OMG yes!
General Impressions:
The game runs GREAT! Install, every strategy layer screen, tactical mode, air combat. It all runs great! And I am very excited to know that I can take the game with me anywhere. LOL
There are some things that would make the deck experience better, but all minor. I would recommend you guys just getting a deck to help the experience. Or at least, plug a Windows controller into your PC and work out controller button options for many of the controls.
The Steam Deck has a mouse pad, so it all worked just fine, but I can see how having some bumper options available (say to switch screens in the strategy layer) would make that easier, among other things. Having the A button for selection confirmation, like a left mouse click, etc. And that is not to say, all of this is configurable through the Steam Deck's controller config to map to anything. So as long as a command is mappable to a specific keyboard button, there is a way to configure it for a button on the Deck.
The font was small, but I could still read everything no problem. All the numbers, stats, etc. looked great in tactical mode too. Including inventory screen, Xenopedia, etc.
Steam Deck:
Cloud saves? The ability to go from my PC game and continuing that game on the road with me. Just a nice to have.
Controller (button) options.
Could not CTRL-click. Maybe there is a way to do this on the Deck. I am not sure. Maybe use something like the Y button?
I did get one crash (CTD), but that was after having the game running for a couple of hours. Not really a big deal. I just loaded from the last AutoSave and all was good.
Battery drain seems pretty standard, actually not bad at all. I run most games at 40 FPS as a default, and my brightness at about 40%.
I have not tried it with the docking station yet to see how it all works on a big TV screen, but I can do that next. I have a wireless keyboard and mouse for the Deck, so my guess is that will feel like being on the PC, just a bigger screen.
If you have any more specific tests for the Deck, I will be happy to test/try it.
EDIT - Forgot to mention that the D-Pad worked great on the Armory screen. The ability to scroll down through the list was very easy and natural.
Game play stuff: Some minor things I noticed this time through:
The msg window for the tactical combat saying the Skyhawk has arrived at the location shows a fighter jet.
Will there be a way to shift priority in the engineering screen. I still want everything I ordered, but would be great to adjust the queue of items.
In Tactical mode, the line of soldiers at the top have an indicator to show which soldiers are bleeding. Will there be indicators for those that have spotted aliens?
Overall:
Overall the experience is just great. The Deck is a great PC, and the game runs VERY well on it. Anything you can do to enhance that experience is a total plus.
I sincerely recommend picking up a Deck if you can to have the first hand experience.
Thanks!