Originally published at: Review | SteamWorld Build - XboxEra
Ever heard of Lego Rock Raiders from 1999? It was a Lego building set that also had its own video game. As a child I was fascinated by this band of terribly coordinated, very whimsical and completely unqualified miners in the Lego universe. 24 years have passed and the team behind SteamWorld Build has captured some of my imagination from when I was 7 years old.
The game is set in the SteamWorld universe best known for the SteamWorld Dig games. If you are looking for some additional city builders to play besides this one, then don’t look to those games. The previous SteamWorld titles are 2D platformers.
So… how did they translate the previous genre and world-building into a different type of game? SteamWorld Build is a hybrid between a city-builder very similar to the Anno-series and a dungeon-crawler which turns into more of a tower defense type of game in the latter stages of the game.
I guess that was the what and not the how. SteamWorld Build is a very accessible and calm experience. The game forces you to divide your attention so one moment you are observing the underground mines where your little machines are digging their way onto dangers and riches whereas seconds later your economy is crumbling because the consumption of moonshine has increased tenfold when you were paying attention to the dangers below.
Escaping an Alien Planet
Underground mines… Little machines… what is even happening in this game?! It’s your classic apocalyptic storyline, with a twist. You are setting up a mining camp on an alien planet. The sole purpose of doing that is fairly simple, you want to get away from this place. Playing through the entire storyline takes around 5 hours. During these 5 hours you’ll meet different characters with various ambitions. To me the storyline was one of the weakest parts of the game. The game has enough charm to compensate for a lack of decent story, but the ending didn’t surprise me and during my playthrough the motivations behind doing any of this weren’t the reason for me to continue playing.
When you start playing one of the available maps you are greeted with an empty field with a traintrack and an old mineshaft on it. Your first task is to build a small mining town with houses, shops, lumber mills and farms. When your town has grown enough you unlock the ability to repair the old mineshaft.
Into the Mines
This is when the game starts to open up. Before entering the mines SteamWorld Build is a fairly simple and forgettable city-building experience. The moment you enter the mines you feel a certain thrill. Imagine you are entering a large sports arena. The view is already beautiful and without anything happening in the next hours you’d be enjoying yourself. But the chance of something unexpected happening gives it an extra sense of urgency.
The mines are like that sports arena. You know something is about to happen down there. The Dungeon Keeper-esque mechanics give the game the much needed variation. You are tasked to bring your steam-powered machines down into the mines to work various jobs. Some of them will have to dig their way through rocks and sand not knowing what will be occuring behind the rock formations. Other machines will be tasked to guard the mines against whatever lurks in the dark.
As you progress through the layers of the mines the sense of urgency increases. With hordes of enemies attacking your miners and camps. At that point the game turns into a Tower Defense-style game where you’ll be waiting for waves of enemies to appear. Meanwhile life in the world above continues as before. Which makes you wonder why you’re trying so hard to get away from the planet. The steam machines are trodding around visiting fine dining establishments, casinos and burger restaurants where they serve meat from Robotic cows. The sun is also shining all the time… so what’s the problem!?
The problem on the surface is simple. Your mining operations are expensive. For every cannon, extractor and miner you’ll pay mainenance and operating costs. The town above has to pay for those expenses. If you’ve ever played the Anno-games you know what is going to happen. This is what’s going to happen: You need more houses. You need more trade. Which requires more buildings to satisfy the needs of all these robots. Which then requires more houses for all these workers. I’ll call it the Annoloop. But, in this case it’s different.
Just before the game starts to become a tedious operation you’ll have finished the story. Which is both a positive and a negative. It’s a short game that keeps all of its mechanics fresh. But, the replayability just isn’t there. If you’ve seen one map you’ve seen them all. And for players who have experience in the genre I’d recommend choosing a higher difficulty than the standard one.
A Polished Experience With Heart
Before I wrap this up I want to emphasize the amount of heart in this game. The artstyle is beautiful with hints of games such as WarCraft III and the various LEGO games. The sound design when entering the mines is superb, adding to a sense of mystery and upcoming terror. If you’ve played city-builders before you’ll barely need a tutorial. The menus aren’t overly complicated and managing your economy isn’t going to replace your regular day-to-day job. I didn’t encounter any bugs during my playthrough and performance on both PC and Xbox was smooth.
Just a heads up, the autosave feature was either broken or entirely missing during my playthrough. So make sure to save the game on a regular basis!
Summary
SteamWorld Build is a city-builder with heart that successfully mixes various genres. It is also accessible to players who don’t put hundreds of hours into Cities Skylines and for players who have played many games in the genre it is a cute palate cleanser that can be played through in one weekend. The game offers various maps, but the replayability is what’s going to hold this title back.
It’s a good addition to Game Pass and a very good first step into the genre by Thunderful and The Station. Wonder what genre they’ll try next in the SteamWorld universe.
