Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
Packaging artwork released for all territories.
Developer(s)	Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Paul Patrashcu
Producer(s)	Tohru Narihiro Hitoshi Yamagami
Composer(s)	Yoshito Sekigawa
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS
Release date(s)	NA 20150313March 13, 2015 JP May 14, 2015[1] EU May 15, 2015[2]
Genre(s)	Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Distribution	Nintendo 3DS Game Card

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., known in Japan with the subtitle Lincoln vs Aliens (リンカーン VS エイリアン Rinkan Basasu Eirian), is a 2015 turn-based strategy game for the Nintendo 3DS handheld video game console.^[3] The game was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo.^[4]

Gameplay

Gameplay of Code Name: S.T.E.A.M

The game is played as a turn-based strategy game,^[5] with elements of a third person shooter,^[6] similar to the Valkyria Chronicles series of games.^[7] Each level involves a team of characters facing off against an opposing team of aliens, with each team taking it in turns to maneuver and attack. Both attacking and movement requires the use of "steam", which depletes whenever a character moves around or uses their weapon. By saving steam, certain characters can perform "Overwatch Attacks" during the opponent's turn, letting them attack enemies that wander into their sights with the potential to stun them for the rest of the turn. Additionally, each character has a single move that can be used once per level that doesn't cost steam. Defeating aliens earns medals that can be used at certain points to save the game, heal themselves, or restore fallen allies. Each level also has hidden gears that can be used to upgrade equipment.^[8]

The game is compatible with the Super Smash Bros. series of Amiibo figures, allowing players to play as Marth, Ike, Lucina, and Robin from the Fire Emblem series by scanning their corresponding figures.^[9]

Plot

The game’s framing device is that it is a comic book being read. The story opens in a steampunk fantasy version of London on the opening day of the Steamgate Bridge.^[8] Henry Fleming (based on the protagonist of the same name from the book The Red Badge of Courage and voiced by Adam Baldwin) is going over security detail at the American Embassy when suddenly the city is attacked by an unknown enemy. He manages to escape and meet up with his old friend John Henry (voiced by Michael Dorn). The two are then rescued by an airship called the Lady Liberty, captained by President Abraham Lincoln (voiced by Wil Wheaton).^[10] He explains that the city is under attack by aliens and conscripts the two into the strike force S.T.E.A.M. (short for Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace)^[8][11]

After rescuing Queen Victoria with the help of Lion (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Tiger Lily of Peter Pan (voiced by Kari Wahlgren), and Tom Sawyer (voiced by Jeremy Shada), the soldiers are eventually forced to leave England to its fate and retreat to America. They are delayed by a giant monster that is defeated by Lincoln himself in his giant mech, the A.B.E. (Anthropomorphized Battle Engine). They swing by Boston in order to help the forces there and meet up with Queequeg (voiced by TJ Storm). They then receive a distress call from Professor Randolph Carter (voiced by James Urbaniak) of Miskatonic University, S.T.E.A.M.’s expert on the occult. They meet Lion’s friend Scarecrow (voiced by Paul Eiding) on the way there and manage to evacuate the university with Carter in tow. However, before they can get on the Lady Liberty, Carter’s notes are taken by a mysterious creature called a Starface who then flees the scene.

Carter says to Lincoln that the aliens weren't just after his research, but the Necronomicon which has led to numerous discoveries that have improved technology manifold. It was kept at Miskatonic until recently and the team sets forth for its current location: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, directly under the White House. They manage to get to the White House, meeting with dashing thief the Fox (voiced by Grey DeLisle) and warrior queen Califia (voiced by Kimberly Brooks). While they do keep the Necronomicon from the hands of the enemy, they unfortunately have to abandon the capital.

With the Necronomicon, Carter concludes that the source of the threat is the Great Shugguth, a creature that can perpetually create soldiers, left behind by the aliens 200 million years ago for reasons unknown. The Shugguth is buried underneath the South Pole so the team stops by Monument Valley to repair and refuel. However, their base comes under attack and they barely manage to escape with the help of the cyborg Tin Man (voiced by Andrew Kishino) and Lincoln critically injured.

When all hope seems lost, a strange light appears in the Lady Liberty, revealing none other than Dorothy Gale (voiced by Amber Hood) who takes the team to Oz which is also under attack. They save Queen Ozma whose engineers at Oz manage to upgrade A.B.E. so it’s capable of drilling through the ice in the South Pole as well as giving them emerald keys so they can teleport instantly between two points in space. Returning to Earth, they hear from General Ulysses S. Grant that half the planet has been frozen over and that they are running out of time.

Fighting through the aliens’ lair, they manage to confront the Starface and defeat it, though the Shugguth turns mad and goes on a rampage. Lincoln faces off against the great beast, but in its death throes it intends to take out the entire planet. Lincoln then self-destructs A.B.E., destroying the Shugguth but at the cost of his own life. With the planet saved, S.T.E.A.M. pays their final farewells to Lincoln, throwing a bouquet into the great chasm where he made his last stand and are joined by other airships doing the same. A post-credits sequence reveals Lincoln’s hat, but an emerald key is nearby, hinting he may have survived. The comic is then turned over, revealing a new story arc is upcoming.

If the player collects 100,000 medals during gameplay a 13th member of S.T.E.A.M is unlocked. A smaller version of the A.B.E called STOVEPIPE (named after Lincoln's hat).

Development

In addition to being developed by Intelligent Systems, Hitoshi Yamagami of Xenoblade Chronicles, Fire Emblem and Pokémon, was involved in the game's creation.^[4] The game's art style was heavily influenced by the silver age of comic books,^[8][11] such as the work by Jack Kirby, as well as by the more recent comic creator Bruce Timm.^[12] The designs for the enemy alien characters were heavily influenced by the works of H. P. Lovecraft.^[13]

Reception

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. has earned aggregate critic scores of 71.08% from GameRankings and a 72 from Metacritic, with the latter putting it into "mixed or average reviews" status.^[14][15] Ben Moore of GameTrailers called it "a complex game that’s hard to put down," praising the varied gameplay and character progression systems, and the game's "absurd moments that keep things entertaining." Game Revolution enjoyed the level strategy that fans of the genre will "eat up" while "non-strategy gamers will find it easier to understand and get into than other current offerings."^[18] Henery Gilbert of GamesRadar praised the design and setting of a "unique world full of memorable characters," the gameplay mechanics, and "the odd team of steampunk weirdos really mixes up the gameplay to make for some impactful action, and the dense maps belie a raft of colorful design."^[22] IGN's Jose Otero enjoyed the design of the characters and gameplay options, calling the arsenal itself "wacky, but also extremely deep", though he felt that the enemies were less memorable visually than the playable characters. Otero noted the lack of an overhead map or view feature, feeling that it made players "have to think carefully" to avoid ambushes and make counters.^[20]

Austin Walker of GameSpot considered the lack of an overhead option as encouraging a "slow, dreary march forward" approach, while deeming the level design "uninspired" and the story "underdeveloped," as it "turns its back ... in favor of pure aestheticization."^[19] Justin McElroy of Polygon called the gameplay "annoying" and admitted that he didn't finish the game, saying that "the credit scroll would literally have to include a treasure map to a working jetpack before I'd consider finishing this brutally misguided, horrifically dull debacle."^[21] Nintendo would later release an update addressing the player downtime during enemy turns, allowing a fast forward option. McElroy later updated his review as more favorable towards the game, with the update making it "a whole lot easier to deal with its faults after the patch and, by extension, a whole lot easier to recommend."^[21]

References

External links

• Official website