Gaming on Windows 8: Hard Reset

Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system has seen its first working build released on the web, in the form of a developer preview one, so we immediately decided to see how the new OS handles games, even in this incomplete version.

The first truly working build of Windows 8 has been released yesterday, and already lots of people are trying it out to see just how the new operating system works, how its new Metro interface feels on a computer, not just on Windows Phone 7 mobiles, as well as the new features baked into the OS.

This is Softpedia Games, however, so immediately after installing the Windows 8 developer preview build, we wanted to try out a game and see how the new OS feels. Is it a smooth experience like the current Windows 7 or a resources hog like Windows Vista? Let's find out.

After installing the fresh build of Windows 8, we downloaded Steam, seeing as how Xbox Live for Windows 8 isn't included in this version, and got one of our favorite recent titles, Hard Reset, from studio Flying Wild Hog.

The download and install process for both Steam and the actual game went off without a hitch, so we crossed our fingers and hoped everything would be as smooth within Hard Reset.

We booted up the title and found that it's pretty much the same experience as on Windows 7, as everything worked flawlessly without any sort of intervention, like driver settings or tinkering, needed from our part. What's more, we didn't even have to install a special graphics driver, as the developer build had a pretty new version included.

You can truly see that Windows 8 doesn't overhaul the whole inner workings of Windows 7, as all the applications downloaded by us, like Fraps to record the game, worked without any major problems.

Also, from what we heard Microsoft, Windows 8 doesn't eat up as many resources as 7, so you might even find games working a bit faster on the new operating system.

For a brief look at Windows 8 and its current gaming capabilities, check out our special video below, of Hard Reset running on the new PC operating system.