''SteamWorld Dig 2'' is a

single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...

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action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

metroidvania Metroidvania is a sub-genre of platform video games focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series '' Metroid'' and ''Castlevania'', with games in th ...

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developed and published by

Image & Form Image & Form International AB was a Swedish video game developer based in Gothenburg. The company was founded by Brjánn Sigurgeirsson in 1997 and formed the Thunderful group with Zoink in 2017. In 2020, Image & Form was integrated into Thund ...

. It is the fourth installment in the '' SteamWorld'' series of games and the direct sequel to 2013's ''

SteamWorld Dig ''SteamWorld Dig'' is a platform action-adventure game created by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The second installment in the ''SteamWorld'' series and the sequel to ''SteamWorld Tower Defense'', ''SteamWorld Dig'' has the player ...

''. It was first released in September 2017 for

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, and

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. It was later released for

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in February 2018, for

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

in November 2018, for

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in March 2020, and for

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in October 2020. Publisher

Rising Star Games Rising Star Games Limited is a British video game publisher based in Hitchin. History Rising Star Games was founded on 10 July 2004 by Martin Defries as a joint venture between Bergsala Holding and Japanese publisher Marvelous Entertainment ...

released physical retail copies of the game for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2018.

Gameplay

SteamWorld Dig 2 is a

. Carrying on from its predecessor, ''

'', the game puts players in control of Dorothy, a steam-driven robot searching for Rusty, the protagonist of the previous game who disappeared. Gameplay largely involves exploring a vast underground mine, coming up against enemy creatures while finding various resources as the player digs their way downwards. As the game progresses, Dorothy can gain abilities and weapons such as pressure bombs, a hookshot, and a pneumatic arm that can punch through rock. Any resources found can be traded in for cash in the game's hub world, where the player can upgrade their health, weapons, and abilities. Each of the weapons have perks that can be activated by installing Upgrade Cogs found in secret areas. More blueprints for upgrades become available to the player by either increasing their level by killing enemies or completing quests, or by finding artifacts hidden in the mines.

Plot

The story takes place in between the events of ''

'' and ''

SteamWorld Heist ''SteamWorld Heist'' is a 2D turn-based tactics shooter developed by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The third installment of the ''SteamWorld'' series and the sequel to '' SteamWorld Dig'', ''SteamWorld Heist'' has the player control ...

''. Following Rusty's disappearance at the end of ''SteamWorld Dig'', Dorothy, a robot who he had befriended, travels to the mining town of El Machino in order to search for him. Along the way, she comes across Fen, a remnant of the Vectron that Rusty had previously fought, who joins Dorothy as a navigator. While searching the mines for Rusty while also hearing rumors of him turning into a monstrous machine, Dorothy comes across a group of devolved humans, called Shiners, addicted to the drug moon juice. The humans are led by Rosie, who instead of becoming addicted to moon juice took to lifting weights at a young age and who is much smarter than the other Shiners. Rosie claims that mysterious machines are triggering earthquakes. Dorothy goes to destroy these machines, only to discover that Rosie had lied to her. In actuality, the machines were built by Rusty to prevent Rosie from harnessing the power of a fusion distillery in order to create more of the addictive substance known as moon juice in order to control the remaining humans. Dorothy manages to defeat Rosie and rescue Rusty, only for the distillery to become unstable, prompting Fen to stay behind while she warps the two to safety, allowing them to escape on a rocket with the other El Machino residents before the planet explodes. As the robots explore space in order to set up a new civilization, Dorothy remains hopeful that she will one day be reunited with Fen.

Reception

''SteamWorld Dig 2'' received positive reviews, with a score of 88 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. Critics praised its improvements upon the original, as well as its world and gameplay. The game was nominated for "Best Portable Game" in ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ' ...

'' Game of the Year Awards 2017, for "Best Switch Game" and "Best Action-Adventure Game" in

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's Best of 2017 Awards, for "Game Engineering" at the 17th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, and for "Best Indie Game" at the 2018

Golden Joystick Awards The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...

References

External links

Official website
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