It’s hard to know where to start reviewing a game that is
nearly five years old, trying to say something new or different about a title
that everyone has already likely played on one system or another is no mean
feat, and given that I’m hardly the world’s greatest reviewer, we’re unlikely
to be breaking any new ground here, pun intended.
Steamworld Dig was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS
back in 2013, a Metroidvania title starring a steam-powered robot named Rusty,
after receiving the deeds to a long-abandoned mine from his distant uncle Joe,
Rusty heads to the small Western town of Tumbleton with his pickaxe
in hand, prepared to dig up the mysteries of his uncle’s disappearance and whatever
else he comes across beneath the formerly great mining community.
As you start, you find yourself chiselling out a series of
tunnels in order to further your descent, avoiding any perils and indigenous
creatures as you go, initially tasked with mining the jewelled blocks you
encounter for the precious materials and stones to trade for money back in the town,
which as you descend is essential, once you’ve filled your pouch with excavated
goodies, you can vacate the mine and trade what you’ve found.
The deeper you venture the more valuable your finds become,
and as you reach certain monetary trade-targets these unlock new single-use
items, or upgrades for your tools and abilities, dynamite, ladders, larger
pouches for storing more of your mined goods, improved water-tanks for increased
special-ability efficiency, and alternative-fuel lanterns to better see where
you’re going and for longer.
As natural light is scarce and what little you get from your
lamp isn’t infinite, frequent trips back to the surface to recharge, purchase
new parts and advanced equipment are necessary, but not every upgrade to Rusty
comes at a cost, as you progress downwards you’ll find doorways to enter, these
self-contained caves give you a small puzzle to solve and at the end, a new
ability is granted, Steam Jump for higher leaps to platforms formally out of
reach, Steam Punch for attacking enemies further away, and The Drill, for
drilling, strangely enough.
As you journey downwards the rock progressively gets
tougher, often requiring the drill to get past, or considerably more strikes
than normal with your pickaxe unless you’ve strengthened it back in Tumbleton,
the enemies you encounter grow tougher too, either launching projectiles or
charging at you and exploding, not only this but traps and hazards also become
more apparent, acidic goo dripping from the ceiling to form pools that harm you
should you fall in, and random TNT barrels that explode if you get too close,
no-one said this would be easy.
Death can be frequent and luckily the only cost is to your
pocket, though upon death you do drop the pouch containing your current spoils,
and if that was full of Emeralds, Diamonds and Rubys, you’re going to want it
back, it can be a chore to backtrack to where you died, but if you’ve purchased
a teleporter from Hank McCrank's Shop back in town, hopefully the last location
you beamed from isn’t far, it pays to think ahead if you want to get ahead.
The atmosphere changes the deeper you go, uncovering
evidence of an advanced civilisation, strange reappearing bricks add a new
element to considering your path through this unwelcoming environment, stranger
enemies appear, and lethal defences frequent the walls and ceilings, what was
once earth and natural materials makes way for metals and sophisticated technology,
whilst light on story, Steamworld Dig naturally begs the question, what is going
on?
Fortunately we don’t have to wait long for the answer, an average
play-through will take you about five hours, there’s even an achievement on
other platforms to clock the game in two and a half, it’s the very definition
of short and sweet, originally released as a title on a handheld console, the
game comes back around to Nintendo’s home/handheld hybrid and is naturally a
perfect fit, looking gorgeous on a larger display via docked mode but more-so suiting
the portable mode, not that graphically it isn’t beautiful on a big screen, simply
that the gameplay fits this way and becomes more of an experience close-up.
The often claustrophobic sections you’ll find yourself in as
your torchlight ebbs away and the surrounding darkness slowly envelopes you
translates far better in handheld mode, your intermittent returns to the
surface become fresh breaths of light and levity as you trade your gleaming
stones for cold hard cash, the stark sun above the town proving a welcome break
from the gloomy solitude beneath.
From its humble 3DS beginnings, Steamworld Dig on the Switch
looks brilliant, the crystal-clear visuals and silky-smooth character
animations are colourful and vibrant however you play, to be expected from a new
release of a five year old game, but much like the gameplay itself, its simplicity
is its strength, subtle lighting and effects add weight to your special abilities
and the dangers as you dig, even at 850+ metres depth elements are recognisable
and despite the encroaching blackness, there’s never a dull moment.
The only real downside is the game’s longevity and replay
value, once you’ve powered Rusty up sufficiently and find your way to the
finale of the game, unless you’ve made it your quest to mine absolutely every
mineral in the game, only a handful of hours will have passed, and though every
new game you start gives you a brand new procedurally generated mine to dig
through, the experience does boil down to the same, dig, bash, jump, trade
cycle each time.
It’d be hard for me to recommend this to previous players of
the game, but given the ability for short bursts of portable-play whether someone
else is using the TV, you’re commuting to or from work, or even sat on the
toilet, Steamworld Dig has just enough charm to keep you coming back, and
whilst there is now a sequel with expanded features and improvements, it’s nice
to revisit the original adventure back on a Nintendo handheld, of sorts, just
don’t expect great depth, well, expect great depths but not great…. you know
what I mean.
SteamWorld Dig is out now on PS4, Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Wii-U, 3DS, PC, Linux, and MAC
