SteamWorld Heist 2 is a satisfying seafaring romp

Through no fault of their own, certain art styles can rub us up the wrong way.

From noughties gamers infamously decrying Wind Waker’s cel-shaded beauty to fan outrage at the chibi stylings of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond, certain aesthetics can be an instant deal breaker.

My arty kryptonite? The smiling, kids’ TV-esque robots of SteamWorld. Starting life on 3DS with 2013’s SteamWorld Dig, developer Image and Form’s creation has since spawned multiple spin offs, each more critically acclaimed than the last. Yet despite its continued success, thanks to its initially low-res debut, my brain has SteamWorld firmly filed under ye olde 3DS curio.

It’s why I came into Heist 2 – my first SteamWorld game – dubious about whether this cutesy series had much to offer older players. It turns out, you should never judge a vessel by its paint job, as underneath its forgettable aesthetic lies a surprisingly meaty mix of tactical RPG and seafaring adventure.

As previously mentioned, Heist 2 is the latest spin off of the genre-fluid Steamworld series, which veers between Metroidvania, card battler and city builder with admirable ADHD abandon. Despite being a sequel, this is an entirely self-contained story.

Taking place in an all new locale, Heist 2 swaps the stars for the sea and intergalactic pirates for actual pirates, putting players in command of an endearingly battered submarine. Too haggard to actually submerge, it’s up to you, Commander Leeway, to restore the pitifully bobbing vessel – and your family name – to their former glory.

How, you ask? By recruiting a ragtag crew and plundering the high seas. In this nautical Robin Hood-esque yarn, the mechanical monarch’s navy rules the Great Sea with an iron fist, hoarding the land’s rapidly dwindling water supplies. As you sail from reef to reef, it’s up to you to right these wrongs, fulfilling various citizen’s bounties as you liberate stolen ship parts and redistribute that vital H20 via a series of elaborate and daring heists.

As you board navy vessels and raid heavily-armed forts, your mission is to scrap bots, steal loot and make it back to your submarine alive – which brings us to the brilliant gunplay. In a combat mechanic so good I’m shocked that it hasn’t been done before, SteamWorld Heist lets players aim each carefully planned gunshot manually.

Unlike the chance-based attacks of X-Com, developer Image and Form cleverly lifts its core shooting mechanic from the best tactical shooter of the ‘90s – Worms. Much like the long turns spent carefully launching sheep on PS1, lining up the perfect shot in Heist takes sweat-inducing precision. The ideal trajectory? Ricocheting bullets off multiple surfaces and scrapping multiple robots in one shot.

It’s an intentionally fiddly mechanic that feels utterly incredible when you pull it off, ensuring that each multi-kill feels satisfyingly earned. It’s a brilliant fit for a story-based tactical RPG, ensuring that fights always require your full attention.

And boy, will you need to pay attention. Despite its cutesy looks, SteamWorld Heist 2 is no dip in the ocean. Getting out of dodge in one piece is the name of the game, with only one crew member needing to survive each daring heist in order to reap the rewards. Which is a relief, as most of my poor crew were consistently blown to bits.

In the heat of battle, every turn counts, with a wrong movement costing you dearly as your foes constantly try to outmanoeuvre you and expel you from their turf. Once the alarm has been triggered, you can find yourself facing off against a seemingly infinite number of attackers as you and your crew attempt to seize all the loot and leg it to the exit.

Like everything else in the genre, SteamWorld Heist 2 is tailor-made for portable play. While the so-so dialogue will have you hammering the X button like a game of whack-a-mole, heists can be a long and sweaty affair, making teach tactical skirmishes perfect for carrying with you on Switch as you potter about the house.

In a nice contrast to the turn-based tussles, sailing the steamy seas occurs in real-time. As your tiny ship soars across the lapping waves from a top down perspective, your rickety sub trades machine gun fire with naval vessels en route to your next daring mission. Thanks to the adorably tiny scale, steering your sub feels akin to a kid manoeuvring a plastic boat across a swimming pool, offering a welcome palette cleanser from the heist’s stressful shootouts.

In a suitably pirate-y mechanic, after escaping a heist alive, your weary brigands need to rest at an island bar, presumably soaking their rusty limbs in oil while necking a margarita. It’s during these slices of island downtime where you advance the story, exchange hard earned currency for new weapons, and of course, enlist new recruits. These fun-filled excursions are brought to life by a wonderfully atmospheric vocal-led soundtrack, helping to sell the fantasy of enjoying your island downtime after a long day on the high seas.

As you build your crew of seaworthy steambots, your battered submarine slowly becomes the home to a ramshackle army. Being the captain, it falls to you to outfit your crewmates with the best gear and abilities. With each new fort plundered, your reputation in each reef grows, allowing you to strengthen your gang of grinning bots and transform your puny sub into a deadly vessel.

The brigands you recruit are refreshingly malleable, and swapping out their weapon type instantly changes their class. This means that as you level up each specific class, by spreading their skill points across different disciplines, you can leverage those skill points to give one character both the speed of a flanker and the precision of a sniper.

It’s a cool twist on the job system, letting you really pimp out each crew member’s stats, and build your very own ultimate botty-brigand. More importantly though, you get to unlock a collection of very silly, completely cosmetic hats.

“It’s a cool twist on the job system, letting you really pimp out each crew member’s stats, and build your very own ultimate botty-brigand. More importantly though, you get to unlock a collection of very silly, completely cosmetic hats.”

Despite the steep difficulty, the tone and writing of this sea-faring adventure is clearly aimed at younger audiences. While most of the vibe is fairly Saturday morning cartoon, there are a sprinkling of more chewy themes to match the gameplay challenge, as you encounter a flesh-worshipping, bone-collecting cult, and find yourself doing battle against wanton greed and authoritarianism. The story is still nothing to write home about, but it’s a tale that slowly gathers steam as you sail the high seas.

I’ve always been put off by SteamWorld’s Lego Bionicle-esque art, dragging me kicking and screaming back to the days of the infamously ugly Nintendo 3DS tactics flop Codename S.T.E.A.M. Yet underneath Heist 2’s sanitised steampunk lies a satisfyingly deep tactical romp.

This is a game that’s clearly been made with love, and thanks to its shrewd $29.99 / £24.99 price point, one that seems destined to while away countless long car journeys in the summer heat.