Steamworld Heist may be one of the last games to release in 2015, but it's also one of the best. Riding high on Metacritic it looks set to be the highest-scoring 3DS game of the year, and is throwing a spanner in the works of many overeager publication's "game of the year" lists.
We sat down with Brjann Sigurgeirsson, CEO at Image & Form, for a fireside chat that covers all things Steamworld from the game's music, gameplay and whether we will see multiplayer, amiibo, overwatch and DLC in the future - not to mention changes the game needed to get its PEGI 7 rating.
First we wanted to set the record straight about hats - do they have an effect in how well characters perform in the game? "They don't add to your firepower," reveals Sigurgeirsson. But on a meta-level, you should know the enemy robots are nervous when you walk into a room and have a huge collection of hats. It's like the notches on the guns from the wild west. But no, it isn't calculated. We experimented with that but it meant the game quickly became unbalanced."
The game has some unusual and music, with Steam Powered Giraffe providing the game's soundtrack. "They sing songs about existence as a steam-driven robot," explains Sigurgeirsson. "I got this idea that we could have a band of steam-driven robots who were humans masquerading as steam-driven robots. I cautiously asked if they wanted to do it and it turned out they were Steamworld Dig fans, so it was a match made in heaven."
The game doesn't include an overwatch or opportunity fire like we've seen in Code Name S.T.E.A.M. or X-COM. I ask Sigurgeirsson if this was a consideration. "That's a different mechanic. Either you have it or you don't. I like the honesty of 'here's my move, what's your move going to be?'. It's like chess — the most beautiful game in the world. You have to live with making mistakes that can lose everything. If you could save up your move with opportunity you can correct for being overly brave. You have to be true to yourself, I'm going in here now and I'm counting on making this shot. If I don't get a critical I will be in serious trouble."
The game also doesn't include multiplayer, something which Sigurgeirsson would dearly love to include, but it simply wasn't possible at this stage. "If I could donate my left arm for multi-player in heist I would seriously consider it," he says. "It lends itself well to it. We have it picture how it would work - versus rather than co-op. We've developed out own game engine so we would have to write it for scratch. This would take a good 6 months. Maybe a Kickstarter?"
Amiibo would be another popular addition to the game. "We have so many likeable characters that are plausible amiibo contenders," Sigurgeirsson says. "We discussed this possibility with Nintendo quite some time ago about doing an amiibo for Rusty from Steamworld Dig, but you have to licence the amiibo brand to do it yourself. I'm happy that Yacht Club games have paved the way for the rest of us."
Steamworld Heist is coming to other platforms, but is first and foremost on the 3DS. Sigurgeirsson says Image & Form started here because 3DS owners responded so positively to Steamworld Dig. "We were overwhelmed by the attention, response and kindness from the 3DS community with Steamworld Dig so very early on we decided that the next game would debut on the 3DS."
Finally, we spoke about the game's PEGI rating. It was provisionally PEGI 12 but now releases as 7. "There was one word in the game - 'bloody' - used in the context of something that is blood red," reveals Sigurgeirsson. "That upped the rating in terms of language for 12. We changed it around and resubmitted without the word and then it was PEGI 7. Which is nice, because it's robots and there's no blood in the game."
Comments 22
Multiplayer would be a fun addition to the game. Maybe enough sales will push Image & Form into developing it either as DLC or an update.
Online multiplayer could be nerve racking knowing the other team(s) are coming after you or hoping your move into the next room isn't a trap
A masterpiece of a game, and I'm glad the songs are there. They provide a lot of fun for the bars (and closure after the boss fights because oy vey, the Queen is a nightmare).
Also, would gladly pay for multiplayer, triply so if the levels would be randomly generated, the core weakness of multiplayer in X-COM-likes, which this game channels in many respects.
Actual is my game of the year, I think. Hard to judge between such varying genres but I've been hardly able to put it down and I've got so many other games to play; also, can see myself replaying on the higher difficulties and NG+, believe I'm on the final boss atm!
