No reviews yet
Nobody has reviewed this on Steam, so there is nothing to weigh a verdict on.
What players think
The recurring themes across 300 analysed reviews: what players praise, what divides them, and what to know.
Why players love itThings to know
50% of themes are praise17% are divided33% are complaints
Graphics
Players who bring up Graphics mostly praise it.
71 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
I played this on my laptop originally, but the Steam Deck was able to do 50 fps relatively stable at medium graphics setting, only having stutter when loading a new area and having frame drops in an optional way later game area for a very small amount of time.
Gameplay
Players who bring up Gameplay mostly praise it.
46 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Despite being disorientating at times, I felt like this only added to the experience of exploration and mystery.
Audio
Players who bring up Audio mostly praise it.
38 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
What makes POOLS such a potent experience is its mastery of sound design.
Optimization
Players who bring up Optimization mostly praise it.
7 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
The level of optimization is excellent and deserves explicit praise, especially given how demanding high-quality reflections and water rendering can be.
Performance
Players who bring up Performance mostly praise it.
6 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
And because this game overall looks very clean, imo it looks almost exactly the same in native 4k, and in DLSS upscaled 4k, so i would suggest the upscale for smoother FPS.
Steam Deck
Players who bring up Steam Deck mostly praise it.
6 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Played entirely handheld on Steam Deck at the balanced/40fps preset, didn't notice any performance issues, might be one of the most graphically impressive games I've played on there.
Theme by theme
Scored on what reviews say about each topic, not the thumbs.
Players love
Graphics71 reviews
Gameplay46 reviews
Audio38 reviews
Optimization7 reviews
Performance6 reviews
Steam Deck6 reviews
Divided opinion
Interface100% still recommend
Difficulty100% still recommend
Players complain
Story85% still recommend
Linux compatibility83% still recommend
Bugs60% still recommend
Crashes25% still recommend
What you get
Can you play it alone, does a controller work, does it run on your machine.
Play modes
- Single-player
Controller
- DualSense Controller Support
- DualShock Controller Support
- Full controller support
- Tracked Controller Support
Store features
- Camera Comfort
- Family Sharing
- Mouse Only Option
- Playable without Timed Input
- Save Anytime
- Steam Achievements
- Steam Cloud
- Steam Trading Cards
Platforms
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
Valve device support
Steam DeckVerified
SteamOSPlayable
Steam MachineVerified
Should I buy it now?
Based on Steam price history.
Prices have been lower
$9.79
The lowest we've tracked is $5.87.
5 points recordedtoday · $9.79
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