SteamWorld Heist 2 Overview — Full steam forward

SteamWorld Heist 2 units sail as a sequel to the beloved turn-based techniques shooter, changing the sport’s spacefaring setting with a swashbuckling open-sea journey. In a world inhabited by steam-powered robots, clear water is in brief provide, and it’s all the way down to Captain Leeway (that’s you!) and his crew to heist the Nice Sea seeking solutions, loot, and hats. A number of hats.

The sport’s predominant missions are turn-based, with gamers commanding their crew as they sneak into enemy bases to plunder loot and full targets. Throughout each flip, you need to fastidiously plan the place to place your steambots for the very best strategic benefit based mostly on enemy positions, hazards, targets, and the aimline on your weapons. If you’re prepared to fireside and “scrap” enemies, you then line up pictures and watch as bullets and projectiles fly throughout the stage and ship metallic physique elements in numerous instructions.

SteamWorld Heist II’s gunplay is probably the most satisfying I’ve ever skilled in a 2D title. There’s a novel thrill in lining up a sniper shot and watching the bullet ricochet off the partitions and into the metallic dome of an enemy behind and above you. Whereas any weapon that isn’t a sniper is much more difficult to land extravagant pictures with, each profitable hit feels unbelievable, particularly paired with the sport’s glorious sound design.

Talking of sound, the dulcet tones of Steam Powered Giraffe grace your ears as you come back to a bar on the finish of an in-game day to spend your hard-earned currencies on new weapons or crewmates and relaxation up your present workforce for tomorrow’s journey. Between the comfortable feeling of unwinding after a mission, the hilarious tavern shanties hyping me up for the following, and conversations with numerous wacky steamboats, this technique works brilliantly through the marketing campaign — however considerably of an inconvenience when grinding XP to progress.

After a restful break and strategic spending of Gallons, the sport’s predominant forex, it’s time to embark in your subsequent journey throughout the open sea. Right here, you interact in real-time battles with different ships as you navigate your submarine to the following mission to uncover hidden treasures, because of newly acquired upgrades. Treasures similar to secret hat retailer accompanied by a catchy Steam Powered Giraffe track about how good hats are.

Whereas the map to progress from one mission to the opposite evokes a way of discovery and makes SteamWorld Heist’s marketing campaign really feel like a real journey, the “real-time” naval fight leaves a lot to be desired in comparison with the unbelievable gunplay of the missions themselves. Weapons and torpedos robotically hearth from totally different areas of the submarine as you move by enemy ships, amounting the fight to awkwardly scuffling your sub round with the WASD keys to hit enemies as you move by to get to the following mission. Returning to missions to grind XP or accumulate extra hats can also be a large ache within the neck.

Earlier than beginning a mission, you select your crew members and tweak their loadouts. The brand new job system in SteamWorfld Heist II is a game-changer, granting steambots entry to totally different expertise based mostly on their outfitted weapon. As you stage up these jobs by finishing missions, you’ll be able to combine and match expertise to craft the proper crewmate on your playstyle or a selected mission. Want a healer however don’t wish to skimp on AoE injury? Degree up the Boomer and Engineer timber, and you’ve got one explosive medic.

General, the job system is a wonderful characteristic that retains issues recent and gameplay extra participating. Nevertheless, it’s not with out a evident concern that affected my enjoyment of the sport as a complete. That concern is XP, or reasonably, how little XP (and forex) you achieve from finishing missions. Creating the construct you need takes lots of grinding the identical missions, breaking the move of the primary story. On something above “Story” (simple) issue, grinding to maintain up with the steep issue curve and experiment with jobs and weapons is a necessity. The additional you progress, the longer the missions are, and the extra monotonous the entire ordeal turns into — particularly when touring again to earlier areas and stopping at a bar between every stage.

Fortunately, the problem is tweakable past “simple” and “exhausting” modes, with sliders to tweak features like enemy injury, accuracy, and the time it takes for alarms to sound and reinforcements to flood in. That is an extremely spectacular characteristic and one I’m grateful for, although balancing between too simple, too exhausting, and too lengthy is a science in itself.

Pacing points apart, SteamWorld Heist 2’s marketing campaign is pleasing when it isn’t being interrupted. Phases are hand-crafted and really feel distinct sufficient from one another to forestall them from feeling repetitious. Whereas I didn’t significantly discover myself strongly hooked up to any characters or ultra-enthralled with the narrative, I adored the world itself and the hilarious traces of dialogue spouted from wacky tavern friends or egomaniacal bosses. The sport’s visuals and character designs are vivid, daring, and colourful, and I can’t wait to go to the earlier SteamWorld titles to discover this universe much more.

Conclusion

SteamWorld Heist II is a fascinating mix of technique and motion that delivers a very amusing journey in each sense of the phrase. The sport’s turn-based fight is a spotlight, providing a satisfying (and I can’t use that phrase sufficient) mixture of planning and execution. The job system provides depth to character development, permitting gamers to customise their crew to go well with their playstyle completely. Ultimately.

The sport’s vibrant world, full of quirky characters and top-notch dialogue, creates a captivating and comfortable environment. Gear and XP achieve, pacing, and journey are plain points that detract from the general enjoyment of the sport, however when the gameplay is nice, it’s rattling good. Land a trickshot with a rocket launcher throughout an underwater bunker, ping the stripy hat off an enemy, watch your steambot plow it on their metallic head, and inform me you’re not having a very good time. There are some issues that hats and good music do repair.