I would die, lose some of my money, then try the stage again and find a much easier version of it had been randomly pieced together.Ĭharacters felt fairly similar at first, but as they developed down their job types the differentiation became much clearer. While I generally felt stages were tuned correctly, I would very occasionally hit one that the dice simply didn't roll in my favor. Procedurally-generated stages are unpredictable, however, and that can lead to hiccups. Then you reap the rewards of loot, hence the 'Heist' part, and move on. Once you complete the goal-clear the enemies, or disable a certain component of the ship, or grab some particular piece of loot-you're told to evacuate. Your small band of mercenaries have a two-tiered movement system, the first allowing them to take a shot and the second for covering longer distances at the expense of a battle action. The missions themselves are somewhat randomized, though the story of a mission will dictate key elements like which types of enemies appear and where your goal rests. It's a concept that draws heavily from the cult sci-fi show Firefly, especially with the heavily western-inspired motif. You fly about the galaxy, stumbling upon adventures and occasionally upsetting powerful factions by interrupting their plans. As a roaming Cowbot, you're the captain of a plucky (and constantly growing) crew of ne'er-do-wells and mercenaries. As a result, it defies easy categorization. It has elements of procedurally generated dungeons, a turn-based strategic pace reminiscent of XCOM in 2D, RPG leveling, loot drops, and even the light puzzle-like sensation of planning a proper bank shot to catch enemies off-guard with a ricocheting bullet. Whereas the last game was something of a roguelike Dig-Dug, Heist successfully blends even more ingredients into a steamy stew. It's a nearly unqualified success for all the reasons Dig was such a revelation, and establishes the 'SteamWorld' name as one of flexible genre mash-ups. While it would have been easy to develop another SteamWorld Dig, Heist shares enough in common to feel reasonably connected, but much more noticeably differentiates itself mechanically. As the third game in a burgeoning universe, SteamWorld Heist goes to show just what Image & Form is looking to accomplish with its franchise.

Steamworld heist 2