steam Deck just isn't the right device for DOOM: The Dark Ages. While future patches may bring some optimizations, especially to frame generation, a drastic improvement seems unlikely. The game technically runs, but playing it feels more like a throwback than a modern AAA release.

That said, with SteamOS no longer exclusive to Valve's hardware and the Steam Deck starting to show its limitations in newer titles, handhelds like the upcoming Lenovo Legion Go S, which also runs SteamOS, are likely going to offer a better on-the-go gaming experience. Despite saying that, the raytracing and minimum 8GB VRAM requirement will likely prove to be too much for that device, too. We’d recommend sticking to your gaming PC or console for this one. Or wait for the Steam Deck 2.

About the Author

Hassam Nasir

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.