SteamWorld Build - Review
Way back at E3 2015, I had the chance to catch up with developer Image & Form and check out their next title SteamWorld Heist, a different genre from the beloved SteamWorld Dig. I remember playing the demo so fondly and it really solidified my love for the series, Dig 2 and Quest just reenforced that. So coming into SteamWorld Build, there was a good chance I was going to enjoy what was on offer, but as real-time strategy games are not my normal genre of choice, would the series be able to overcome my aversion to the genre.
The story is fairly simple, it takes at the same time as the events of SteamWorld Dig 2, and tells the story of Jack Clutchsprocket and his attempts to save his grandbot Astrid by escaping the planet before it explodes. On their journey out west, they somehow come across a core, a piece of machinery that is unlike anything they have seen before, and it explains that there is old tech buried deep below that can help. With a plan in place, the building gets going, but as you start to grow not only will you meet new characters, more of the dangers of what lies beneath are hinted at. The characters that you meet do fall into the usual roles, rich annoying person, timid wisebot and so on. While that serves the stories purpose, it is a shame that they didn’t do much beyond that, as there could have been some real fun to be had. As you explore further down in the mines, the expansion will keep pace on the surface and that brings more bots in, plus more story. I won’t say how things play out, just so you can enjoy it on your own.
The gameplay is both the shining point here and at times its own biggest enemy, but when you are in the groove, you can feel like a machine, pun intended. The surface work is based around building up your town, ala Sim City or Steam City in this case and while early on things won’t be too complicated, as you expand that changes. In order to build things you need bots, just the generic kind to start, but in order to lure fancier bots to town, you need to upgrade the homes. You can’t do that without ensuring that the needs of your existing bots are met, thankfully they are pretty easy to discover. Most bots will be fine with shopping and repair stores, but soon some will want saloons, buffing parlours and even a hat store. As you won’t know exactly what is going to be needed, planning is a hard thing to manage, though your repeat playthrough may remove that hassle. Each building you place down has a set size, you can see it on the blueprint and as long as you connect it to a road, you are good. Where things can get complicated is when you need to ensure that your store connects all bots, so maybe building a second is needed. This layer of thinking won’t be anything new for any veteran city builder, but it is something newcomers may struggle with and while the game does explain much, it doesn’t explain that.
Once your city is off and running, you will need to restore the train station to working status to bring in more supplies, but once that is done the mineshaft entry needs to be fixed. This is where the gameplay takes a sharp turn, as you no longer need to just place buildings and watch your bots do there thing, you need to actively direct them. In the mines there are multiple types of bots for different jobs, there are the miners who can clear away all the dirt, gold and gems. The Prospectors are the ones who can mine the more rarer materials, which you need in the town to upgrade items here and there. Finally there are mechanics who are needed to build machinery to help you extract more materials quicker. The maps being random means that each time you start a new playthrough, things will be different and even some harder materials may be front and center. As you unlock new levels in the mines, there are more and more dangers revealed, not to mention the threat of the mines collapsing.
Neither side of the game is too difficult, being able to stay on top of the mine or the town is easy enough, on its own. When things start demanding your attention in both places at the same time, that is where things can become troublesome. It becomes even more so, once you start unlocking the levels in the mine and have to deal with threats from your mining adventures. The game does let you pause things, so you can take a moment, lay down some new buildings, traps or plan your next course of action, before resuming the action. There were a few times when my bots were not happy on the surface, but I had to deal with some enemies attacking on the second level of the mine and reenforcing the first level again. For those who have fun in the midst of chaos like that, you might feel at home, but for gamers who are not used to the rush, it can prove overwhelming.
Perhaps the one area where things are not overwhelming is the games presentation, which manages to keep the delightful art style, but moves it into 3d. You can move the camera around to get in close to the action and while it is not quite a 2d viewpoint, its close enough that it does bring some nostalgic vibes with it. Each of the buildings you can assemble have a unique look to them, which can help spotting them at a glance, as there is no dedicated overlay of building types. The bots that you see in the town do have a few looks to them, but they are mostly the same with a colour swap. Beneath the ground there are only a few styles, which does help keep the action clear on which bot is doing what task and while enemy design is good, it is nothing to crazy.
The games visual style is simple enough that most computers could run it not problem, but if you have a slightly more powerful machine it will look even better. Something that I noticed off the bat is that it does not support ultra-wide, which isn’t a complaint per say, but it is something I have been taking for granted lately and not having a brand new game offer it, feels weird. I did spot the occasional hiccup in performance at times, but they were always the blink and you might miss it kind, so nothing to worry about there.
Sadly the audio is the weakest part of the entire game, nothing here really appealed to me and it’s a damn shame. The games musical score takes more of a western style approach, at least when it kicks in, as there are more times where it is not present. The sound effects are solid, with clanking metal and power tools running in the mines, but there is a problem, most of the sounds don’t have corresponding actions taking place. The most common one is that when you are on the surface, you will hear horses neighing all the time, which makes sense in a western based location, however there is never a horse seen anywhere. Even the wagons that are pulled before the cart in the opening cinematic are not horses, the same happens when you hear power tools working, but there is none around you. What is worse than that though, if only barely, is the voice work. Don’t get me wrong the actors have provided enough life to each of the voices that they sound great, the problem is that most are all trying to do an American western style voice, but they are clearly Swedish actors attempting the voice and it just doesn’t work.
SteamWorld Build is a fun game from start to finish and if the genre is a bit to challenging for you at times, you can throw it in casual mode and just not care about the details. The city building aspect is solid, planning your spots for things is easy enough, but there is nowhere near the depth that other games in the genre offer, which may be a let down for some. Once you sink beneath the surface, a more familiar SteamWorld experience takes place, but with so many things to deal with, it can be a bit much at times. Build may not be the game that long time fans were hoping would be next, but it is one delightful game, and could easily build a new foundation for the series.
The Score
8.5
Review code provided by Thunderful
The Pros
A great addition to the SteamWorld series, with familiar humour and style throughout
One of the most approachable city builder type games in a while, that won’t require a degree in city planning to enjoy…
The Cons
… the lack of options compared to other city builders may turn away some more die hard players
It can be a challenge to manage all aspects at once, when things get crazy
