A masterclass in action design, SteamWorld Heist II delivers an unforgettable experience from start to finish.
91
Verdict
94%
Steam
87
IGDB
Verdict score based on confidence-adjusted Steam reviews?
Very Positive on Steam (94% positive from 2.3K reviews)
Critically acclaimed (87/100 critic average)
Compelling narrative and story
Rich open world to explore
No significant drawbacks reported
SteamWorld Heist II is a 2024 turn-based tactics shooter video game developed and published by Thunderful. As the seventh installment in the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Heist (2015), the game was released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S in August 2024.
Runs well on modern hardware.
Last updated 7d ago
It's nice that, while each character already comes with a specialized job, any single character can take any, or indeed all jobs. However, this is not an excuse not to balance your final boss, making it a particular chore unless a player built their character with the Reaper job's Harvest skill, and the skill that makes you immune to status ailments from the floor. I played with pairs of jobs, each character with a different pair. This worked nicely, until I got to the final boss and only had 2 reaper/flanker hybrids. This made the other characters sitting ducks as they kept getting the rust ailment over and over again. I think the game assumes that, by the time you reach the last boss, all your characters are max level in all jobs. That's not something I'm willing to do. Also, stop relying on autosave. Let players manually save, please. It doesn't have to be mid battle, but please let us make our own saves. And please let us choose our initial formations, instead of aborting mission and redoing it until the correct characters are in front. This is a downgrade from SteamWorld Heist 1
I'll start by saying that I prefer the simplicity and streamlined gameplay of Heist 1. There is a certain amount of time wasting in Heist 2 going between missions, crew lockouts, career switching, however it ultimately comes together in the end, even if it never quite reaches the same highs as Heist 1.
This is a must-have for turn base tactics fans who have not played the first game in the series. Gun-mechanics and crewmate upgrade system is what makes this game fun adding replayability and joy. The story is meh, but the SteamWorld universe makes up for it with its cuteness and details. Your crewman types are quite standard – sniper, ripper, brute, demolitions, engineer and a run’n’gun specialist, but what makes them unique is the way the game allows you to upgrade your crewmates in each of the specialities opening up new move options. If you really feel like it you can get a crewmate to a 5/5 level in all the specialisations. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7279488-One-Grumpy-Russian/]One Grumpy Russian[/url] 8/10 – quality turn-based tactics in a charming setting, mecha-Stalin would approve! For more recommendations follow my curator page at [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7279488-One-Grumpy-Russian/]One Grumpy Russian[/url]
Reviews sourced from Steam. All reviews belong to their respective authors.
Data sourced from RAWG, Steam, IGDB, CheapShark, Wikipedia, HLTB, and GX Corner. Sources: rawg, steam, cheapshark, igdb, wikipedia.
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