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AAA games on smartphones have been viable for a few years now, albeit with a few catches. Microsoft’s cloud gaming allows for Xbox games to run pretty decently on mobile devices if your internet is strong enough, but what of a full-fledged blockbuster on a smartphone without needing to make any technical concessions? Right now, Apple is leading the way with its new iPhones as the company has begun taking the first steps into the AAA space with a mobile port of Resident Evil Village that delivers the full experience to a smaller screen. Barring a few caveats, Apple is laying the groundwork for an impressive future of handheld gaming.
As GameSpot’s Tom Caswell discussed in his hands-on time with Resident Evil Village on the iPhone 15 Pro, Resident Evil Village on the smartphone is essentially the same game as the MacOS version. Visually, it’s stunning, but performance does dip when all graphical settings are cranked up to the max. A little tinkering to play the game with more modest settings applied, and Tom was ready to brave Lady Dimetrescu’s castle.
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Now Playing: Resident Evil Village Sets A New Standard For Mobile Gaming
While the game is a technical showcase on the latest iPhones, the touchscreen controls leave much to be desired. Fortunately, there are options like the Xbox wireless controller that can be paired with an iPhone using its Bluetooth functionality, or more conveniently, a cradle controller like the Backbone that makes the iPhone look like a high-powered Steam Deck once it has been attached. With the game running at 900p on medium settings and a higher frame-rate, Resident Evil Village hits that sweet spot for not only quality and performance, but also for battery life. This is an issue that the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally struggle with constantly, but the iPhone 15 Pro battery looks like it can provide a solid number of gaming hours.
On top of that, the iPhone 15 can connect to an external display and becomes a small console, although the graphical limitations do become more obvious when blown up on a large TV or PC monitor. Of course, the big drawback is that an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max isn’t the most affordable device to grab off the shelves. An iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999, while the iPhone 15 Prom Max with its larger 6.7 inch display will cost you at least $1,200. Given how expensive smartphones can be, most people usually take a contract deal to pay off these devices over a set number of months.
That’s a lot of money for a smartphone, especially in a market where Apple regularly contends with competition from Samsung, Google, and Sony. But for now, Apple has an ace up its sleeve with its gaming ambitions. The company has called the iPhone 15 Pro the next “best gaming console” and several other high-profile games are headed to it soon. The remake of Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are all confirmed and Apple is working on new tools to make porting games over easier.
