GameUP Review

So… this is a strange review for me, because I have not reviewed anything like GameUP before. Developed and published by hirsch, and apparently released on the 15th of May 2026, this application promises to optimise your gaming experience by giving you everything you need to squeeze out every frame per second your PC can handle.

Considering my PC is over five years old at this point, has had several problems with overheating, parts crapping out, and is in desperate need of more love than I can afford, it was telling when I was expected to grab this for review. I am… honestly very scared because my PC is built primarily on hopes and dreams, and if something breaks, I’m gonna have a panic attack. Still… I would like a couple more frames…

I decided to test GameUP with the only game I could think of that I would get the most out of: HELLDIVERS 2. Sure, I can run the game on Ultra settings, but thanks to all the explosions, blood, and gunfire, my FPS drops regularly to the point where I'm fairly used to it. Other than the ship and the intro, I never quite reach 60 FPS. Plus, I have over 1700 hours on the game with no signs of stopping, so I might as well!

The icons were missing in my version.

Well, let’s talk about the UI first because if the user experience is terrible, I don’t think I’d be able to even figure out how to even get a benchmark. The program is set to a dark colour scheme, which is nice for the eyes, and all the buttons and meters are all clearly visible and easy to read. However, for some reason, it was missing icons, which was weird. There were icons on the Steam page images, but I guess it didn't install properly? I did reinstall a few times, but they never showed up.

Anyways, let’s get benchmarking. I should note that your game has to be running so the app can capture its performance… which means you may need a second screen to keep an eye on it, but I guess you’re the type of person to get an application like this, you’ll probably have an extra anyway.

I decided to just test for 60 FPS, because like hell I’m going to hit 120 with the parts I have. After dealing with a few issues, I managed to get it to benchmark HELLDIVERS 2 while I was running a simple Trivial mission… and it returned with a very low score, with a frankly detailed list of advised changes I’d need to do to hit a consistent frame rate, noting various things about my game and PC and where it struggles.

It lets you export a PDF, PNG, or JSON file to see everything. You can also compare performances if you captured a second scene to see how things have improved. Heck, I saw there was an option to have GameUP optimise your PC for you using the information it gathered, though I decided not to mess with that part.

I tried a few other games I currently have in my Steam library of varying graphical fidelity like Retro Rewind - Video Store Simulator, Echo Generation 2, and Schrodinger's Cat Burglar with them all getting some interesting results and different pieces of advice. There are some issues that may need a quick search to resolve, but once it’s working, you’ll get some great suggestions. There is also support and a Discord server, so if you need a little extra help, those might be an option.

I was… thoroughly impressed by GameUP. I can see the shortcomings of my PC and, if I wanted to, use its suggestions and advice to get the target FPS I’ve been hunting for. I personally won’t be using this application that often, but if a game is struggling to run and I have no idea what I’m doing, I know exactly where to turn to.