SteamWorld Heist: An Enthusiastic Adventure

 Time to Beat: 11 Hours

I originally learned of SteamWorld Heist from TotalBiscuit's Top 10 Games of 2016, and didn't think much of it, because of my dislike for SteamWorld Dig (the prequel, which I only played two hours, before I became bored by its repetitiousness). But I acquired Heist when purchased February's Humble Bundle, for XCOM® 2 (which I discarded after the game ate my save), and decided it was worth a shot.

Though Heist, shares almost nothing with Dig (a 2D game in a Wild West setting, controlling a Steambot who digs underground in an unending cycle of locating minerals, selling them for cash, which is then used to purchase better equipment, so one can dig depper for more valuable minerals – a slight variation on the flash game Motherload) Heist continues the Western theme (apparently begun with the first game in the SteamWorld series, SteamWorld Tower Defense), but aims for an entirely different style of gameplay.

Heist is still a game of cowboys, but who wander the edge of the space. Captain Piper Faraday, has always been a bit of a loner, scrapping by with Sea Bass, her second in command, and Wonky, the trusty pilot. But when steambots start disappearing, and abominable mishmash bots appear in their place, Faraday knows she has to do something before the Royal Army decides to investigate.

Each level begins as Faraday and her team board a (semi-randomized) enemy ship. A level is completed when the remaining crew exit the ship. All levels have at least one mandatory objective, before the level can be completed. Each invasion is rendered in 2D with turn-based combat. A character can move and fire, or sprint. Scatted around each ship are different types of cover: barrels, stationary shields, explosive barrels (don't hide behind these) and more. Shots require some skill to land, depending on the type of weapon. To take a shot, first the player clicks on a enemy and a reticle appears. The reticle doesn't move, but the character's hand visibly wavers, so it is up to the player to make sure the shot is on target. Some pistols have a laser sight, allowing for better accuracy and even trick shots, as most shots will bounce at least once before dissipating.

Shooting is simple and satisfying, bound by basic rules. Objects directly adjacent to the shooter (such as cover) become invisible, and shots will pass through allies as well, regardless of their distance (explosive weapons still effect allies). There are five types of weapons, and each character can equip themselves from two categories: pistols, rocket launchers, shotguns, rifles, and machine guns. Weapons are fairly similar, while the most distinct are rocket launchers (which deal damage in an area), and rifles (which can't be fired after moving).

What are weapons used for? Their most important quality, is whether it can knock a hat off an enemy. Most enemies wear hats, and Faraday and her crew apparently have a hat fetish. There are over eighty hats to be collected and worn. Each crew member brings their own hat, a few can be bought in stores, but the rest must be knocked William Tell style from the unsuspecting head. Note: shotguns, machine guns, and launchers don't do so well here. Also, hats have no effect on the game at all.

Before a mission begins, the player selects which of the nine crew members will board the enemy spacecraft. Missions allow between one and four crew members. Each crew member can equip a weapon, two items, and a hat. Weapons are standard issue, with newer ones increasing damage incrementally, and items are often an additional hit point, or movement space. The best item is the jetpack which allows the wearer to jump to higher ledges with ease. Oddly, weapons and hats have cosmetic effect, but items (armor, jetpack, boots, or other) have none. Enemies are pretty simple as well, they don't make great tactical choices, but they maintain solid positioning and take shots with the basic level of skill.

The player's success on a mission is evaluated by three criteria: completing objectives, team casualties, and special treasure. In nearly all levels the player can achieve a value of three stars. Completing a level is worth two stars. To earn the third star, the player must recover the special treasure, which is worth one star (and it contains a bonus item). But the player loses one star for each character who is killed. Not that anyone dies for long. A character that is destroyed does not receive experience of the level, but they are in fighting shape for the next mission. If all characters perish, their parts are collected and brought back to the ship, but the player loses half of his water supply (cash). Victory provides water, items, stars, and experience. Characters have only ten levels, and though one's initial impression might assume this is too few level progression is balanced enough that it seems reasonable. Each character has four stats: health points, movement speed, weapon damage, and melee damage. Every character level either adds a bonus to a stat, or introduces (or improves) a special ability. The special abilities distinguishing the characters and make them unique. Some characters are strong in the early game, while others become more powerful as the game progresses.

A quick word on difficulty. Heist has five difficulty settings: casual, regular, experienced, veteran, and elite. Heist assumes one wants to play on experienced. In the roughly forty missions I only had to repeat five of them, and by the time I had completed Heist, I had achieved perfect on all levels. Heist on expereinced, is a reasonably casual game. But the challenge is available by playing on Elite difficulty.

And while the gameplay is solid and fun, SteamWorld Heist combines it with a well themed three Act plot, intriguing characters, quirky dialogue, colorful cartoon aesthetics. and a delightful musical score (which includes a sea shanty, “No More Queen”.

The Earth has suffered a catastrophic disaster (blown into a million pieces), space is ruled by the the cruel Royal dieselbots, who forced the steambots out of the prosperous areas of space and bully them around.

In Act One, Faraday Piper observes the disappearance of steambots, and the appearance of abominable contraptions. Anxious over steambot safety, and worried the Royalist Army will invade the Outskirts to instill order, Piper fights through steambotpirates, steambotzombies, and steambotthugs, to shut down Chop Sue's slaughterhouse/machine shop. Faraday learns Sue was constructing an army of bots, from cannibalized parts, with which to attack the Royalists, but Faraday can not condone her method and destroys her.

In Act Two, the Royalist's have arrived anyway, and Faraday ventures into Royalist Space to overthrow the Red Queen. The Royalist army approaches combat with a new collection of skills, and this innovation prevents Heist from becoming a bore. Along the way to defeating the Queen, Farady discovers a captive robot. When she frees it, it reveals itself to be a third type of robot, a voltbot. It also declares to the hapless captain, the existence of an immense army of voltbots, dedicated to destroy all steam and diselbots alike.

After vanquishing the Queen, Faraday sets out to stop this final threat. Again, the voltbots employ skills which are distinct enough to keep the combat fresh.

The nine crew members, the three final bosses, the occasional mini-boss, and the rare tavern keeper, are well differentiated in both dialogue and visual representation. The crew are a motley, endearing, collection of societal castoffs such as, former farm hand Sally Bolt, former circus performer Bogdan Ivansk, or former Royalist scientist Dora D. “The Explorer” Adventura. Rendered sympathetically, and expressively, the cast are the nuts and bolts of Steamworld Heist. An unique feature is the approach the developers took to their female cast. Cartoon depictions of female characters often exaggerate feminine characteristics, but Piper, Beatrix, and Sally are compelling, forceful characters without being forced into the hyper-feminine cliche, feminist self-empowerment cliche, or women are only strong if they embody masculine traits cliche. Instead they are able to be themselves, while leading a galaxy spanning conflict.

In spite of TotalBiscuit's video, SteamWorld Heist wasn't in my line of sight. Yet, it proved to be a voyage worth taking. While, eventually the gun-play began to be a little dull, the buoyant enthusiasm and outright cheeriness of the design expressed in aesthetics, dialogue, and characterization, made it an enjoyable experience.