STEAMWORLD DIG GAMEPLAY UPGRADE
STEAMWORLD DIG GAMEPLAY PC

Performance wise, the unlocked framerate on PC resulted in fluidity, with only the occasional instance of slowdown (on both a GTX 1050Ti and a 1070). While the title should be commended for automatically setting options based on the capability of your machine, showing output resolutions instead of using an ambiguous slider would have been welcome. On the PC, SteamWorld Dig 2 looks downright lovely, extending visual amenities like bloom and ambient occlusion on modestly-powered rigs. Pleasingly, you’ve never locked into a constrained tech tree going to the town’s workbench allows you to reassign your supply of cogs.

STEAMWORLD DIG GAMEPLAY UPGRADE

Satisfyingly, these components are just rare enough to force players into making some thorny upgrade decisions. But the upshot for success is the mastery of an aptitude, the feeling of accomplishment, and typically, a cog which can be used to further augment your arsenal. Each of these areas tests a specific ability, and are often quite challenging. Head into one of the doors that leads to one of Dig 2’s mini-dungeons and you’ll discover one of the most traditional elements of the game. This time out, there’s a pneumatic tube system for fast travel and a blue arrow to indicate where players should be headed. Like the original game, SteamWorld Dig 2’s gameplay loop is propelled by the constrained resources Dorothy carries on her back, with each quick trip downward contributing enough dividend to maintain appeal. Money earned by trading in minerals helps to augment the capacity of your toolset, increasing the size of your backpack, the strength of your armor, or allowing your pickaxe to tunnel through rock more rapidly. Now the game’s cycle of digging down, fighting enemies, and bringing back materials is driven by a persistent stream of perks.Įliminating the occasional adversary, rewards players with experience points- and at regular intervals you’ve level up, escalating the buyback rate at El Machino’s assay office. But on the upside, this decision gives the developers with more control over the experience.

Here, the pre-designed rock formations feel less organic, with plenty of puzzles to solve if you determined to extract every last bit of ore. On the downside, this removes the wonder of autonomy, where you buried deeper and developed your own method for exploration. With the sequel, the developers abandoned the procedurally generated environments in favor of carefully crafted level designs. And at the start of the game, her only tool is a pickaxe of dubious quality, meaning that she can only break through the softest sections of the underworld.īut soon, Dig 2’s Metroidvania influences surface, as Dorothy is given tools like sticky bombs, a jackhammer, and a hookshot- each permitting entrance to previous unaccusable areas. Smartly, she also scampers upward when supplies are low and her carrying capacity is maxed, bounding off walls with an athleticism that would make Ryu Hayabusa envious. This improvement is also demonstrated by the game’s NPCs- with the citizens of El Machino generally offering more conversation, and skewing toward role playing-like characterization in the process.Īs you direct Dorothy’s downward investigation, you’ll likely notice that she has different loadout than old Rusty. Even more, his character arc is surprisingly developed, as he grows from antagonist to becoming an indispensable companion. While Fen essentially replaces an in-game tutorial, his enthusiasm for explosions is both comical and charming. Unlike Rusty’s adventure, Dorothy doesn’t have to excavate alone, with an azure sprite named Fen accompanying you on the journey. For the sequel, players take control of Dorothy- a intrepid bot from the first game who determines to discover the fate of her fellow townsmen. Figuratively and literally, he hoped to get to the bottom of things, burrowing into the ground- with adversity and narrative ambiguity emerging at the game’s deepest level. Here, we met Rusty, an intrepid steam-powered robot, who inherited a mine after the passing of his uncle. While SteamWorld Dig had a storyline, excavation was definitely favored over exposition. With the release of SteamWorld Dig 2 the team revisits their subterranean success, crafting a sequel that matches the ambition of the original, while implementing their brand of ingenuity in subtle, yet influential ways.

While it was every bit as enjoyable at its predecessor, the departure signaled that the Gothenburg-based studio had an abundance of creative ideas. For a follow-up, Image & Form crafted SteamWorld Heist, which was based in the same robotic, wild west universe but swapped it’s mining mechanics for squad-driven, turn-based combat. As an indie title that captured the polish and effervescent charm of a first-party Nintendo game, 2013’s SteamWorld Dig was a rarity.

Steamworld dig gameplay