Developer: Thunderful Development
Publisher: Thunderful Publishing
Steam Deck Compatibility?: Verified
Rrp: £24.99 (Gog.com, Humble, Steam and Epic)
Released: 8th August 2024
Available on: Gog.com, Humble, Steam and Epic
Played Using: Mouse and keyboard
Approximate game length: 20+ Hours
It’s kind of crazy to me how many of the SteamWorld games there are now. Most indie titles never get beyond the first one, maybe a sequel if they did particularly well. But SteamWorld? This is the sixth game set in that universe and as far as I can tell they all build upon each other to expand the lore and history of it. With this game I’ve now played and reviewed almost every game in the series, the only one I haven’t being SteamWorld Build (which is the fifth game) but I do intend to get around to that.
For a long time now Captain Quincy Leeway has lived in his mothers shadow. She slew a terrible beast named the Kracken and became the ‘The Krakenbane’ before she eventually left the shard, and Quincy, behind. Captain Quincy has never been able to live up to the legend of his mother, but now perhaps there’s a chance. There’s something happening to the clean water, a vital resource for Steambots, and it’s causing them to rust. It’s up to Captain Quincy and his crew to get to the bottom of it.
In SteamWorld Heist 2 you play as Quincy Leeway, though that’s not entirely accurate. You actually play as both Captain Quincy and the misfit crew you gather through the game. The crew go on missions while the Captain runs the ship, accepts the jobs and generally is in charge.
Just like in the original SteamWorld Heist this is a turn based tactical shooter, at least when in a mission, which is a majority of the game. At the games start you only have two crewmates (and Captain Quincy), but as you play you’ll hire in more crew, quite a bit more. Each crewmate comes with their own innate skill which can be enhanced later in the game.
While on missions your crew can perform two actions. These actions are used to move, attack, reload (assuming the weapon requires it) or use an ability. If a crewmate attacks, regardless of it being melee or ranged, then their turn immediately ends.
Something to note is that also like in the original game the shots of both you and your opponents ricochet off of surfaces and cover (unless the weapon says otherwise or is melee). This can be used to great advantage to hit enemies behind cover or perhaps strike an item in the environment that could be useful.
Each crewmate has a job while on missions, the job is essentially their class and determines what base skills they have. As the crewman completes missions as that job they’ll gain XP which unlocks more skills until the job max’s out at fifth level. You can change a crewmate’s job by switching what weapon they’re equipped with. However, changing a crewmate’s job doesn’t transfer XP or levels. So you may wonder why bother doing it at all, what’s the benefit? The benefit is that some skills unlocked within that job apply to any other job they also take on. There are some that don’t automatically transfer but even those can be carried over with the use of cogs. As you play your crew will gain cogs, which are utilised to purchase skills in a job that the crewmate has previously been. This system allows you to essentially create a build that works to take advantage of a specific crewmate’s innate skills.
There are six job types each relating to a weapon type. Reapers use SMG’s (usually), Boomers concentrate on all forms of explosive firearm, Flankers focus on shotguns, Brawlers are entirely melee, Engineers use pistols and Snipers unsurprisingly utilise sniper rifles.
I could go into detail about each class but a lot of the fun is experimenting and seeing what tactics you can come up with.
Once a crewmate has been on a mission both them and their equipment is exhausted and cannot be used until you have rested at one of the many bars you can find in the world.
Resting will also recover any crewmate that has been destroyed while on a mission. If a crewmate is destroyed on a mission they’ll receive fifty percent of the XP they would have gained (assuming the mission is completed).
Completing missions doesn’t just give your crew XP, it also gains you reputation in the area and bounty points. This reputation will allow you to access better gear to purchase and if you max out the reputation in an area you can gain an extra bonus, though you’ll have to find it. The reputation given at the end of a mission is affected by if all your crew survived and if you completed the bonus objective (if there is one).
Bounty points are one I struggle to understand how to get them. I’m not sure if I missed the tutorial on how they are gained but I honestly am not sure. What I can say though is that I still gained them at the end of missions so even not knowing how to gain them didn’t stop me from doing so. These bounty points are a currency that you can use once you rest allowing you to trade them in for items or resources.
The two main resources in this game are Gallons and Fragments. Gallons are the main currency used for purchasing weapons, items and hiring crewmates. Fragments are used specifically for upgrades be that to your submarine or the crew.
Unlike in the previous game SteamWorld Heist 2 has ship to ship combat, the weapons fire automatically so you simply need to focus on maneuvering. This added mechanic allows you to explore the world and there is quite a bit to explore. I recommend downloading the optional texture pack if your system can take it, it really makes the world map stand out.
Something I really liked about this game was the range of choices when it came to picking the difficulty, it even included a customiser which I thought was very considerate. You can even change the difficulty as you play if you found you had bitten off more than you could chew. I wish more games allowed for that.
I really enjoyed my time with this game, then again I haven’t found a SteamWorld game yet that I’ve been disappointed by. I can definitely say this is a much longer experience than the original though.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Steamworld Heist
Steamworld Dig 2
Steamworld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech
