In the second of our Match 3 genre reviews this week we take a look at Steam Heroes.
You play as a group of heroes who are searching for the evil Baron Von Smog to put an end to his attempts to conquer Steam Land. The Story Mode will take you on a journey where you will fight various minions set in Match 3 game. Your group of heroes consist of three characters; Max, Pearl and Harrison, who each have abilities which play a part in the battles.
Steam Heroes is a fast paced and at times frantic game. It follows the traditional rules of matching three of the same items to remove them from the board. Steam Heroes goes a little further by tieing this into the battles, by matching three yellow steam bars for example you increase Pearls ability to repair the heroes, blue steam will increase the steam cannons power which deals more damage and red steam will reduce the damage received from your opponent. Other items include bombs which deal damage to your opponent energy bar. This leads to some interesting tactics, much like games such as Puzzle Quest, but as this is played in real time you must think on your feet. There is little time to decide between matching a bomb or restoring health.
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There are around a dozen opponents to defeat in the story mode and I found them to be mostly easy. I actually seemed to unlock a special opponent because I had a good run of undefeats. As mentioned the battles are fast paced and your opponents will continuously barrage you with attacks and their specials which vary with each opponent. One later opponent for example has a smoke bomb which will cover the entire board, you can clear it by moving you cursor around or wait for it to expire.
In between the battles are some static cut scenes that are voice acted. The acting is not too bad but as with the case in many indie games it is often better to leave it out as it often detracts from the quality of the game. You can complete the story mode in around 90 to 120 minutes which I found to be a little short and disappointing. A second mode is available which allows you replay any of the previously defeated opponents and set a time record on the global online leaderboards. At the time of playing (a month after release) I defeated the first opponent in around 115 seconds instantly gaining first place on the leaderboards, so you should have no problems getting setting some of your own records.
Presentation and graphics are top notch. They would not look out of place in a lower budget XBLA game. The interface is well designed and everything is clearly explained with an in game tutorial which explains new events as you play. The graphics look great with good character detail and animation that follows the steam theme throughout the game. I did find the items to be occasionally a little difficult to identify, in particular the blue steam bar. The bar is at a 45 degree angle and in the heat of the moment it is hard to glance and see if they can be matched as it can give a false impression they are or are not adjoining. Special effects are plentiful, a little too much at times as it can distract your attention, though some of these are enemy attacks so this can be forgiven. The music and sounds are again great, fast paced music keeps up with the tempo of the game and there are plenty of sounds to inform you of enemy attacks and such.
Steam Heroes costs 240 :MSPoints: which content wise seems a little steep compared to other games in the 80 :MSPoints: range. The game does however make up for it in the presentation. While the game lasts, it is an extremely fun game to play, it makes for a nice alternative to turn based Match 3 games, but the experience is short lived. I definitely recommend you at least play the trial version.
You can find more information as well as download the trial or purchase the full version on the Xbox Marketplace.
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