SteamWorld Heist 2 - Review

I can still recall when I was first introduced to SteamWorld Heist, it was E3 2015 and it was Brjánn, the founder of then Image & Form who showed it too me. While I adored SteamWorld Dig, going into Heist, I was unsure about the tactical nature of the game, but the game and Brjánn convinced me and that cemented by love of the series. Now the Heist series is back for a second outing, but can this new crew of steambots keep my pilot light going, or has rust taken over?

While a sequel in name, it is not a sequel in story, as Captain Faraday and her crew are not assembled for this adventure. We are however introduced to Captain Leeway and his crew, well not a full crew at least and their attempts to eek out a living on the Shard. This game takes place after the events of SteamWorld Dig 2 and its explosive ending, so that is a great little continuity piece. The problem is Captain Leeway is a captain without a ship, as his submarine was impounded by the Royal Navy, a group of dieselbots that rule the seas of the shard. However with a ragtag team assembled, Leeway reclaims his sub and together they start to do what they do best, disrupt life for the Navy. The Navy is not just policing the water, the dieselbots that make it up, are corrupt and are stealing supplies of all kinds from the hard working and not so hard working Steambots. One such supply is fresh water, which is becoming harder and harder to get, due to some unknown source of corruption to the water, which the Steambots are calling Rust.

Hope however is not lost, as a message comes through from a Dr Bunsen, who is researching the source of the corruption, with the aim to sort it out. Across the story you will explore multiple locations on the shard, from the blue waters of Caribbea, to the chilly north of Arctica. While your starting crew is fixed, especially the helmsmen of your sub, the rest of the crew is yours to recruit. As such the story might feel like you have some control over it, but sadly that is not the case, the crew members might be different from your playthrough to a friends, but the end goal is the same. Now there are a few twists and turns in the story, which should be expected for a SteamWorld game at this point, but I won’t say any more, so you can discover them for yourself. I will say that some the themes that run throughout the story are more impactful than I was expecting, so you should enjoy it.

At first glance, it is possible to say that the gameplay on offer in SteamWorld Heist II is the same as the first game and to a degree you would be right, but there is far more going on now. Sticking with what is returning, the tactical encounters are the same, each side takes a turn moving their bots around, or bones and completes an action for each bot, then the other side gets a turn. Where things are changed up is with the job system, each bot has one to start, but at anytime they can swap to another. At first I was unsure about how the system would work, I dislike games where I lose my progress if I change a job, but thankfully they have a solution here. As you level up, you begin to earn cogs, which like in SteamWorld Dig 2 are used to activate abilities, this it is for other job classes. This means if you spend a lot of time getting someone up as a brawler but then change to a sniper, you can still use some of the brawler abilities. The combination of bots and jobs means that you could theoretically play the game many different ways and the encounters would always be vastly different.

Unlike the first game, when you are not in a mission you have free reign to explore the shard as you see fit, though some parts will be closed off until you unlock them. As you explore the world, you will discover missions, supplies floating in the water and of course the Navy, who are going to do their best to sink you. While you have full control over where you go and at what speed eventually, sub to ship combat is automatic, which is a bit of a shame. I understand that they wanted to keep things simple and it does work, but I would have loved to have a manual option, to embrace my inner pirate. When you wish to lay anchor for a bit, you can explore your sub at any time, speaking to your crew and commissioning upgrades, or you can head to a tavern. Each region has one and here you can buy new weapons, recruit new bots for your crew and get the latest gossip on the region you are in. Taverns are also where you end your day, depending on the number of bots in your crew, you may only get to do a single mission before they need rest. Ending a day not only gives your crew a chance to rest up, it also lets you exchange the reputation earnt for items that can help you out.

Moving from starboard to port, I mean presentation, the game looks fantastic. The now iconic SteamWorld style is back here after the 3d efforts of Build and I am very happy to see it. Each of the bots that join your crew along the way and the founding members all look terrific, the enemies also contain some fun designs. While there are a few designs of the Navy that look a little similar at times, they are not the only enemies to deal with, so you can easily forgive some slight repetition. The locations are layered, which I appreciate, though sometimes I wish the entry hatches that litter the background were a little more noticeable before they get used. There were a few times when I would be ambushed only to have enemies appear near me, as I had not seen the entry hatch, that I was making a stand near. Basically the game has kept the same style we know and love, but given everything another coat of paint, making it look all shiny and delightful and I am on bot, I mean board with it.

For the most part the sound design worked as I expected, the fights of guns going off in a submarine sounded great, even when in some bases, ricocheting bullets sounded fun. The world had enough of a sound that it didn’t sound dead, but it was never so much that it distracted from the events happening around you. As with all games in the series, bots of all kinds talked in that weird speech the series has been embracing for years now and still sounded good. Which is why the band in the tavern singing in English was such a weird choice, now don’t get me wrong the songs sounded great, but they are misplaced. You can’t have a word where no-one speaks anything but a strange language, but then bust out English songs on the jukebox, it is just confusing.

SteamWorld Heist 2 is exactly the game I was hoping it would be. The main storyline has a few moments of fun and while some twists are easy to spot, a few did catch me off guard. The games core gameplay loop is still satisfying, but the addition of jobs makes for some unique encounters. With an equally strong presentation, thanks in part to its now iconic style, there really isn’t a reason not to play this game. For those who are fans of the series, this is another stellar entry and if you are new, this game will give you steam to enjoy them all.

The Score

9.0

Review code provided by Thunderful

The Pros

Combat feels right and when coupled with the jobs system means that even a basic fight can play out very differently

The job system, coupled with the weapons for each, provide more depth than I was expecting

The Cons

Not being able to manually fire when in open combat on the sea feels a bit cheap

Singing English in a world where no one speaks it, feels out of place