Diggin’ It | Steamworld Dig Review

It seems in the past handful of years we’ve seen a plethora of titles involves mining, collecting, and building. Games like Terraria, Starbound, and of course, Minecraft, have grown into gaming phenomenons – especially in the latter’s case. Steamworld Dig, another entry into this ever growing genre, mashes up the mining and collecting of the aforementioned games, but mixes in a Metroid-vania style power system that creates one of the most unique and fun experiences of this year.

In SteamWorld Dig, you strap into the boots of Rusty, a cleverly named mining robot who’s come to his uncle’s old mining town per his request. Rusty travels into the mines to find that his uncle has passed, and Rusty is determined to find the secrets that surround not only his uncle’s death, but also the monsters below.

You’ll take on the role of Rusty as he climbs into the mines below

The story is fairly straightforward, and it’s stretched pretty thin throughout the entirety of the game. There’s little dialogue between characters other than when you going back to town to trade resources and buy better equipment, and it’s a shame, because the character designs tease the possibility of great, over-flowing personalities, but the game rarely ever takes advantage of that. While a more meaty story would have certainly been welcome, it’s only a small complaint, because it provides a decent enough backdrop and motivation to continue your questing.

Like previously stated, SteamWorld Dig is like a mash-up of Minecraft and Metroid-vania titles. You’ll have to dig deep into mines to collect minerals that you can sell for cash to unlock new gear that will make your exploration easier, and while exploring, you’ll also be looking for entrances to other mines which may hold  incredibly useful power-ups. SteamWorld Dig does a great job or giving the power-ups right when the games current powers began to grow old. Stepping into power-up chambers and seeing Rusty get electrified with new power is always a great feeling, and seeing the chambers from afar creates wonderful anticipation when progressing through the obstacles blocking your way.

Your antagonists in SteamWorld Dig will be enemies ranging from giant bugs to humanoid creatures, and even giant robot bugs. The enemies in SteamWorld Dig reminded me a lot of enemies found in old-school Mega Man games, because they’d sometimes show their attack patterns as a way to show the player how to avoid them. Another parallel between this game, and more specifically the Mega Man X series, is the wall jumping, which is paramount when stuck in deep mines with no ladders to climb or simply no way out. This is what I loved most about SteamWorld Dig: it takes the best elements from new and old games and molds them into one great game while still carving out its own identity.

During your digging, you’ll have to not only watch your health meter, but also two others: water and fire. Water is used for special abilities, like a super jump or a powered drill that makes breaking down rocks and materials much easier. This is replenished by finding pools of water that you’ll have to stand in to absorb. The water only comes back when leaving and coming back to an area, so it can’t simply be over used. Fire is used to see around the mines and to spot far away enemies and items. It runs out quickly when in the mines, and you’ll need to either return to the surface or buy lamps to light your way. While the idea makes sense, it isn’t fun whatsoever, and it turns into a colossal annoyance when spending large amounts of time digging for minerals and new power-ups. It would have been much nicer to have an easier and faster way or replenishing fire from the beginning, but luckily returning to the surface isn’t too difficult a task.

Dig it oh, oh, oh!

The world of SteamWorld Dig is set in a cool steampunk-western-style, but you’ll only see this part of the time. Most of the game takes place in dim caverns, which can become a little tiresome. Unlike Minecraft or Terraria where you can create your own environments to spruce up to your liking, the mineral collecting is strictly for money. The game is obviously not going for the “create your own world” angle, but the world the developers gave us isn’t as exciting as the game perhaps should have been. If SteamWorld Dig was a little more diverse in its environments, it could have created a more dynamic range of colors that could have desperately aided this admittedly dull arrangement.

SteamWorld Dig doesn’t take terribly long to beat at around five hours, but my time spent with the game was met with lots of great memories. Those that are fans of Minecraft, Terraria, or Starbound are sure to find a lot to love with SteamWorld Dig, and while it borrows a lot of elements from these games, it isn’t afraid to try new things to make itself unique. SteamWorld Dig is an excellent addition to the PlayStation library, and anyone looking to try a great mash up or two of the most popular genres should definitely give this a try.

This review is based on a review copy of the PlayStation 4 & PlayStation Vita versions of the game SteamWorld Dig by Image & Form.