Multiplayer shouldn't be that hard. Lets say you build multiplayer ships and one team enters from one end and the other from the opposite end. You can either build 5 of these types of stages or just one randomly generated one. For balancing you would only be able to select from a random set of weapons and levels would have to be set at a certain number as to not have a skill advantage. I would really like to play this against my son and it would give the game longevity!
@BrizzoUK I was slightly disappointed in NG+. Wish there was a bit more then what we got.
@Spoony_Tech That's a shame, only played at experienced mostly (a few harder for exp) so a run at the top level should be fun; the mostly random rooms has kept my happy getting 3 stars.
Glad it's doing well, excellent effort, guys!
I've alrady played it through twice now, and yes, I'd love an online MP mode for it, it's what this game would need to reach near-perfection. How it is right now, once you played it through once (2nd,3rd, etc are just the same, you restart from the beginning keepong only the hats you collected) you've seen it all, really. And yes, levels are procedurally generated, but It's very limited in what it actually changes each time, often is only box and barrels placed differently. But these are the only complaints; gameplay, difficulty calibration and presentation are all top notch, attention to details it really is close to a first party title, amazing. 9.2/10
Is this game replayable? Apparently the levels are randomly generated, so I could probably just come back to it from time to time, but I'm not sure if it's worth spending the money on a quick game with no longevity, regardless of its quality.
Also, it's after a cataclysm so humans and their meat oil would likely be folklore.
@sWiTcHeRoO
I am still playing through the campaign on normal difficulty, making sure to 3-star each mission... I think the game will be very re-playable since the levels are always a little bit different in setup... but more so because I plan to go back and replay missions with other recruits.
@sWiTcHeRoO
It's only like $17. Which is 25% of the cost of a new game. So if you even get 3-5 hours you're doing just as well as a retail release (same as a 12-20 hour retail release campaign, and the vast majority of retail releases would fall under that umbrella)
Dig wasn't really my cup of tea so i'm still on the fence with this one, I will probably.pick it up on sale
@JaxonH Well I tend to prefer a lot more longevity in my games, or else it feels like I used them up way too quickly if there's already nothing else to do past the main story (or whatever the main draw to the game is). I don't really like replaying games right away either.
I recently got Bayonetta ($30 on eShop cause physical copies died) and while I enjoyed it a lot I was extremely disappointed by the length of the game and I don't see any point in replaying the same stages over and over to get more out of the game. This was so bad that as much as I'd like to give Bayonetta 2 a try I just don't find it worth it for something I can breeze through in 9-11 hours yet again, especially for $30 more. This kinda thing applies with any other game. If I can't get long play times out of it because it doesn't offer tons of other content besides the main thing (like Hyrule Warriors and Xenoblade) then it kinda doesn't feel worth the money to me, again, regardless of how great the game might be.
Fantastic game. Easily the best released on the 3DS this year.
@sWiTcHeRoO I spent a lot of time making sure everyone was leveled evenly and got as many stars as I could on my first play through and it lasted me 25 hours. Now I tend to take my time and some of that might have been just leaving the system open to do other things but even so it's no less then 10 hours. Collecting all the hats will also take forever as I'm up in the 30 hour mark and maybe have half of them and I still see new items and weapons I didn't see in my first play through.
@Morph I didn't like Dig either but I love this game. I think they're two completely different games. The only similarity I've found is their visual style. I highly recommend this.
Something I like about this is the change in complexity in the robot designs. Dig's robots are simple and almost super-deformed, whereas here they are a lot more complex and humanoid. It shows an evolution throughout the Steamworld universe.
They could have easily done 'Dig 2' and watched the money roll in, but Image and Form were brave enough to come up with a completely new idea. I bought the game this morning, and you know what - I am really loving it! A great stocking filler and thanks for deciding to go with an original idea. Looking forward to your next game.
Spine from SPG is an awsome singer, check this cover of Rhinna's song Diamonds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU-VJOzb-10
Awesome game, can't stop playing, utterly compelling and refreshing.
@andyrob_24_7 : Thanks for a delightful little chat! To you and everyone, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I think we've got 2016 cut out for us, with lots of interesting directions. <3 /Brjann
one of the best games ive played this year, and thats alongside XCX, Splatoon and Witcher 3
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