Image & Form have created their own little universe for SteamWorld, but instead of creating iterative sequels, they opt for varying genres in order to explore it. Similar, I suppose, to the likes of the Titan games, each title features a different playstyle, but is set in the same universe. First came SteamWorld Tower Defense, then the much loved SteamWorld Dig – a platforming adventure – and now the third game in the series, SteamWorld Heist, takes the form of a side-scrolling, turn based strategy game.
Playing as a rag tag crew of space robots, you will travel and battle around the stars gathering loot, defeating bands of robot pirates, and sticking it to the aggravating royalists in an attempt to survive and preserve your group’s way of life.
A lot has happened in the universe that we don’t get to see, but all has led to a sort of space western setting. Hard labour and violence are the orders of the day, and you are ruled by an oppressive monarch.
Our group is quite simply on the hunt for gallons of water (the game’s currency), however a spate of re-animated robot attacks is risking grabbing the attention of the royalists, which would be bad for everyone, and so Piper (our captain) and her crew set off to do something about it, of course ending up getting wrapped up in something far bigger as a result.
The universe is set up as a web of sorts. You travel along lines to destinations such as ships and stations. Most of these will be standard missions – clearing out a ship and snagging as much loot as you can – but others may be challenge missions (testing your crew in specific challenges such as surviving waves of enemies), boss encounters (one for each of the three areas), saloons, and shops.
The game doesn’t just deal in gallons for its currency, but also reputation – allowing you to unlock new areas of the map (expanding that web) and hire new crew members. Reputation is earned by completing missions, as well as finding legendary loot in each of the levels. There is a maximum number of reputation points that you can earn, so you can’t simply replay mission to stock up. It’s a fairly linear form of progression and it doesn’t actually open up all that much – maybe if you play really badly you’ll miss out on unlocking one mission, but it’s unlikely – but it adds a bit of flavour to the proceedings.
Your gallons of water can be used to buy weapons, armour, and items. All will have varying stats and effects, and there’s a decent variety of playstyles to explore – pistols, snipers, heavy weapons, machine guns, boots that add extra movement, grenades, health packs, and so on. It’s quite impressive and actually creates quite a varied selection of crew mates, allowing you to switch up your playstyle to suit different situations and engage in a bit of tactics. Especially on higher difficulties this is more important, but even on easier ones it’s enjoyably in-depth.
This particularly comes across when paired with the character levels, skills and abilities. Each character has a set class that dictates what weapons they can use and what skills they have. Heavy classes can use rocket launchers and grenade launchers, marksmen classes can use long ranged/precision weapons, etc, and their abilities are unique to their characters. For example, our strongman character has more melee damage than anyone else, one character does bonus damage from behind enemies (flanking), and so on. As you earn experience from completing missions, whichever crew members you used will gradually level up and unlock new skills and abilities (there’s a maximum of ten levels per character). Many of these are passive and include things such as health increase, more damage, etc, but some add new abilities to utilise, such as the captain Piper gaining the ability to inspire crew that position close to her – giving them all a stat increase. This means that positioning and preparation of your crew is vital to completing missions unscathed. And completing missions unscathed is also vital to improving your characters. While there is no permadeath, if a crew member dies in a mission, they forgo any experience points they might have received.
The actual missions take part primarily aboard space ships. You dock to begin your mission and then must get to the end of it, or complete a set objective before making your way to the exit. Mission objectives range from killing all enemy robots to destroying generators and collecting swag. As the game progresses, new challenges are implemented such as threat levels – meaning the longer it takes you to complete the mission, the more hostile activity you will face (from new enemies appearing to turrets deploying). There’s a good variety of enemy types, and the partially randomly generated levels make sure that missions never get old. A more optional challenge imposed on the player is to collect 100% of the swag aboard each ship. Particularly if your threat level is running down fast this can be a tricky task. Swag can be located in further off sections of the ship, meaning you will have to weigh up the risks of trying to get it – there could be some valuable loot in that swag, but on the other hand, you may find yourself surrounded and have to fight your way back to the exit. The levels really are brilliantly designed in this respect, and encourage strategic play. Often I would split up my crew, say on a mission that requires four members, send two crew off to collect the last of the swag, and two others to cover them if trouble arises. It’s great fun, and successful completion of a challenging mission is incredibly satisfying.
Combat is a measured, yet slightly chaotic affair (I mean that in a good way). When your turn comes, you will have the option to move your crew. You can move them a set distance and then perform an action, or sprint, moving them a further distance but also immediately ending their turn. Actions could include throwing a grenade, using an ability or another item (healing, using a sidearm, etc). It’s best to utilise objects for cover to lessen the chance of taking damage, and this is usually where sprinting comes into effect – if you realise you won’t be able to pull off an action and remain safe, then you could sprint into a better position behind some cover and wait till your next turn. When you are ready to take your shot, you select your weapon, aim, fire and hope your line was straight and accurate. Some weapons have sights on them which prove incredibly useful, however often have downsides such as restricting movement, or doing less damage, and some weapons have the ability to rebound off objects, meaning you can pull off ordinarily impossible shots by shooting the wall and having the bullets bounce back into the enemy (or a friendly if you’re unlucky). Missing a shot can spell defeat if unlucky, as can ill-timing your exploration for hidden loot. It’s a challenging gameplay style and one that takes genuine skill and forethought to pull off, and it’s fantastic as a result.
There’s not really much I have to complain about with SteamWorld Heist – it really was a surprise hit for me, and one of the few games I have reviewed that I can honestly say I might go back and play more of. But I suppose the game lacks scope in some respects. It’s nice that you can freely move around this web of space, however it quickly becomes apparent how linear it all is. You aren’t choosing where to go next, and the only real option you get is whether to take on the challenge missions. The same issue applies to building your crew and levelling them up. They level up automatically and you don’t get any choice as to what upgrade they learn, and the choice of crew mates is few – by the end of the game you will have recruited all of them. It’s a small game – we’re not talking Xcom levels of depth or scale – so these issues aren’t much of a surprise, but it really would have raised the bar to have some more elements that put decision and direction in the player’s hands.
I find no fault with the gameplay, even when it becomes difficult and you lose a crew member along with all the experience they would have earned, this can be frustrating, but you can replay levels, meaning having another go with more insight and better preparation. Repetition of levels isn’t an issue as the combat is supremely satisfying – fun tactically and in a more visceral sense (robots crumble into multiple parts when destroyed, explosive barrels can be blown up, and rebounding and lining up shots makes for some really stylish combat). The game is just generally a well-rounded, challenging and enjoyable experience. The combat is satisfying and full of strategy, the world is interesting and visually pleasing – the whole steampunk, western, space aesthetic is great, and even extends to the music with the band Steam Powered Giraffe providing the saloon band style soundtrack – and the story is quirky and comes with a nice twist.
I’ll stop gushing about it now and just say, if you’re in to turn based action akin to Worms or Xcom, or even if you enjoyed the previous titles in the series, I thoroughly recommend checking out SteamWorld Heist.