SteamWorld Heist II Preview: August may already have a winning indie

The SteamWorld series has become notorious for constantly challenging what we expect from its games. We've had tower defence titles, Metroidvanias, platformers, and now, this August, another turn-based strategy is joining its ranks in SteamWorld Heist II. Picking up after the events of the original, this game revolves around Captain Leeway, the descendant of the legendary explorer and protagonist of the first title, Captain Piper Faraday, and tasks players to fasten up their bootstraps and begin swashbuckling in an attempt to carve this younger captain's name into history alongside his predecessor.

With launch planned for August 8, I've had a chance to check out a bunch of SteamWorld Heist II as part of a preview window that included a brief taste during Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles earlier in the month. While I'll get into the nitty-gritty details in a moment, let me just start by confirming and settling any concerns you may or may not have; SteamWorld Heist II is shaping up to be an absolute blast.

The signature gameplay of the original that combines turn-based movement and attacks with aiming mechanics and tons of environmental destruction has been preserved and improved this time around. The gameplay feels intuitive and easy to pick-up but with tons of depth and player agency baked in that allows you to get creative with how you tackle combat. You can take the direct route and use cover to protect your steambots while landing clear and safe shots to remove threats in your path, or you can use ricocheting elements and corrosive or destructive barrels to take out groups of foes or neutralise a threat that is out of the immediate line of fire. The base and core gameplay here is about as simplistic and easy to understand as it comes, but Thunderful Development enables you to add some flair to your play with these more tricksy mechanics.

The development team has also taken this simple yet deep approach and looked to incorporate it everywhere in this game. The progression and upgrading suite is made to feel straightforward while still having some welcome complexity. You can recruit all manner of different bots to join your swashbuckling crew, each of whom slot into one of a variety of unique job types that can be improved and enhanced by earning experience from completing levels. As you improve a job, you unlock upgrades from a simple skill tree that either comes in the form of new abilities or passives that better combat efficiency, and you can easily swap between whichever you want and even incorporate different jobs together to make characters really stand out and play in the way you want them too. Adding to this is a system that allows you to customise your submarine vessel by equipping it with more powerful weapons and more defensive gear that comes in handy when battling navy ships on the open ocean.

This brings me to one of Heist II's more unique and new elements: it's naval gameplay. Instead of simply working through a narrative that constantly moves you between levels, Thunderful has incorporated an overworld that you can freely explore between finding and starting missions by controlling your submarine. The world is full of little secrets and nooks to discover and also home to rival and computer controlled vessels that will engage you if you get too close to them. To fight back, you have to align and aim your ship's starboard and portside weaponry to be able to destroy the threat before it destroys you. It's very basic and only consists of a few mechanics, but it's a welcome addition that just adds that little bit extra to the SteamWorld experience and breaks up the turn-based strategic gameplay of the actual missions.

For those wondering about the tone of this game, the signature SteamWorld charm and humour is also preserved. Despite this being a mostly new cast of characters, they all feel defined and detailed and as though you've known them for much longer time than you have. Plus, Thunderful manages to keep the narrative as a core and interesting factor by balancing out text dialogue with voiced-over cinematics, both of which work together to give a great sense of the adventure you're setting out on. Would it be nice to have voiced dialogue all the way through? Absolutely, but the text is usually quite concise and doesn't overwhelm the player so in practice it works fine.

Thunderful has also ensured that the aesthetic and theme of SteamWorld is preserved and accentuated in Heist II as well, with more of the great hand-drawn art and style that offers tons of detail and striking set pieces. It then matches this up with a thematic and catchy soundtrack from Steam Powered Giraffe once again that would make any buccaneer want to get up and do a little jig.

While I'll wait a little longer and spend more time playing for the coming review before going deeper into the progression systems and the many different types of weapons and tools you can acquire, what I will say right now is that SteamWorld Heist II seems to be exactly what we want; a richer and more mechanically-deep follow-up to the already brilliant Heist. It's charming, delightful, simple yet with depth, has varied missions that challenge but don't overwhelm (unless you want them to as there are several difficulty options to choose from), and once again proves why we continue to love and appreciate the SteamWorld series and its creative tendencies. Thunderful seems to be onto another indie winner here.