SteamWorld Heist II Review: Right Angled to Success

The SteamWorld series is a curious concoction of creative ingenuity and satisfying gameplay. Though most of the games are isolated into their own stories and genres, each adventure somehow wonderfully crafts a path for players to enjoy. Want an incredible metroidvania? Check out SteamWorld Dig 2. In the mood for a card-based adventure? SteamWorld Quest is the way to go. Looking for the next great turn-based tactics game? Happily, SteamWorld Heist II is that game.

Within SteamWorld Heist II, you’re thrust into an aquatic world in peril. Even though you are surrounded by water within your ship, said water is becoming toxic and unusable. As the aloof Captain Leeway,  you must figure out a way to save the Great Sea and ensure all inhabitants are safe and sound. The overarching story for me didn’t offer much intrigue nor any excitement to see what was happening in this world. Instead, it was more of a propelling instrument to get into the layered strategies within the gameplay. It is worth noting that much of the side-banter and interactions between NPC’s is witty and charming. This has become an increasingly wonderful staple in the SteamWorld games and Heist II is no exception.

The Arrrrt of Combat

Gameplay wise, SteamWorld Heist II is an absolute masterclass in its ability to gradually allow players to develop the skills necessary to succeed throughout the 30+ hour game. Within the first hour, I was a little concerned that the standard difficulty was a bit too easy, but luckily that quickly changed. In this turn-based tactics game, you are thrust into various enclosed level-based scenarios that you and your crew must complete with their own individualized objectives. One success criteria could be to simply find the Epic Loot, while another is to survive waves of enemies, or a third could be to split your crew into two groups and dismantle the security precautions. In these scenarios, I was fully immersed in the scenario and knew that one bad step could be the difference between a perfect round and my downfall. Luckily, Heist II emphasized the ability to quit a mission that isn’t working with your loadout, rewind two rounds back, or even adjust the level of difficulty. All of these are especially wonderful because there are no penalties for any of these.

Within the levels, your crew of Steambots are able to maneuver around the space, use abilities, and line up their attacks. In these turns, I was really challenged to get creative with my actions since not only was I attempting to maximize the damage on my opponents, but ensure that I wasn’t leaving myself vulnerable when the combatants had their chance to retaliate. One main feature that’s been heavily highlighted are the ricochet attacks. Several attacks within Heist II allows players to see the lineup of the attack and angle their character to find opportunities to hit near-impossible enemies. At first, this was more of a funny outcome to me, but as I was unlocking abilities, I noticed that this was more than just a gimmick. Not only were these scratching that mathematical itch in my brain, but it became a dopamine hit every time I was successful. It is worth noting that not every weapon has a clear line-of sight, nor ability to ricochet off walls or enemies.

Pirate’s Booty

With all this combat in missions, you are able to earn Bounty Points. These points allow you to convert them into various currencies in the game, find new weapons, or randomly get a shiny new utility item for your vessel. The more points you earn, the better the rewards. To balance this, you’re only able to use characters for missions once before performing a rest and you can only redeem your points when you rest. This feature, though enticing, was more of an added bonus when resting instead of a reason to rest my characters.

Before you embark on these levels, you’re able to manage your recruits within the game, the characters that you control within the levels. Each character starts off with a default character class, but in reality each character can be any class as long as they have the specified class-weapon attached. At first, I was very tempted to simply leave characters in their pre-designed classes - I mean, they were in those classes for a reason right? However, I quickly realized that the game really pushes you to change character classes quite a bit. The main reason for this is that you can eventually use various abilities and attacks that you’ve unlocked in a different class into the class you are currently using. Though this isn’t too new to many tactics players, I was excited for the suped-up characters I was about to create. These various abilities, paired with secondary weapons and utility items, offered way more variety and creativity than I initially thought. 

Keep Calm and Steam On

Outside the turn-based combat, there are also several real-time naval combats. Unfortunately, these are much more passive than I was expecting. As you progress through the game, you’re able to add weapons and upgrades to your ship. These upgrades may allow you to shoot enemies from the sides, speed up your acceleration, or increase your health. However, I never felt excited or motivated to complete any of these naval encounters. Sure, going up against another small ship was over in less than 10 seconds, but I simply had to maneuver my ship haphazardly and they went down. Other encounters get more chaotic, but the underlying simplicity never really went away.

Breakdown

Game: SteamWorld Heist II

Developer: Thunderful Gothenburg

Publisher: Thunderful

Availability: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC (Steam Deck verified)

Reviewed on PC (Steam Deck) 

Play Time: 30 hours (Main story with some additional missions)

Accessibility Options: Subtitles, Full remapping of controls

Pros:

+ Compelling turn-based tactics

+ Plenty of customization for combat

+ Captivating original soundtrack 

Cons:

- Simplified naval combat

Final Thoughts

SteamWorld Heist II is a thrilling adventure from start to finish. With enticing turn-based combat, creative customizations for characters, and stellar soundtrack, every swashbuckling pirate playing this will be singing a soulful sea chanty throughout the experience!

Reviewed by Harry Loizides