It is rare that a new idea succeeds on the first try, but the idea from 2015 SteamWorld Heist very well done. In a time when team-based tactical games like XCOM were extremely popular, Robbery asked a bold design question – how do you do that, but in 2D? The result was an experiment that went very, very well – a tightly-knit strategy experience that gave turn-based tactics a free-form twist, controlled the precise angle of each shot, executed outrageous ricochet trick shots, strived for perfectly executed spaceship heists, and desperately sought Loads of collector’s hats.
Unfortunately, the original Robbery never made it to Xbox consoles, but I’m very happy to announce that the sequel will be arriving on your console or PC tomorrow, August 8th. SteamWorld Heist II returns with a new design question – how do you make a sequel to something that felt so complete? The answer is to keep the core of the story intact and around it bigger and better. The transfer of the action from space to the sea, SteamWorld Heist II offers a more explorable world, more player choices, and new ways to tinker with your team – all set amidst a new robot pirate aesthetic.
Returning players will immediately notice how much more expansive this seems – whereas the first game had you travelling along a largely linear mission map, you now pilot a small submarine, physically piloting your ship across the seas, taking out enemy ships in real-time miniature battles and choosing where to go next. Missions are plentiful and come in many forms – some require an entire squad to survive a set number of rounds, others pit a single character against a series of challenges.
While each mission still earns reputation (a currency that effectively unlocks your game progress), it also earns bounty points that you can spend on a range of rewards. In a single game day, each team member can only take part in a single mission – and you quickly realise there’s an art to making sure you complete every possible mission before sailing to a local bar to rest up and claim all your bounties.
It’s a small mechanical decision with big implications. As you build up your ragtag group of robots (and hire new ones as you go), you’ll need to think not only about which weapons and abilities work best together, but also which smaller groups might complement each other to help you take on as many missions as possible.
This leads us to another Heist IIThe big changes – each robot can take on any class simply by equipping it with the required weapon, but it can also transfer skills from classes it has already leveled up to. It allows you to change your strategies down to the smallest detail – helped by the fact that each new character comes with personal skills that only they can use.
Once you start exploring the options available to you with your metallic fingertips, you’ll realise there’s a huge amount of flexibility here. Personally, I’m a huge fan of turning a crewmate who can fire a giant laser that pierces through multiple enemies into a Flanker, which gives them bonus damage when they hit enemies from behind – there’s nothing better than travelling across the map to line up a perfect shot and take out three enemies in one go.
It’s another bold step from a bold series – SteamWorld games have been released many various forms in the decade and more since it’s been around – and its latest incarnation shows no shortage of that same ambition. This is bigger, longer, and more open to your interpretation than any SteamWorld game before it, but still shows the same spark of genius that drove the original Robbery. If you haven’t played the original, now is the time to get into it SteamWorld Heist II‘s perfect blue seas.
SteamWorld Heist II will be released on August 8th for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows PC.
