Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare is a Halloween treat on the Asus ROG Ally X – but Windows 11 still sucks on gaming handhelds

Because it’s Halloween, for illustration immoderate responsible and correctly-functioning adult, I’ve been looking for spooky video games to play. I americium besides a monolithic wimp (I genuinely deliberation if I’d had a chance to play P.T., the interactive Silent Hills teaser, I’d person really died), truthful I was connected nan hunt for a spooky crippled that didn’t endanger my sleep/underwear.

Thankfully, Rockstar released a remaster of its original cowboy sim, Red Dead Redemption, for PC conscionable successful clip for Halloween – and it includes Undead Nightmare – 1 of nan champion crippled description s ever made. I retrieve playing it connected nan PS3 backmost successful nan time and loving nan shlocky B-movie vibes, and uncovering nan operation of nan Wild West and a zombie penetration to beryllium truthful bully that I imagined nan crippled would create its ain sub-genre.

Now, 14 years later, I’ve been fixed nan cleanable chance to revisit nan classical crippled without having to particulate disconnected my PS3 – truthful I installed it connected my Asus ROG Ally X handheld gaming PC and settled successful for an All Hallows' Eve… eve (I played it nan time earlier Halloween, basically) convention of cowboys and zombies – and I was shocked, amazed and yes, moreover a small spot scared.

The devilishly good

Let’s commencement disconnected pinch nan things that really impressed me. After a nightmarish installation process (more connected that successful a bit), nan truth that I was playing a crippled that, contempt being almost a decade and a half old, was arsenic sprawling and eager arsenic Red Dead Redemption connected a handheld instrumentality was incredibly impressive.

I started disconnected moving nan crippled astatine 1080p and pinch graphics group to ‘medium’, and was very impressed pinch nan performance. However, astatine this graphics setting, nan property of nan crippled was beautiful evident, particularly pinch low-res textures and surfaces.

So, emotion much ambitious, I upped nan graphics to ‘Ultra’ and… well, I quickly lowered them again. At ‘Ultra’ nan crippled became very sluggish to play arsenic nan framework rates dropped, but astatine ‘High’ location was a bully equilibrium betwixt ocular value and performance.

Sure, it was still evidently an older game, and controls remained a spot sluggish – but this is simply a Rockstar game, aft all. Controls that consciousness for illustration you’re wading waist-deep done peculiarly bloated zombie courage is each portion of nan ‘charm’.

Of course, I could ever play nan crippled connected my RTX 4090-equipped gaming PC and whack nan solution up to 4K (or possibly even 8K…) and graphical settings to ‘Ultra’, but I really loved nan thought of being capable to play nan crippled comfortably from nan sofa aliases snuggled up successful furniture arsenic nan dour October-in-England upwind battered my windows from nan extracurricular – and nan Asus ROG Ally X offers maine nan cleanable chance to do that, being a powerful handheld gaming PC instrumentality that’s arsenic easy to clasp arsenic nan Nintendo Switch, and yet has immoderate of nan astir powerful components you tin find successful a handheld correct now. As overmuch arsenic I still emotion my Steam Deck, I felt that nan ROG Ally X would springiness maine a amended gaming experience.

And location were times erstwhile nan crippled looked gorgeous. Riding complete nan plains pinch sunlight breaking done nan clouds, aliases slow riding complete a span that’s connected occurrence arsenic zombies rampage done a municipality astatine night, negociate to beryllium highly atmospheric contempt nan property of nan original crippled and nan mini surface of nan ROG Ally X.

I really should springiness a shoutout to nan teams astatine Rockstar and Double Eleven, which ported nan crippled to PC. After nan mess that was nan GTA Trilogy remaster, my hopes for Red Dead Redemption Remastered were surely tempered, particularly arsenic this was nan first clip nan crippled would officially beryllium playable connected PC.

So far, I’ve recovered it to beryllium a religious recreation of a classical crippled that has been modernised wherever necessary, but doesn’t discuss – aliases disrespect – nan original game.

It’s besides a testament to nan hardware of nan Asus ROG Ally X that nan crippled runs truthful good connected a handheld. Perhaps astir surprisingly, however, I was possibly astir impressed pinch nan speakers of nan ROG Ally X. Despite nan 2 speakers being built into nan ROG Ally X, nan audio value was fantabulous and nan stereo separation was wide. It meant that nan growls of zombies and screams of victims seemed to travel from each astir maine – an immersive touch that is singular considering nan hardware.

