SteamWorld Heist

Piper, the protagonist robot (which is actually her), will start recruiting various space mercenaries, to prey on several interplanetary vessels, loaded with treasures and as many enemies. While maintaining a certain aesthetic consistency, it is interesting to note how the developers have totally changed course, focusing on a turn-based strategy. The other fundamental feature is the 2D view, certainly bizarre for a similar genre and that opens up a range of rather peculiar possibilities. The game slowly takes shape and the caravan of interstellar marauders will gradually replenish with the passing of the missions. Once you have overcome the pleasant narratives, pleasant but not very incisive, you move on to a practical and essential map, followed by the management of your group. Finally, once a drifting spaceship is hooked, our job is to prey on it, well aware that we are not alone with the same intention.


When it comes to facts, SteamWorld Heist comes to life in a totally two-dimensional scenario, with the various parts of the map barred from view, and ready to reveal itself at the opening of doors and loopholes. Each character can move for a certain number of spaces, without big limits to tell the truth, except for the actions to be performed. Let me explain: if you just want to lurk at a certain point, the room for maneuver is quite large. Conversely, picking up an object, opening a trap door or attacking the enemy limits our movements, covering most of the turn. This feature is shown in a decidedly practical way through an on-screen cursor: we can move and act as long as the line of movement remains orange; as soon as it turns blue, it means that we have run out of room for maneuver and can only lurk. It is therefore necessary to stay within the orange limit, to optimize the movements to the maximum and conclude each action with a useful move, perhaps an attack.


The fighting takes place mainly with firearms, relegating the fists to a last chance in case of encirclement. Manual aiming is practical and immediate, giving a great sense of satisfaction right from the start. The enemies have various hot spots and even the covers can blow up: a very elaborate skeleton of the game follows, which in the highest difficulty levels requires great attention for every minimum choice. Some sights allow you to take advantage of a snooker-style preview of the shot, but most of the fiery mouths do not have it, so it is necessary to cling without too much effort to a certain uncertainty, however typical of the genre. The nature of the title is clearly oriented towards obsessive looting, which translates both in "money" (ie water, the game's exchange currency) and in various objects to be equipped. In this regard, the low number of slots available for the various items makes the schedules slightly frustrating, but they prove to be a sensible choice not to crack the balance of the game.

The technical frame that holds SteamWorld Heist together is even more elaborate than its predecessor, showing excellent character design and truly remarkable general care. It's a lot of fun to see the robots move in a lazy way, explode in slow motion, or quiver with anger when hit. Despite a slightly claustrophobic feeling that characterizes the rooms, the refined and amusing style manages to give the title a great personality. Also excellent is the sound, which does not skimp on orchestrated themes, created by the Steam Powered Giraffes for the occasion. If you exclude a certain basic monotony, which can become very thin if you are passionate about the genre, SteamWorld Heist is a multifaceted, charismatic and well-made product. A strategic deep beyond all expectations, and able to entertain for a long time.

MODUS OPERANDI
I played SteamWorld Heist thanks to a code provided by the distributor. I completed it in about fifteen hours in normal mode, with some detours on the difficult one. The title lends itself well to replayability, but above all to a stratified fruition, thanks to the five difficulty levels.

Swedish Image & Form Games studio has already released three titles, but most of you will only associate one production - SteamWorld Dig . This simple and cute game allows you to play the role of a cowboy (a combination of a cowboy and a robot), which in the western-steampunk reality deals with extracting raw materials from the mine. Heist is the second work of the Scandinavians set in the same universe, but this time we are dealing with a two-dimensional tactical position, showing some, though rather minor, features in common with the new versions of the XCOM series. Nintendo handheld owners have been able to enjoy it for a long time, and now it's time for large consoles and PCs.

