I like all issues The Final of Us, so it pains me to report that the PC port of The Final of Us Half I, which launched yesterday, is a buggy mess. Hundreds of critiques on Steam are categorized as “largely unfavourable” and are stuffed with mentions of frequent crashes and poor {hardware} utilization. In the meantime, Steam Deck customers are reporting that it takes greater than an hour for the sport to compile shaders on its preliminary launch — and even as soon as that is achieved, efficiency is a matter.
I haven’t got a robust gaming PC, however I do have a Steam Deck and might affirm these points. As soon as I received the sport put in and waited round 90 minutes for the shaders to compile, I began taking part in the standalone DLC Left Behind, and the sport crashed in the course of the opening cinematics. As soon as I began taking part in the sport, I noticed it was utilizing 102 p.c of the Steam Deck’s VRAM. Dropping all graphics settings to low received me beneath 100%, so crashes will most likely be much less frequent going ahead. I solely performed for a couple of minutes, so I am unable to say how issues work as soon as you are taking on Contaminated, however I will not get my hopes up.
It is also value nothing that Sony did not present critiques with a demo code for the sport till launch day, one thing that always means the sport is both being labored on proper up till the final minute or the expertise is not superb (or each). This made a bit nervous about how The Final of Us Half I would run, and it looks as if my fears had been well-founded.
Photograph by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Developer Naughty Canine did not waste any time addressing the issues, tweeting out final night time that they are “actively investigating a number of points” that gamers have reported. The corporate additionally has a “known issues” page running, which acknowledges the shader loading subject in addition to a possible reminiscence leak, older graphics drivers resulting in instability, and the sport being unable besides regardless of programs that meet the minimal necessities.
The Final of Us Half I PC gamers: we have heard your issues, and our group is actively investigating a number of points you’ve got reported.
We’ll proceed to replace you, however our group is prioritizing updates and can deal with points in upcoming patches.
— Naughty Canine (@Naughty_Dog) March 28, 2023
A lot of high-profile PlayStation video games from Sony’s first-party studios have been ported to PC, together with 2017’s Horizon Zero Daybreak and 2018’s God of Conflict, in addition to Naughty Canine’s personal Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves assortment (which incorporates remastered variations Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Misplaced Legacy). Each Horizon and the Uncharted assortment had fairly critical points at launch, as properly. Since then, updates have made the video games work significantly better, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a disappointing pattern.
Even after delaying the sport a couple of month from its authentic March third date, issues had been clearly not able to go. Sony doubtless wished to capitalize on the recognition of the HBO collection, which wrapped its first season earlier this month, however a delayed launch might be higher than a launch that nobody can play. As of now, Naughty Canine hasn’t launched an replace for The Final of Us Half I, however we’ll be conserving a watch out for any fixes. I have been dreaming of getting this recreation on-the-go because it was introduced, so my fingers are crossed Naughty Canine could make it work on the Steam Deck — to not point out for the many individuals who need to play it on their highly effective gaming PCs.