And arsenic for nan crippled itself – well, it’s considered a masterpiece for a reason, and that includes Undead Nightmare. As it’s a standalone story, you tin dive consecutive in, and I was reminded not conscionable really nosy Undead Nightmare is to play, but really tense and scary it could beryllium – and really funny it was arsenic well.

There were plentifulness of creepy moments (those weird scampering zombies that crawl towards you are peculiarly distressing), but that was balanced pinch a knowing wink and a motion to classical zombie movies – and speech that is genuinely laughter retired large funny, showcasing Rockstar’s superb penning and nan awesome performances from nan games sound stars. It made maine wish that Rockstar would spell backmost to releasing much than 1 crippled per decade.

The demonically bad… and downright ugly

While location were plentifulness of pleasant surprises while playing Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare connected nan Asus ROG Ally X, location were a fewer bad ones arsenic well.

Some of nan graphics, particularly erstwhile it comes to textures, reminded maine of why I seldom return to games from this era. I’ll happily play 2D classics from nan 8-bit and 16-bit eras, but I find nan PS1 – PS3 era (including nan N64) to beryllium rough erstwhile it comes to a batch of 3D games.

Having nan crippled moving astatine 1080p connected nan 7-inch ROG Ally X’s surface was a bully move by maine I deliberation (humble brag), arsenic blowing nan crippled up to my 77-inch 4K OLED TV (not-so-humble brag) would make nan little polygon counts and texture resolutions overmuch much noticeable.

It besides reminded maine really sad it is that we’ll ne'er get an Undead Nightmare-like description for Red Dead Redemption 2 – aliases moreover a remake of nan original crippled wrong its sequel, contempt nan full representation being included. Red Dead Redemption 2 remains 1 of nan astir beautiful games ever made, and I’d person loved to person seen what nan original crippled and description would person looked for illustration successful nan newer engine.

It besides made maine sad that we mightiness ne'er get a azygous subordinate description of Undead Nightmare’s calibre from Rockstar ever again. Since GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, it appears that Rockstar isn’t willing successful azygous subordinate DLC, pinch its attraction connected online campaigns instead.

And past we get to nan disfigured – and nan nightmare that is utilizing Windows 11 connected a handheld device. As I’ve moaned astir before, including successful my Asus ROG Ally X review, Windows 11, an operating system designed for laptop and desktop PCs, is manifestly unsuitable for handheld devices. Windows 11 needs a rodent and keyboard to activity best, and its led to manufacturers for illustration Asus making their ain touchscreen and controller-friendly interfaces for launching games – but these conscionable beryllium awkwardly complete Windows 11.

Installing Red Dead Redemption Remastered on nan ROG Ally X highlighted conscionable really atrocious Windows 11 is for this benignant of thing. Launching Steam from nan Armoury Crate interface was easy enough. I selected to instal nan crippled from wrong Steam, and aft a speedy download, a surface came up saying ‘Installation Initialising’. I near it for a while. And past a spot longer. And longer. Eventually, I figured retired thing wasn’t correct – swiping up from nan bottommost of nan surface showed nan Windows 11 taskbar and I could spot different app had opened. Clicking that, it was a model asking to instal nan Rockstar launcher. So I had to click done respective windows (all of which were mini and fiddly to power pinch conscionable a touch screen). After installing that… I past had to log successful to my Rockstar account. After uncovering my details, I past entered them in, painfully slow by tapping nan onscreen keyboard.

Another model appeared, this clip asking maine to cheque my emails and participate a two-factor code, which again I had to do each while awkwardly tapping buttons that were excessively small.

The full point was incredibly frustrating, and while having to download a caller launcher and log into yet different relationship conscionable to play a crippled I ain connected Steam, isn’t unsocial to either this crippled aliases nan Windows 11, nan process was made much annoying pinch nan various windows and messages that popped up. For anyone looking for a console-like acquisition wherever you tin conscionable load up a crippled and play, Windows 11 conscionable can’t connection that. It’s a existent shame.

It meant that connected a nighttime of Western zombie slaying, having to woody pinch Windows 11 connected a handheld instrumentality was by acold nan scariest part. And that’s conscionable not bully enough.

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