Try not to lose your steam.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., the new 3DS game from the developers of Fire Emblem, is filled with bright colors and witty banter, but underneath that ’60s comic book exterior is a very challenging game. A bulk of the Intelligent Systems-developed strategy game’s missions play out in a similar fashion: you see a large collection of enemies or a big boss, and then you work your way through the level trying to eradicate everything and make it to the end-of-level goal. But that’s not all. Some of those enemies spawn new enemies, and if you take too long, enemy reinforcements come. That constant push from foes makes the whole game a stressful experience, one that relentlessly kicked my butt. I restarted maps countless times and sometimes even lost all of my characters in one turn thanks to unexpected enemy appearances. Even with the high difficulty, I still enjoyed my time with Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. It’s a fun, unique turn-based strategy RPG with a fun aesthetic and story, but I just wish it didn’t beat me to a pulp so often.
From the get-go, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. contrasts that difficulty with a lighthearted tone bolstered by a goofy yet great comic book style (the main title screen even features a sing-a-long song!). The gist of the story is that a number of characters from children's books (such as the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz and Harry Fleming from the Red Badge of Courage) all become agents of S.T.E.A.M., a special weaponry unit headed by none other than our 16th president Abraham Lincoln. Officially “retired” from public life, he sets the team out on tasks all over the world to rid the Earth of an alien menace and find out just where the aliens are coming from. With full voice acting, fun music, and an overly charming vibe, this is one of the grandest 3DS titles in terms of presentation.
At heart, the game is a strategy RPG, though if you’re looking for something similar to Fire Emblem, you’re barking up the wrong tree. It’s can be more aptly described as a turn-based third-person shooter where everyone’s movements are controlled by their steam armor. If they run out of steam units, that’s it for them until the next turn. Steam can also be used up by firing weapons, both the personal weapons each character has, and a secondary weapon you can unlock by grabbing the coins littered around in the battlefield. I enjoyed personalizing everyone’s weapons, though I always made sure to use weapons that were overwatch enabled, which are weapons that can be fired during the alien’s turn as long as you leave enough reserve steam to fire in between rounds. Combine this with each character's own ability, such as Lion’s’ roar that stuns people within a distance or Tiger Lily’s healing wind that restores HP to all nearby allies, the game has a multitude of strategic options that always gave me tons of options to choose from whenever I started out on a new map.
The pervasive issue here, however, is the difficulty. The game becomes incredibly tough a few chapters in, and once it gets going, it’s unrelenting. If you leave any character standing around without any reserve steam to fire back on, it’s pretty much instant doom for them if there are any amount of enemies within the area. Most chapters also rely on reinforcements coming in, especially if you take too long to reach the destination. For some, difficulty isn’t that big of an issue. To me, it is. I wanted to really become engrossed in the game’s story, characters, and settings, but when most of my time was spent trying to figure out how not to be slaughtered by prowlers and other aliens that kept creeping up every round, I found myself wondering if maybe I could just play something else. I always like a challenge, solving puzzles, and even Intelligent Systems’ past RPGs, but by the fourth or fifth time I restarted a map to try again, it became a chore. That’s what Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. eventually became for me - a chore to get through.
Beyond the story mode, there's also the versus mode that allows you to engage one on one against a friend in a variety of modes, both locally and online. There's Deathmatch mode, which features a number of maps in which you use your party to take out your opponents. There's also Medal match, where you collect medals on the field until someone has all three. And finally, there's ABE mode where you battle it out in giant Abraham Lincoln robots, the one to lose all of their HP first the victor. I've enjoyed my time online; it's a nice break from story mode where I'm constantly worried about the difficulty, whereas here you're simply battling for fun, and in fact, the versus mode is pretty fun. Online lag was nonexistent and there's plenty of different options to create fresh scenarios.
There's a lot to like in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. And obviously, for people who want a challenging strategy game, this title should scratch that itch. I like the strategic concepts that make up the gameplay, and I adored the characters and the setting. Who doesn't like the idea of rescuing Queen Victoria and leading her to safety via a giant robotic Abraham Lincoln busting up a giant alien? There really is so much to like in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., except for the steep difficulty curve. It’s definitely worth a try, but the immense challenge made it far less enjoyable for me.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.: Lincoln VS Alien
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
