Steamworld Dig HD In-Depth Review

 

 

Reviewed by Bob
(Played on Wii U using the gamepad) 
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PS4, Vita, PC

Developer:  Image & Form

Release Date:  Aug 2014 (Wii U Version)

            Do you enjoy digging?  What about games where you dig and occasionally find stuff?  That pretty much sums up the experience I had with Steamworld Dig HD for the Wii U.  The game, originally released on the 3DS in 2013, has been called a hybrid of Dig Dug and Metriodvania style games.  You take on the roll of Rusty in a steampunk influenced world inhabited by robots.  Upon receiving the deed to his dead uncle's mine, Rusty begins his journey by digging deeper into the mine uncovering various materials and secrets while meeting new friends in the town that acts as the main hub for the game.

Diggin' in the dirt looking for material

          The story, while simple, is enough to keep you going in the game.  While it serves this basic function, don't expect to find yourself too involved in what's happening.  I found that while the townsfolk had personality, I didn't much care for them outside of using them as the shops or material trading services they offered.  Rusty himself only has a few lines of dialogue while other characters tend to speak much more.  The story is functional and is well paced, but don't expect too much.

Rusty in the hub town selling materials

          The gameplay can be summed up as responsive and tight.  Gameplay consists of three things, digging, attacking and jumping.  The flow of the game follows this pattern:

Step 1)  You enter the mine and use your pickaxe to make paths in the dirt.  Every now and then you will find raw materials that you can collect and bring back up to the surface to sell.

Step 2)  With the money you receive from trading, you will level up which unlocks an ever increasing variety of digging tools, health upgrades, water upgrades (water in the game is what powers most of your add-ons), and light upgrades which allows you to see for a longer time in the mine before it gets too dark and you have to resurface.  As you get more money, more townsfolk will appear to offer you more items to buy. 

Step 3)  Re-enter the mine and use your new equipment.  You will find random caves with special treasures inside and numbered caves which lead to enhancements like running faster or double jumping.  With these, you are able to explore the mines faster and reach places you couldn't before.  While exploring, you will find a small variety of enemies to kill, but none of them are too hard and only take a handful of hits to destroy. 

Step 4)  Rinse and repeat steps 1, 2 and 3.  With each visit to the surface you get more money and continue your steady progress of upgrading.  The pacing is very good because just when you reach an area that proves too difficult to dig or too high to jump, there is usually an upgrade waiting for you. 

About death:  My tip to you is don't carry around too much money.  If you die, you lose half of it and all your materials drop where you died.  If you die too often, you will not be able to buy everything in the stores which can make for an extremely difficult time.  I died once in my play through due to negligence, so you surviving shouldn't be too hard.  

Cranky has a lot of upgrades for you to use in the mine

          Visually the game is very crisp and clean.  The original version on the 3DS looked good for being on a handheld, but the HD port looks very nice.  The characters have good cartoony detail to them, the environments (of which there are three) all have personality to them and the various monsters you fight all stand out nicely in the mines that you'll be spending all your time in.  My only complaint is that while the environments do look nice and the developers tried to vary the look of the mines, there is only so much you can do to make dirt look different.  That being said, there is still good visual variety, even if what you are looking at half the time are rocks and brown squares of dirt.

The mine gets more dangerous the deeper you go

          Sound in the game does a good job at portraying what you are doing.  The mines have an ambiance that encourages the player to explore while also giving the feeling of solidarity as you are alone in the mine to deal with its many dangers.  In town, the music is straight out of a western.  There isn't any voice acting; instead we hear the various robotic sounds of the townsfolk.  Most of them are fine and add a distinction between characters, one in particular is torture to the ears and you'll want to avoid him whenever possible.  Overall, the music and sound effects are good, but nothing that will keep you whistling after you're done.  

          Each new game randomly generates the world.  The material and unmovable block locations are changed around.  The game itself also never changes difficulty. The true replay value comes from how you want to play the game.  You can go through it buying items in different orders or try to beat the game without upgrades to your health, steam power or light energy.  You can pretty much make the game as difficult and as long-lasting as you want.  When you complete the game, you are graded on four things from your play-through.  Going for the gold in each category in one run is challenging and adds much to the replay value.  

My results screen at the end.  Not bad for a first run

 

          Steamworld Dig HD, while having a few flaws is well worth the $8 I spent on it.  There is always something to do, whether it be digging deeper in the mine, buying new items and upgrades or gathering raw materials.  The game will be a decent length on your initial play through (mine took a bit over 8 hours), and you will enjoy every minute of it.  I recommend the game shouldn't be played for more than an hour at a time because you will get burned out quickly if you just keep digging.  Take the necessary breaks and you will enjoy this game a great deal.  If you have the choice, play it on the Wii U because the gamepad's second screen acts as a map and inventory guide and is very nice for keeping things off the main screen giving the game a slightly more cinematic feel.  No matter the system you will be playing on, Steamworld Dig HD is a charming, fun and unique game that is well worth a play. 

For the Budget Gamer ~ Dollar to Play Ratio: $1 per Hour (8 hours total)

 

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