SteamWorld Heist 2 Evaluation — Full steam forward

SteamWorld Heist 2 units sail as a sequel to the beloved turn-based ways 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 in quest of solutions, loot, and hats. A lot of hats.

The sport’s primary missions are turn-based, with gamers commanding their crew as they sneak into enemy bases to plunder loot and full aims. Throughout each flip, you have to rigorously plan the place to place your steambots for the perfect strategic benefit based mostly on enemy positions, hazards, aims, and the aimline to your weapons. If you’re prepared to fireside and “scrap” enemies, you then line up photographs and watch as bullets and projectiles fly throughout the stage and ship metallic physique components in varied instructions.

SteamWorld Heist II’s gunplay is essentially the most satisfying I’ve ever skilled in a 2D title. There’s a singular 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 photographs 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 crew 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 varied wacky steamboats, this technique works brilliantly in the course of 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 primary 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, due to newly acquired upgrades. Treasures equivalent to secret hat retailer accompanied by a catchy Steam Powered Giraffe tune 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 routinely hearth from completely different areas of the submarine as you cross by enemy ships, amounting the fight to awkwardly scuffling your sub round with the WASD keys to hit enemies as you cross by to get to the following mission. Returning to missions to grind XP or acquire extra hats can 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 completely different abilities based mostly on their outfitted weapon. As you degree up these jobs by finishing missions, you possibly can combine and match abilities to craft the proper crewmate to your playstyle or a selected mission. Want a healer however don’t need to skimp on AoE harm? Degree up the Boomer and Engineer timber, and you’ve got one explosive medic.

Total, the job system is a superb characteristic that retains issues recent and gameplay extra participating. Nevertheless, it’s not and not using a obtrusive situation that affected my enjoyment of the sport as an entire. That situation is XP, or relatively, how little XP (and forex) you acquire from finishing missions. Creating the construct you need takes numerous grinding the identical missions, breaking the stream of the primary story. On something above “Story” (simple) problem, grinding to maintain up with the steep problem 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 degree.

Fortunately, the problem is tweakable past “simple” and “onerous” modes, with sliders to tweak features like enemy harm, 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 onerous, and too lengthy is a science in itself.

Pacing points apart, SteamWorld Heist 2’s marketing campaign is pleasurable when it isn’t being interrupted. Levels are hand-crafted and really feel distinct sufficient from one another to forestall them from feeling repetitious. Whereas I didn’t notably discover myself strongly connected to any characters or ultra-enthralled with the narrative, I adored the world itself and the hilarious strains of dialogue spouted from wacky tavern visitors or egomaniacal bosses. The sport’s visuals and character designs are vibrant, 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 really 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, stuffed with quirky characters and top-notch dialogue, creates an enthralling and comfortable environment. Gear and XP acquire, pacing, and journey are simple 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.