By: Ryan (@Henchman34)

• Steam Marines
  
• Developer - Worthless Bums
  
• Publisher - Worthless Bums
  
• PC
  
• Rating - N/A
  

At first glance, Steam Marines might be mistaken as the table top classic Space Hulk, fused with the pixilated charm of games like Starbound and Terraria. Yet Steam Marines walks a fine line between retro and murderously infuriating.  

Steam Marines is a top-down tactical squad based game from developers Worthless Bums, that borrows elements more from turn based games than rogue-likes. The result is an interesting, classical, take on the strategy genre. Steam Marines is set on the hulk of your space ship, which has come under attack by a coalition of robots and aliens. Awaking from cryogenic slumber, it’s up to your team of marines to navigate the halls of your now derelict ship, and wipe out the invading scum.    

Let’s get one thing straight though, Steam Marines is no walk in the park. Perhaps it might resemble the 8 bit classic Terraria superficially. But it’s so much more than that. As far as turn based strategy games go, Steam Marines is fairly simple in theory. There are five classes: the leader, scout, grenadier, support, and engineer, which come with unique abilities and play styles. The balance between classes is fairly even, though the support’s weapon often feels weak at times.  Upon leveling up, each class has a skill tree that offers two different abilities per rank. This promotion system mirrors that of X-Com: Enemy Unknown, and plays an integral role in the play style of your marines. A set of five perks is available to all your squad members. Each perk can be taken on multiple marines. Some perks help scrounging for tech, close quarters fighting, among a few things. After a few playthroughs, it should become clear which perks combo well together to suit your fighting style. (My personal favorite is the hulk suit perk.) Should a member of your squad suddenly die (and yes they will die quite a bit), there’s always a chance to find a fresh marine when you progress a floor. Just remember, this rookie won’t come with any skills. Though there is always the option to pass on a recruit for some ammo.

 It’s worth noting that the learning curve in Steam Marines is steep. Your success will be determined greatly on how well you position your characters, and anticipate your enemies next move. Luckily these behaviors are quickly drilled into our heads. A very scarce tutorial is provided for this, but ultimately it is up to the player to learn the basics of the game, mainly through trial and error. Unfortunately this process of trial by fire, leads to moments of infuriating gridlock. While it is in the nature of rogue-like games to be painfully challenging, I was particularly put off by the spikes in toughness from difficulty levels. Games can often slow to a crawl the longer you play. And the AI are given much more significant advantages per difficulty level, and leave very little room for error. I recommend easing yourself into the game on easy, and progressing to higher difficulties.  

As an RTS veteran, but a newcomer to the rogue-like genre, I was surprised how often I found myself discouraged to continue playing. Steam Marines has some glaringly obvious flaws. A lackluster trading system only allows the purchase of four randomized items, and prohibits selling any of your items for credits. The game could also greatly benefit from introducing players to vital mechanics such as melee, and shoving enemies off the map. Most importantly in my opinion, is a lack of variety in perks and classes. With only five perks and classes to mix and match, the longevity of the game can vary on the shorter side for some players. It doesn’t help that this is compounded with very repetitive game play. Although all maps are procedurally generated, there isn’t a lot of pressure to explore a map, nor are there any secondary objectives other than collecting credits from lockers and containers. Punishment for rushing through the game is severe, and often results in a swift death. Knowing the range, health, and action points of an enemy is essential. (It is highly recommended that players use one of the community guides to pick up on these tricks.)

Even with these problems, Steam Marines is fun when it gets it right. When you aren’t spending five minutes calculating your next move or contemplating a restart, it’s the little things that really make this game. Savoring a hard fought victory or appreciating the banter between marines feels great. The art style lends itself to some funny and outlandish character designs. (My hands down favorite being the walking toilet bowl.) But for a game that’s main draw is derived from its game play, some aspects still need to be addressed.

In the end, Worthless Bums accomplishes to produce a solid addition to the turn based strategy genre.  Yet Steam Marines suffers heavily from repetition despite my efforts to thoroughly enjoy the game. Hardcore fans of the rogue-like genre may find the game’s style to be right up their alley. However between a lack of variety, repetitive game play, and other quirky game mechanics, I would only strongly recommend this game to the dedicated strategy enthusiasts. With a low price tag of 15$, Steam Marines is still worth picking up if you’re interested. Or maybe, if you’re ever feeling a little masochistic.