Steamworld Dig 2

Developer: Image & Form  | Publisher: Image & Form  | Release Date: 2017 | Genre: Action / Adventure / Indie | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

The original SteamWorld Dig introduced Rusty, a steambot turned miner who ended up saving the town of Tumbleton. The game was incredibly addictive, but the developers followed up the adventures of Rusty with SteamWorld Heist, which was set in space. SteamWorld Dig 2 is the true sequel to the original game but also connects the story of the first game with the events of SteamWorld Heist.

The protagonist of SteamWorld Dig 2 is Dorothy, a steambot who becomes concerned about Dusty’s well-being. Fans of the original will remember her as the merchant who traded with Rusty in the first game. Rusty seems to have been missing since then, and nobody knows why. Dorothy sets out to find Rusty and, in the process, stumbles across an unlikely companion named Fen. She also finds the old trading town of El Machino, which is experiencing mysterious earthquakes. Here, Dorothy uncovers some clues about Dusty and rumors that he might not be the hero everyone thought he was. Her quest to track down Rusty and discover the truth behind the rumors will take Dorothy deep below the town of El Machino as well as the surrounding caves, temples, and ruins.

Unlike SteamWorld Heist, which featured a completely different genre, SteamWorld Dig 2 follows in the familiar footsteps of the first game. It takes everything that made SteamWorld Dig such an addictive experience and refines it further. While it is not necessary to have played the first game to enjoy SteamWorld Dig 2, it will make the story more interesting. Those who have completed the original game will feel right at home with this sequel. Dorothy starts armed with a pickaxe, backpack, and light source, which she must use to mine for valuable resources underground. Once her limited backpack space is full or her light source is depleted, Dorothy can return to town and sell the resources for cash. This cash is used to upgrade her gear, which allows her to mine faster, carry more minerals, or have a light source for longer. It’s a straightforward but addictive gameplay loop, and SteamWorld Dig 2 piles on a heap of other features to make it even more fun.

One of the things that fans of the first game will notice right away when playing SteamWorld Dig 2 is that the underground areas are no longer procedurally generated.

While this does detract from the replay value somewhat, it makes up for it with a much longer quest and areas that have been hand-designed for maximum fun. It has also allowed the designers to incorporate some additional challenges for players. These can be found in special caves, which test your platforming as well as puzzle-solving skills. The rewards are usually artifacts and cogs, two vital resources.

Cogs are a new addition to the series, allowing players to modify the upgrades that Dorothy unlocks through exploration. For example, using cogs on her pickaxe can make enemies drop health if they are hit with it or increase the odds of resource blocks dropping more goodies. Cogs can only be installed in town, but players are free to add and remove them as they see fit, which leaves plenty of room to experiment with combinations. The other new resource is artifacts, which can be traded in town for new upgrade blueprints to spend your cogs on. Speaking of blueprints, you’ll also find some missing miners tucked away in hidden corners of the maps. Discover them, and you’ll be rewarded with blueprints that can increase the game’s difficulty. This is handy as, overall, SteamWorld Dig 2 is on the easy side. Of course, players who prefer a more casual experience can simply ignore these blueprints. Even the tricky challenge caves are not vital to the game’s completion.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is a Metroidvania-style game, so expect Dorothy to acquire many more skills while exploring the game. Some of our favorites are the hook shot, which is great for traversing areas without touching the floor, and the Power Fist, which can be used to break through blocks your regular pickaxe can’t even scratch. Most of her gadgets require water to work, so expect to jump in lots of underwater puddles to fill your reserves. As mentioned earlier, each new gadget can be upgraded with money back in town and then further customized with cogs.

While not a challenging game, Dorothy can still be killed if players are not careful of the many enemies, tricks, and traps everywhere. One of the quickest ways to get destroyed is by carelessly digging underneath a large rock and having it fall on your head. Thankfully, death is not permanent, and Dorothy will respawn back in town, minus some of her valuable resources. Even this can be avoided through the right upgrades and enough cogs, so SteamWorld Dig 2 is a game anyone can enjoy regardless of skill level. Players who relish a challenge will enjoy all the optional stuff, though, such as the challenge caves and tracking down all 42 relics. Accomplishing the latter will also open up a brand new challenge, but unfortunately, the game does not have a New Game+ mode.

The visual style of SteamWorld Dig 2 is similar to the original but features a lot more detail. The character designs are all great, and everything fits into the steampunk Western theme of the game. There are not many different enemies in the game, but the ones you encounter feature interesting designs. You’ll also have to use various strategies when dealing with things like snails, bugs, and evil cultists. The areas, ranging from ordinary caves to lava-filled temples and even a garden biome with luminous flora, look great too. Finding and unlocking special teleporters also makes it easy to travel between the different areas instantly.

SteamWorld Dig 2 also features an incredible soundtrack. Along with the Western-style tunes, there are also plenty of ambient tracks and other styles for areas such as the town. The sound effects are decent, and all the robots still speak their own robotic language. The controls are tight, but we recommend using a controller for the best experience. At first, it feels a bit strange that Dorothy cannot swing her pickaxe while jumping, but this is done intentionally so that players can devise creative solutions to mining all the resources or reaching certain areas. Don’t worry, as late in the game, you’ll be flying around with a jetpack, lobbing sticky bombs at walls, and swinging everywhere with your hookshot. We would have liked to see more boss battles, but the few that are in the game are a lot of fun.

Overall, SteamWorld Dig 2 is a very addictive game, and all the new additions make it even more fun than the original. It can still be completed relatively quickly, but exploring every nook and cranny while conquering every challenge takes much longer. Even after we finished the story, we returned to find everything we had missed, which is a testament to how much fun the game is. This is definitely a must-have title for fans of the first game, but everyone else shouldn’t hesitate to pick it up, either.