In SteamWorld Heist, the player controls a group of pirates led by Piper Faraday - a former pilot in the Royalist service who turned to the dark side of the force after refusing to carry out an order contrary to her beliefs. The happy group can be powered by a total of as many as seven cowbots (with the addition of DLC - eight), and most of them are only accepted at a later stage of the struggle for the oil obtained during the mission (the only currency in the game) or reputation points. The characters do not only differ in appearance - each of them represents a specific class, which determines the ability to handle a specific type of weapon and a set of abilities, unlocked after reaching new levels of experience. Of course, effective mastery of the skills turns out to be essential on the battlefield. The product forces you to carefully manipulate the available options, especially on higher difficulty levels.

At first glance, the work of Image & Form Games studio does not look too complicated. After starting the boarding of the enemy spaceship, a predetermined number of soldiers takes their starting positions and the player takes full control over them. Managing the charges is completely fucked from the new installments of the XCOM series - cowbots can make two moves in one turn, the latter usually not allowing to fire at opponents. Our soldiers can also hide behind interior design elements, symbolized on the screen by the shield icons known from the aforementioned title. Here, however, there is quite an important difference. Shields do not provide a stiff bonus to protection against enemy projectiles. Some of the items cover the heroes only in half, some of them are large enough that even their heads stick out from behind a vertical barrel. Opponents usually do not fire as precise shots as our daredevils, but the player should be careful anyway - shooting duels are largely ruled by chance and even a well-placed pirate can unexpectedly take a classic headshot, losing the vital energy that is very valuable in SteamWorld Heist .

These shooting duels are the essence of the game. Although the Swedish product does not reward you for killing enemies in any way (experience is gained only for loot collected along the way, which in itself is an interesting approach to the subject of exp), you simply have to eliminate rivals, otherwise you will not be able to escape from the enemy ship in most cases. Most interestingly, the chances of hitting this tactical position depend entirely on our agility. When we reach for a weapon, we have to track the opponent ourselves and press the trigger at the right moment. It might seem that the idea is stupid, but it works perfectly in this game. We owe it to the ricochet mechanics, which allow bullets to bounce off walls, ceilings or interactive objects and reach their target this way. After mastering this art, which requires a lot of practice, you will hit your rivals in a fancy and spectacular way, often using elements of the environment for this purpose. It is also advisable, because opponents can position themselves in such places that sending a cartridge by the straightest and shortest way (straight ahead) will not be possible at all.

Unfortunately, the ambitious work of the Swedes also has its weaknesses. In the long run, it is irritating to manage the equipment, which is presented in the form of a single sack, containing both weapons and gadgets - in addition, arranged in the order in which they were acquired. It would be nice to be able to sort items automatically in groups, so we could review weapons faster. I owe this not the best solution to the accidental sale of one powerful gun that I managed to find during the mission. It wasn't bad if you could buy it back, but it was a rare piece of equipment, and no vendor had it on offer.

The disadvantages include the dullness of the opponents and their reluctance to fire after ricocheting. After several hours of struggle, I was able to predict the moves of my rivals and position my soldiers so that they would avoid enemy fire, even when they were not huddled up to any of the covers. Enemies can change positions, adopt convenient shooting positions, but if there is an object between them and us, they will usually shoot it instead of us. In a way, I understand this procedure - if opponents could still destroy cowbots after ricocheting shots, it would be practically unrealistic to complete this game. However, it was possible to level the chances in other ways, e.g. by giving pirates more health points. Unfortunately, the exact opposite is true.

However, both of the above-mentioned shortcomings do not spoil the general perception of the title. This production is excellent and very charming among independent items. You can admire everything here, from the graphic design, through a well-done fight, to dialogues. Indie enthusiasts should be delighted with the Swedish proposition, as long as they obviously have a flair for tactical turn-based games and are not afraid to fight on the last difficulty level. SteamWorld Heist bought me after fifteen minutes of fun, and I compensated the regret after turning off the console by launching the edition on PlayStation Vita. I don't regret a single zloty spent on this small but extraordinary work. This is my best invested money in June.