I obtained to play SteamWorld Heist II at Summer time Sport Fest, and it was one among my favourite video games on the occasion. I misplaced monitor of time whereas enjoying, remodeling what was speculated to be a fast 30-minute preview into practically an hour-and-a-half. I solely left the sales space as a result of I had to–I had one other appointment I wanted to get to. SteamWorld Heist II appears like extra of what got here earlier than, which is nice in my e-book. The unique sport remodeled shootouts into entertaining puzzles that examined your geometry abilities as you ricocheted bullets and grenades via environments to snipe enemies out of canopy or arrange an ally for a devastating combo. It is a successful formulation, and if it is not broke, then why repair it?
As a sequel, SteamWorld Heist II provides extra elements–new characters, new setting, new skills, new environmental obstacles–but retains a lot of what succeeded within the authentic sport to as soon as once more ship what’s shaping as much as be one other winner within the SteamWorld universe. The sport sees you are taking management of a ragtag pirate crew of Steambots as they sail, shoot, and plunder their manner throughout the seas (versus area like the primary sport). Every character can equip totally different jobs that unlock a wide range of perks and wield an assortment of weapons and tech that every include their very own advantages and shortcomings in battle. The fights themselves are turn-based, encouraging you to strategically transfer the characters in your present get together in an ever-changing battlefield and deduce one of the best ways to tug off the proper trick shot to explode your enemies earlier than they cease you.
These encounters are a blast. It is simply a lot enjoyable to bounce a well-timed sniper shot to blast an enemy that thinks it is protected behind cowl, or use the character of the turn-based fight to Rube Goldberg machine an explosive barrel right into a foe’s line of fireplace to cease them from utilizing their readied motion. It stays to be seen simply how a lot range the complete sport can ship, however every of the degrees I performed have been fairly diversified. One mission noticed me sneak into a jail and when the guards discovered me, I began releasing prisoners to rework the state of affairs right into a three-way shootout. One other project put me into an enemy base rigged to blow, forcing me to resolve whether or not I needed to seize my prize and dip or determine a option to delay the explosion lengthy sufficient to seize all the additional goodies too.
The traversal gameplay between missions wasn’t practically as a lot enjoyable, breaking apart the way more pleasant turn-based missions with oddly paced (and barely annoying) real-time naval fight. Between missions, you may sail all over the world and when enemy ships spot you, they’re going to assault. Your ship’s weapons fireplace mechanically, that means all it’s important to do is transfer round to dodge enemy assaults whereas preserving your individual weapons aimed toward your targets. Upgrades to your ship change how your bow, port, starboard, and stern weapons fireplace but–at least what I saw–there’s not a lot to it. Graciously, there have been a number of moments the place my ship was simply sooner than the enemy’s, which meant I may sail round them and keep my heading for my subsequent goal. But when one thing is best off averted, I would want it merely not be within the sport in any respect.
I did not get to see a lot of the story throughout my preview, so I can not say a lot on that, however the snippets I did play via maintained that charming humor and goofy vibe of the earlier SteamWorld video games. I really feel protected saying that if you happen to favored the narrative parts in earlier SteamWorld video games, you may in all probability just like the story in SteamWorld Heist II. And if that side of the sport has at all times been a turn-off for you (which makes me unhappy to listen to, however all of us have our personal private tastes–I get it) then this sport in all probability will not all of a sudden make you a fan.
As a result of, once more, SteamWorld Heist II appears like extra of the primary sport. Should you beloved the primary sport, I am assured you may benefit from the second. After enjoying over an hour of SteamWorld Heist II, I am keen to leap into the complete sport, and fortunately we do not have to attend all that lengthy. SteamWorld Heist II is scheduled to launch for Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Swap, and PC on August 8. The sport may also be launched day one on Xbox Sport Go.