I do have a bit of a confession to make – I spent the first few days of this review period playing SteamWorld Dig 2. It took me a little while to realise my mistake, carried away by the number ‘2’ in the title.
Anyway, after spending a bit of time digging underground, I checked what I should actually have been playing for review and discovered my mistake. So, SteamWorld Heist II comes from Thunderful, and it appears, at first glance, to be a hybrid of a real time strategy game and a platformer – and I really like one of those genres!
In a game of this type, a story is vital, and luckily here SteamWorld Heist II has got you covered. We play as a team of Steambots – robots who need clean water to make steam to power themselves, as you may have surmised. However, all is not well with the water supply – this precious liquid has apparently turned deadly, corroding mechanical limbs and, more importantly, mechanical hearts. As Captain Quincy Leeway, can we lead our ragtag band of Steambots to discover what is happening with the water, and perhaps more to the point, can we make it better? To do so, we will have to explore the Great Sea, defeating the Royal Navy and its fleet of Dieselbots to hopefully sort the situation out. What could go wrong?
Well, there’s nothing wrong with the presentation of SteamWorld Heist II, that is for sure. It is charming, with a really neat hand drawn look to the characters we meet and interact with, The backdrops, as well as the world of the Great Sea that we explore, everything pretty much, is held together by a strong aesthetic sense, working really well. Further to that, the animation of the Steambots we control, with their individual way of running various hats to try on makes things a real joy to play.
The sound is also worthy of praise. The battle sounds are great (I love the electric sniper rifle one of my bots found) whilst the music is also bang on. Created by the in-game group, Steam Powered Giraffe, are some crafted songs that sink into your memory, finding yourself whistling as you walk around the office. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the presentation of this game, like the story, is bang on and things are looking good.
But what about the way the game plays? Well, it is interesting, which is always a good place to start from.
There are roughly three sections that SteamWorld Heist II is divided into – exploration of the Great Sea in our little sub, levels where we explore and meet people as Captain Leeway, and then sections that are missions, where a variable number of the crew have to go through locations and score some loot, while taking out the opposition. Add into this a fairly deep upgrade system, with multiple jobs to learn, and the foundations are there for a good game.
So, starting with the exploration of the Great Sea, when we begin, the whole sea is covered by fog – and only by sailing around can we clear it. Clearing the fog reveals points of interest, missions, floating crates we can salvage and – perhaps most importantly – bars. Bars are vital in this world, as they allow the crew to rest (crew members can only take in one mission a day, so as your crew grows, so do the amount of things you can achieve each day) and here you can also turn in any bounty you have earned for rewards. With the dawn of a new day, everyone is raring to go again, and off you go!
The sub we travel in can also be upgraded, allowing us to fit new weapons and so on to make our survival more likely. Machine guns, torpedoes, these can all be fitted to allow us to take the fight to the Navy ships dotted around the sea. Exploring the seas can be fun just on its own, never mind the rest of the game.
Luckily, the actual missions themselves are also enjoyable. SteamWorld Heist II is designed like a real time strategy game, in that every character has a set number of squares they can move (you have to imagine the squares, as the action is viewed from a side on perspective, but the range you can walk is easy to see) and than actions that are usable. Attacking always ends your turn, whether you have moved or not, so bear this in mind.
The weapons your team carries determines what job they are going to do, and so you can set your team up for the best performance. Do you want snipers or brawlers, as an example? Personally, I like killing foes from a long way away, so the sniper wins every time. As each job is levelled up, you can mix and match skills from the skill tree by spending cogs, and the more cogs you have, the better you can make your character. It’s a fairly deep system, but easy to understand and well explained,
Everything in SteamWorld Heist II comes together to bring a lot of fun. You’ll enjoy getting to know all the characters and locations that have been added into the game, whilst the actual combat is tough, but well balanced. As something a little bit different, SteamWorld Heist II works very well, no matter whether you are a veteran to the franchise or a newbie.
