Vanquish
2010’s Vanquish is a notable product of the Gears–of-War-ification of third-person shooters. It’s fast-paced, aggressive gameplay oscillates between cover-based shootouts and bullet-time precision, and both feels and runs great on the Steam Deck. Firefights can get lethal quick if you’re not careful; in that way, I find Vanquish requires a bit more attention than many other cover-based third-person shooters. I recommend making use of the Steam Deck’s rear buttons to make the game feel a little speedier and easier to control. But be warned: You won’t just be parking yourself behind waist-high barricades the whole time like in many other shooters of this variety; your power slide encourages continual, fast movement, which yields exciting opportunities to pull off tricky shots as you zip past foes. But be careful, as you’ll face lethal consequences if you don’t pay close attention to your surroundings.
