Code Name S.T.E.A.M.

Written by Matt Mirkovich on 3/25/2015 for 3DS  

Revisionist histories are always interesting. Especially when they come from one of your favorite companies and developers. Intelligent Systems is a team I can usually count on, thanks to their stellar Fire Emblem series. And Nintendo letting them take a risk with someone distinctly geared toward a Western audience definitely seemed like a winning combination. Unfortunately, Code Name S.T.E.A.M. suffers from a few critical issues that makes this slice of history one worth skipping.

This game is no slouch on the production quality, that much you can be certain of. The cel-shaded comic book style evokes memories of a certain group of musically inclined cheerleaders, the Elite Beat Agents. The presentation of story is also conveyed in that comic book style, with action happening as if you were turning the pages. The cast of characters is likewise a wild collection of American heroes and members of American folklore, but I think I’ll save the surprise as to who they might be. In addition to the main cast, you can also recruit members from a different Intelligent Systems title, Fire Emblem. Granted, that requires you to own their super-rare Amiibos, but it’s a cool add-on for those who are fortunate enough to have them.

So what is this motley collection of steam-powered heroes up against? Aliens. And not just any aliens, a particularly icy collection of aliens. So what should the last defenders of America use to help protect the Queen of England? Steam. Yes, this isn’t just a revisionist history story, it’s a steampunk revisionist history story. And as a part of Abraham Lincoln’s elite unit, S.T.E.A.M, you’ll be responsible for saving the world as Henry Fleming. With incredible dirigibles, unique weaponry, and some memorable characters, what could possibly go wrong? Well…

Like other Intelligent Systems games, Code Name S.T.E.A.M. is a turn-based strategy role-playing game. This normally plays to their strengths, but from the get go, Code Name S.T.E.A.M. suffers from a crippling pacing problem. Each character is limited to the number of actions they can take, according to their steam reserves. The third-person tactical movement around the map grid will take one unit of steam per block. Actions can take a great deal more steam, depending on the type of gun a character is holding, and this means that you’ll be trying to strike a balance between movement and actions. Couple this with the fact that if you play defensively, you can counter an enemy attack before they strike. This also means that stages can take an excruciatingly long time to complete. Peppered throughout the stages are items that can restore your health and steam, but it comes at the cost of money collected by defeating enemies.

So progression through the game is slow, which early on is pretty rough, but in later stages gets to be nearly unbearable, even with the save points that are sparsely distributed throughout each save. Sure you can save, but if you’re short on cash and painted into a corner, then you can expect to restart the map, thanks in part to this game’s crushing difficulty. You’ll never have a shortage of enemies to defeat, as there are always new enemies spawning in at a rate that is slightly faster than you can take out, factoring in the enemies that were already present when the level started. The worst part of all of this? The enemy turns take an agonizing amount of time to complete, and during those turns, all you can do is watch with the less than serviceable camera (unless you have a Circle Pad Pro, then it’s a bit more tolerable) as they slowly try to figure out how to defeat you, which they can be mercilessly efficient at. In the first chapter alone I had to restart a level multiple times as I tried to simply navigate from one end of the stage to the other.

The game actually becomes slightly easier when your team grows to four members, and you start to unlock some of the weapons that can be used to heal party members. It doesn’t take too long to get there, but once you start spending your steam to heal your allies, you’ll find that your slogs through these stages get even longer. This seems to be completely counter to the gameplay of games like Fire Emblem, and it’s too bad, too, because so much effort went in to the creative design behind some of these weapons and characters. And then there’s the production effort that went in to this game, with Wil Wheaton playing the role of our 16th president. The world itself has a strong steampunk aesthetic, but it doesn’t do much beyond the visuals and setting. The ways of the world are simply swapped with the machinations of steampunk, which means it doesn’t have much beyond the surface layer. Guns are just weapons you put the word "Steam" in front of and then trundle off into battle with.

So while the game is visually impressive, there isn’t a whole lot to praise after that. Everything is just kind of meh, and then the game is fairly difficult on top of that, leaving you with a less than ideal experience. Fans of tactical RPGs have been without a good entry for almost two years now—and it came from Intelligent Systems—which is a shame for 3DS owners. Code Name S.T.E.A.M. has an interesting premise, but the execution definitely left me wanting, and I think the icing on the cake was the Amiibo support. How am I supposed to enjoy this game to its fullest if I can’t even access the entire character roster without spending more money on a toy that is never in stock in the first place? So while I appreciate the sentiment to appeal to various fans out there, this game ultimately disappoints.