''SteamWorld Heist'' is a 2D

turn-based tactics Turn-based tactics (TBT), or tactical turn-based (TTB), is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally sm ...

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

developed by Swedish video game developer

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 Thunder ...

. The third installment of the '' SteamWorld'' series and the sequel to ''

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 ...

'', ''SteamWorld Heist'' has the player control Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a ragtag team of robots and sets out on a space adventure. The objective of the game is for players to board, loot, and shoot their way through enemy spaceships. ''SteamWorld Heist'' was released on the

Nintendo eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was en ...

for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

in Europe, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand on December 10, 2015. It was released worldwide for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

through

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

on June 7, 2016, for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

via the

PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable content ...

on June 7, 2016, in North America and on June 8, 2016, in Europe and Australia. It was released both physically and digitally (through the

) for the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

on September 30, 2016, in Europe and Australia and in North America on October 20, 2016. It was released worldwide on the

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

App store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

on November 9, 2016. On December 28, 2017, the game was released worldwide for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

(via

) under the subtitle ''Ultimate Edition''. It was released on Google's cloud gaming service

Stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

on March 10, 2020, and on Amazon's cloud gaming service

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin * Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon Luna may also refer to: Places Philippines * Luna, Apayao * Luna, Isabela * Luna, La Union * Luna, San Jose Roma ...

on October 20, 2020.

Gameplay

''SteamWorld Heist'' is a side-scrolling

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...

with focus on skill rather than chance. The core gameplay consists of recruiting a team of steam-driven robots, boarding enemy spaceships and taking down rivaling robot factions in

turn-based In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based. Real-time Real-time games have game time progress cont ...

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

s. A majority of the game's levels are

procedurally generated In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated assets and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In ...

. In battle, the player controls the aiming of all firearms and can bounce bullets off the environment for

ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

ing trick shots. As the game progresses, players can upgrade and customize their robot crew with different consumables, equipment, weapons, and hats. Some weapons are equipped with

laser sights Many scientific, military, medical and commercial laser applications have been developed since the invention of the laser in 1958. The coherency, high monochromaticity, and ability to reach extremely high powers are all properties which allow ...

to assist the player with the free aiming. The game has over 100 different weapons and almost 100 hats to collect. These can be found as treasure during missions or bought in designated shops. Hats are primarily obtained by shooting them off opponents' heads and collecting them. After finishing the game, players have the option to start the game again with

New Game+ A New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video games that allows the player to start a new game after they finish it at least once, where certain features in NG+ not normally available in a first ...

Development

The

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 ...

version is on hold in favour of future projects from Image & Form.

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack, ''Music From SteamWorld Heist'', is composed and recorded by the

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

band

Steam Powered Giraffe Steam Powered Giraffe is an American musical project formed in San Diego in 2008, self-described as "a musical act that combines robot pantomime, puppetry, ballet, comedy, projections, and music". Created and led by twins David Michael Bennett an ...

. The band members appear as robots in different bars (such as The Spine at Lola's bar before it got shut down) throughout the game while performing songs from the soundtrack.

Downloadable content

The first

downloadable content Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...

pack, called ''The Outsider'', was showcased at the

Penny Arcade Expo PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX w ...

in early April 2016 and was released on April 28, 2016, for the

. When Image & Form announced the release date of ''SteamWorld Heist'' for the

and the

, the company confirmed that ''The Outsider'' would release for those systems on the same date as the full game. It was also available for

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

, and

on release. ''The Outsider'' was included on disc in the

and

PS4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in E ...

retail editions of the game. ''The Outsider'' was included within the

's ''Ultimate Edition'' port of the game.

Reception

''SteamWorld Heist'' has received positive reviews on all platforms, with current scores ranging from 81 to 91 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 ...

. * 9.5/10 - ''Nintendo World Report'': "The definitive

game of 2015 is here. No joke." * 9/10 - ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...

'': "Excellent." * 8.8 - ''

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 ...

'': "''SteamWorld Heist'' stole my heart." * 8.5/10 - ''

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 ' ...

'': "Everyone can find something they'll like." * 5/5 - ''

USgamer Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...

'': "I loved SteamWorld Heist and I think everyone should play it." * 5/5 - ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'': "As much a work of art as a video-game." * 4/5 - ''Hardcore Gamer'': "''SteamWorld Heist'' exudes charm and goodwill."

Notes

References

External links

* {{SteamWorld 2015 video games Action-adventure games Indie games IOS games Linux games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo Switch games MacOS games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games PlayStation Vita games Single-player video games Steampunk video games Video games developed in Sweden Wii U games Wii U eShop games Windows games Xbox One games Video games set on fictional planets Video games using procedural generation SteamWorld Stadia games Rising Star Games games