SteamWorld Dig 2 review – excavation exultation

The world’s best Metroidvania to feature steampunk cowboy robots makes its return, and digs deep for a wealth of new ideas.

We can’t say how many promising indie games we’ve played over the years that have been almost ruined by an obsession with randomly-generated content. The appeal is easy enough to understand, in terms of the longevity it offers, the time and money it saves, and the technical challenge it presents for the programmer. But it almost never works as well as intended. So when we found out that the sequel to SteamWorld Dig 2 was ditching procedurally-generated levels in favour of hand-crafted ones we got very excited. But that’s far from the only improvement in this excellent sequel.

The SteamWorld franchise began, innocuously enough, in 2010, with the largely ignored SteamWorld Tower Defense. After that came the original SteamWorld Dig, which can loosely be described as a cross between Metroid, Dig Dug, and Boulder Dash. We’ll get into what an odd mixture that is in a moment, but we should emphasise that in gameplay terms this is completely different to the also excellent SteamWorld Heist, which is a turn-based strategy game something in the mould of XCOM.

Despite dabbling in such diverse genres there’s surprisingly little substance to the SteamWorld universe. The basic gist is that the Earth has been destroyed and all that’s left of it are steampunk robots who have a thing for recreating the Old West. We don’t think it’s ever been explained where the cowboy fetish comes from, but it’s not like anything else in the game makes any sense so it doesn’t really matter.

What plot there is in SteamWorld Dig 2 revolves around new character Dorothy, and her attempts to find the protagonist from the first game – whose fate will be well known to anyone that finished the original. All the robot townsfolk assume he’s been lost deep in the mines and so Dorothy takes to her pickaxe, after first picking up a borderline psychotic sprite (in both senses of the word) to act as her companion.

One of the inherited flaws from the first game is that things start off worryingly slowly, with a fairly aimless set of signposted goals that suggests a sort of poor man’s Spelunky mixed with a slowed down version of Mr Driller. It also doesn’t help that the first hour or so implies the sequel is just going to be a straight re-run of the original. But get over that first step and the game’s true nature begins to reveal itself.

Although the reasons for doing so constantly change, the majority of the game is spent digging about in mines, trying to clear a path to a particular location. Which is often left-behind technology from a previous era. All your equipment has to be bought and upgraded by selling minerals you dig out along the way, but you also have to make sure you don’t get crushed by dislodging boulders – but that the various monsters that roam the depths do.

Upgrading your pickaxe is vital, but so too is your light-giving lantern, and the water reserves that power explosive arrows and more advanced gadgets like a grappling hook and grenade launcher. Dorothy herself can also be upgraded by unearthing special machines that start off by simply enabling to her to run, and then move on to things like a steam-powered punch and a sort of underground jetpack.

Although there are bugs, cultists, and a number of boss battles to cope with the game is not combat-focused, and it’s usually best to try and deal with enemies indirectly. Dropping giant boulders on their heads always works but they can often be manoeuvred into fighting each other, by tricking them into setting off their own defences or suddenly dropping them in each other’s way as they’re about to attack.

But it’s definitely the hand-crafted maps which are the game’s most significant improvement. Instead of dealing with randomly-placed obstacles it’s now clear that every tile and boulder has been placed there on purpose, creating multiple maze-like routes through levels and making much better use of horizontal, as well as vertical, exploration. But it also allows for more unique set pieces, as the game dabbles with stealth and other unexpected gameplay styles.

There’s also a much greater visual distinction between different areas, which helps to shake things up from just the steampunk cowboy setting. The graphics themselves are notably improved from the original, with sharply-detailed characters and backdrops, but the best part about the visuals is the surprisingly complex physics system which makes every swing of your pickaxe seem surprisingly tangible.

It also doesn’t hurt that the game is at least twice as long as before, at over 10 hours. And while you could argue that the basics haven’t really changed that much, they’ve just been added to, everything here is more varied, more intricate, and more fun. All of which extends the SteamWorld franchise’s already enviable run of success, and we already can’t wait to get dug into the next one.

Formats: Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC, and PS Vita
Price: £14.99
Publisher: Image & Form Games
Developer: Image & Form Games
Release Date: 21st September 2017 (22/9 on PC, 26/9 on PS4/PSV)
Age Rating: 3

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