Resident Evil 4 (2005)

The 2023 remake of Resident Evil 4 is a masterclass in third-person shooting with actual tension behind every encounter. It works on Steam Deck with sensible expectations around settings. The reason it sits in honorable mentions rather than the main list is the pacing: this is a deliberate, cinematic game that does not always suit the stop-start nature of handheld play, and some of the later sections demand more sustained focus than a portable session naturally allows. If you are willing to give it the attention it asks for, the shooting and encounter design are among the best in this genre.

The original RE4 is twenty years old and it still controls like a game that knows exactly what it wants to be. Tight over-the-shoulder pressure, resource decisions that actually matter, and a village that establishes its tone before you have fired a single shot. My group has used it as a benchmark for horror-action design since we first played it. The Mercenaries mode and unlockable weapons give it replay value most linear horror games cannot match. On integrated graphics at 900p with medium settings, performance is stable. It leans action more than pure survival horror, which is why it sits at three rather than one.