Review: SteamWorld Heist (Wii U)

by James Charlton

If you dug the look of Dig, you'll be right at home with Heist.

I was a huge fan of SteamWorld Dig on 3DS, which eventually made it to the Japanese eShop three months after the rest of the world (after a change of publisher due to NCL restrictions on publishing here in Japan). It was therefore with great anticipation that waited for its spiritual successor SteamWorld Heist to come over here too. Alas, that day never came, and as of March 2017, still hasn't come. There isn't a 3DS nor Wii U version available here, so I ended up downloading it on the European Wii U eShop instead. The loss of portability for this kind of pick-up-and-play game is sad, but what you gain in graphical fidelity and control (I mainly used the Wii U Pro) is really worth it. Basically this is an RTS game for people who don't like, or aren't good at those kind of games (like me). You storm various spacecraft, destroy all the bad robots, grab all the cash, then leave with as many of your robots standing as possible. What makes this game fun however is the direct control you have over aiming your various weapons, you aim your weapons with the control stick, allowing you to pick off people from afar with headshots, sometimes by ricocheting the bullets off hard surfaces. It's incredibly satisfying, and so much more fun than "right click, kill".

The story unfolds over three chapters and maps, and gives a really joyful swashbuckling vibe to the whole game. The music is really well done, walk into your first space-bar and hear the band playing and you'll see what I mean.
I can't really see what kind of people wouldn't like this game, so do yourself a favour a try it out.

Final score: 9.0

If you want to find it in Japanese try スチームワールドヘイスト but right now

you'll only find sad/angry Japanese gamers asking for this game to be localised.