SteamWorld Heist 2 game review

In this review, we will discuss SteamWorld Heist 2, the sequel to the fascinating indie turn-based game from Image & Form (now Thunderful).

The first version of SteamWorld Heist was developed and released by the Image & Form studio, which was able to be welcomed by its audience and received very positive reviews on the Steam client. After that, the Thunderful Development studio was created during the merger of Image & Form and Guru Games studios, which is also the creator of the second version of SteamWorld Heist. The creators of this work, who have more than a decade of experience in creating strategic and turn-based works, are now back with their new work to offer an interesting experience to this genre, but the question is whether this sequel has been able to live up to the original version. Leave it or not?

Steampunk style pirates

The title SteamWorld Heist 2 tells the story of a young captain named Captain Leeway, who is trying to follow in the footsteps of his mother, who was a very famous sailor, and make a name for himself. In this regard, the story begins where you and two of your companions, Wesley Hotchkiss and Daisy Clutch, step into one of the naval bases in order to recover your seized ship, and after recovering the ship, the path of you and your companions to become Begins to be a worthy seaman.

But it doesn't take long before a new danger introduces itself to the high seas, a water crisis is destroying the Steambots and causing their organs and mechanical hearts to rust, and now Captain Leeway decides to find the reason behind this great crisis and prevent it from proving itself.

During the story of the game, you will meet many interesting and diverse characters that will help you on the path you are on, and in the meantime, you will also meet some sailors of Qadr that you can hire to help you during the game. Steps and missions will help you and in this way slowly expand your ship's crew.

We are dealing with a work of about 20 hours, which, of course, has a lot of content and you can get even more than the mentioned amount from that content, but nevertheless, it cannot be said that the story and the overall narrative of the game can support these hours.

The characters of the game appear very different from each other and can create a good attraction between the characters and their relationship with the player, but despite this, the overall story is sometimes moved to the background in the long run, and therefore it will not appear so engaging. And especially considering the many hours that this experience will last, the story unfortunately cannot create a proper suspense in the game process.

A fun adventure

The gameplay is where SteamWorld Heist 2 really shines, and it can even be quite addictive! We are dealing with a turn-based strategic work that challenges the player in different ways and requires a lot of initiative and trial and error. As I said at the beginning, you start the game with two characters, Daisy and Wesley, who help you during the initial stages.

Each of these characters have their own characteristics, weapons and classes, and have a very efficient dedicated skill tree. For example, Daisy is a sniper who can be a great backup during stages, while Wesley has an SMG that somewhat requires being closer to enemies to function properly. Of course, this is not the whole story; As I said in the previous section, as you progress through the game, you gain new resources that allow you to upgrade your ship, crew members, and even hire new crew and characters.

This issue has caused a very high variety between the characters and at the same time the different strategies and combinations of the teams that you can form, which really makes trial and error and passing each of the stages of the game extremely fun. Each of these characters and their promotion process also has a significant impact on the game's overall progression system and makes this process one of the most attractive parts of this experience.

According to their class, these characters also provide the player with some exclusive capabilities that will be available by upgrading their skill tree and provide you with new ways to fight during the stages.

Some of these capabilities are used to support other members of the group and others are used independently, which certainly have relatively different cooldowns. Also, at the beginning of each mission, you can set your character's Loadout and use secondary weapons or tools such as grenades or reinforcement items in order to make your characters more efficient.

It should be noted that we see a wide range of different weapons with various capabilities and designs in this work, which can be obtained both through the looting of treasures and through various vendors that you will encounter during the game, which can be purchased in the end. They help the personalization system and upgrade the characters and have a great impact on the gameplay process.

Also, by completing various steps and missions, you not only improve your reputation, but also gain access to a currency called Bounty Points, which at the end of each day, according to the number of steps completed, you will benefit from a certain number of them, which will allow you to purchase items. and gives resources including Gallons, which are vital in purchasing weapons and recruiting new crew.

As you have noticed, the general process of the stages is turn-based and completely relies on the creativity, accuracy and strategic thinking of the player. Also, different environments offer different ways to fight or take cover, which actually make use of environmental factors as well. During the experience this effect is very prominent.

But if we pass the general combat system of this game, we will come to another part of the gameplay of this title, and that is the game's shipping; This work is actually an open world title that allows you to travel the seas with your ship and even engage in naval battles and loot the ships of the Royal Navy. Although these descriptions look very attractive on paper, but in reality, they do not have much depth in the implementation stage and appear to be largely crude.

Using the resources you get, you have the ability to buy, upgrade and equip your ship with new weapons and capabilities that will make naval battles easier for you, but nevertheless, the general process of these naval battles is largely superficial and cannot necessarily be It was mentioned as one of the strengths of the gameplay. Although cruising the sea and finding new stages and resources is always enjoyable thanks to the great art style and wonderful music of the game, but despite this, the aspects related to naval warfare will not seem so attractive and lasting.

But in the end, we can say that SteamWorld Heist 2 is an extremely well-made tactical turn-based game that also offers a deep and very diverse gameplay that constantly expands during the experience, and in this regard, more possibilities and ways are available to the player in order to create new approaches. It offers new challenges, which is one of the most important features of any turn-based tactical work that wants to have something to say.

Throughout the experience, SteamWorld Heist 2 constantly reminds you why the SteamWorld franchise is one of the best strategy franchises out there, showing that it knows its stuff well enough to at least deliver an engaging and deep turn-based tactical experience. does not leave less

As beautiful as the endless sea

The wonderful art style is a signature of the SteamWorld series, which has constantly gotten better and better throughout the various works, and SteamWorld Heist 2 is no exception. The art style of this work is not only artistically wonderful, but it is well integrated with the technical aspects of the game and strengthens it.

We see dynamic lighting and shadows that give a very dynamic look to game environments. The overall design of the environments and stages is also very well done and the layout and structure of each is well adapted to the different aspects of the gameplay and strengthens strategic thinking.

SteamWorld Heist 2 also uses a wide range of vibrant and eye-catching colors that really liven up the overall feel of the game and fit well with the overall theme of the game. The environmental effects have benefited a lot from this issue, and things like explosions or even sparks that occur when bullets ricochet are also very elegant.

The design of the characters of the game is excellent, diverse and distinct, and each of the lovely Steambots in this game has its own appearance and design, which really inspires the feeling of a big world to the player, on the other hand, the enemies of the game are more advanced and Entering new areas has become more diverse, and this diversity applies both in terms of appearance and moves in line with their specific functional characteristics, which finally inject new strategic layers into the overall game process.

And if we want to talk about the soundtrack and music of this work, we still have a high level of quality, which is in line with the art style and theme of the game, and it has been implemented in a very admirable way. The music of the game is very catchy and creates the “sea adventure” atmosphere well.

Sometimes you enter different bars in the middle of the sea to rest and you see robots singing attractive songs or so-called Shantys, and this issue has helped the world of this work to be alive. On the other hand, the wordless music that is played during the stages and… are also arranged and played in an excellent way, which finally combine with the art style of the game and create a distinct and special identity of this work.

This game has been tested and tested on PC