Can Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Legion GO Handle "Black Myth: Wukong"?

With the PC release of "Black Myth: Wukong," an action RPG based on the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West," just days away, the question on many gamers' minds is: can handheld gaming PCs handle this graphically demanding title? This article explores the performance of "Black Myth: Wukong" on the popular Steam Deck, ROG Ally Z1, and Legion GO, examining the results of a benchmark tool released by the developers.

Fortunately, Game Science, the developer of "Black Myth: Wukong," has provided a standalone benchmark tool for users to test the game's performance on their hardware. The tool features a scenic flyover, showcasing the game's beautiful environments, but unfortunately, it lacks any combat elements, which are crucial to the overall experience. Despite this, it provides a valuable insight into the game's performance potential across various hardware configurations.

The benchmark tests were conducted with all devices plugged in, utilising their built-in displays, and power profiles set to high/turbo. Ray tracing was disabled throughout the testing process.

The good news is that all three handhelds are capable of running "Black Myth: Wukong" at playable framerates under their native resolutions. This is largely due to the game's implementation of FSR 3.1, which includes AMD's Frame Generation technology.

Here's a breakdown of the performance results, showcasing the average and minimum framerates achieved across different quality settings and with FSR 3.1 Frame Generation enabled and disabled:

Steam Deck OLED (SteamOS)

Despite the game's use of Denuvo DRM, the benchmark ran smoothly on the Steam Deck's Linux-based operating system. At its base resolution of 1200x800, with the quality preset set to Low, the Steam Deck OLED averaged 54 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, making it a playable experience. With FSR 3.1 Frame Generation enabled, performance significantly improved:

Low | Frame Generation ON: Avg 79 FPS, Min 61 FPS

However, performance dropped when the quality preset was increased to Medium:

Medium | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 33 FPS, Min 20 FPS

Medium | Frame Generation ON: Avg 53 FPS, Min 20 FPS

ASUS ROG Ally Z1 (Windows 11)

The ROG Ally Z1, powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme SoC, showed promising performance at its native 1920x1080 resolution:

Low | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 60 FPS, Min 38 FPS

Low | Frame Generation ON: Avg 86 FPS, Min 59 FPS

Similar to the Steam Deck, performance took a hit with the Medium quality preset:

Medium | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 42 FPS, Min 15 FPS

Medium | Frame Generation ON: Avg 65 FPS, Min 50 FPS

Lenovo Legion GO (Windows 11)

The Legion GO, also equipped with the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme SoC, boasts a higher resolution of 2560x1600. While doubts lingered about its ability to deliver playable framerates at this resolution, the Legion GO proved capable:

2560x1600 | Low | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 52 FPS, Min 30 FPS

2560x1600 | Low | Frame Generation ON: Avg 66 FPS, Min 56 FPS

Even with the Medium preset, the Legion GO managed to achieve acceptable performance:

2560x1600 | Medium | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 39 FPS, Min 26 FPS

2560x1600 | Medium | Frame Generation ON: Avg 54 FPS, Min 45 FPS

To explore the potential for higher framerates, the Legion GO was tested with a lower resolution of 1920x1200:

1920x1200 | Low | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 61 FPS, Min 36 FPS

1920x1200 | Low | Frame Generation ON: Avg 78 FPS, Min 66 FPS

1920x1200 | Medium | Frame Generation OFF: Avg 45 FPS, Min 28 FPS

1920x1200 | Medium | Frame Generation ON: Avg 63 FPS, Min 47 FPS

These results highlight the potential of handheld gaming PCs to handle graphically demanding titles like "Black Myth: Wukong." However, it is important to note that the benchmark tool only provides a limited view of the game's performance. The actual in-game experience, particularly during combat sequences, may differ.

As "Black Myth: Wukong" releases next week, it will be fascinating to see how these handhelds perform under real gaming conditions and how the game's performance compares to the results obtained from the benchmark tool. Overall, the initial findings suggest that these handheld devices can deliver a compelling gaming experience for "Black Myth: Wukong," even at high resolutions.