Review for SteamWorld Dig 2. Game for PlayStation Network, PC, Mac, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 21/09/2017 The version for PC came out on 22/09/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 26/09/2017 The version for Xbox One came out on 21/11/2018 The version for 3DS came out on 22/02/2018
Dust and wind oxidize the metal of your arms, while the sun overheats the valves: if you were human at this hour you would be wasting precious liquid to sweat, luckily it isn't. Thank goodness you are a mining automaton in search of precious metal that you can trade in exchange for some small whim and some upgrades, but even the miner's life is not all roses and flowers: for example what is this deaf rumble that comes from the womb of the earth: oh no, another earthquake!
SteamWorld Dig 2 captures the steampunk adventures of one of the most beloved robot miners ever seen in the world of video games. Just like the first chapter we are faced with a video game developed and produced by Image and Form International AB to Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, Steam, that will keep you glued to your screen for hours. Let's find out in detail what awaits us.
The protagonist of the second chapter of this steampunk series is a young miner who will undertake the arduous task of finding out what is happening in the mining complex to which he belongs. For some time, in fact, earthquakes have made it increasingly difficult to extract metals from the ground, to the point that often even the works had to be interrupted.
Armed with light and pickaxe, it will then be up to us to find out through a complicated system of tunnels and tunnels what is happening and fix it. Of course, this is only the beginning of what we will find once we delve into the past of the protagonist and we can assure you that the twists and deadly situations will not be lacking.
Armed with a few items and a faithful adventure companion (a spark of sentient energy), our steambot will face countless hardships that will take him to territories that are not hospitable and decidedly unsafe: landfills, mines, underwater tunnels and rivers of lava are just some of the landscapes that will appear before our eyes.
The guys from Image and Form International AB did a really good job in terms of gameplay: the protagonist armed with a pickaxe has the ability to dig in any terrain (as long as you make the necessary upgrades) and, above all, in any direction.
You will then find yourself in front of a vertical and horizontal scrolling platform where you will be the one to give life - at least most of the time - to the road ahead: this makes the exploration even more exciting and worth playing.
The other weapons at your disposal are a small jackhammer, a rocket launcher and a grappling hook, as well as your trusty lantern of course. The firing pin will be used when you are dealing with a segment of territory in brick, while the rocket launcher is used to free areas of land that are far away and not easy to work with. We can climb, jump, use the grappling hook and then reach more or less anywhere, but while these simple operations are carried out it is not possible to dig. This little trick turns out to be an apt component that recalls the difficulties of metroidvania and that makes the platform adventure worthy of being the subject of an adequate reasoning to the challenge that we will have to face.
The RPG component of metroidvania (already not very present in the genre), which should characterize this chapter more than the previous one, it is not very marked and perhaps something more could be expected. All this is limited to upgrades of the few tools available, which implement a few more features and almost always it is a question of increased range, additional power or greater autonomy. You will not be able to immediately break all the materials of which the subsoil is formed or shoot repeatedly, due to the consumption of your water reserve.
This will force you to continue in a linear way in the adventure and then go back to re-face already explored territories, in order to unlock the gears, and collect the precious metals, necessary to upgrade your devices.
Visually, the development team did a great job. Everything is excellently made and above all well managed by the console. It doesn't matter how excited the scene is, how many elements on the screen or whether you are playing in portable mode or not: not a failure of the graphics engine will disturb your descent to the center of the earth.
The artworks and landscapes are then excellently made and really very pleasing to the eye. There steampunk component has always fascinated and, as in all the works of the series, it turns out to be pleasant and curated even in SteamWorld Dig 2.
The soundtrack accompanies and entertains throughout the adventure, proving not too invasive nor unsuitable for the context. Maybe it was legitimate to expect something more, but overall we can only be satisfied.
Finally, the enemies are all well characterized and with different attack patterns but never difficult to memorize, and the bosses you will face during the adventure will prove to be challenging at the right point and never exasperating. Death is always around the corner in SteamWorld Dig 2, but fortunately to meet our problems we will be able to discover and reactivate a multitude of transport points, able to greatly shorten travel times, also given the vastness of the territory to explore.
The only flaw attributable to SteamWorld Dig 2 is that this much acclaimed metroidvania component could have been better exploited nowadays. Certainly would not have bothered a minimum of RPG component or a greater customization of the character. And it sure wouldn't have spoiled a larger weapon setup, but perhaps a more platform-than-action title like this one doesn't miss a lot of weapons and armor in profusion.
SteamWorld Dig 2 is without a doubt a pleasant and well thought out pastime, well developed and well characterized. Easy controls and a simple plot, but not lacking in twists, are the background to a steampunk atmosphere that definitely has its why. Collected all the positive aspects of the first title, the team was able to exploit an improved but still imperfect metroidvania component; in any case the title is not affected and is promoted with full marks.
► SteamWorld Dig 2 is an Action-Metroidvania-Platform game developed and published by Image and Form International AB for PlayStation Network, PC, Mac, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch, the video game came out on 21/09/2017 The version for PC came out on 22/09/2017 The version for PlayStation 4 came out on 26/09/2017 The version for Xbox One came out on 21/11/2018 The version for 3DS came out on 22/02/2018
