Nintendo has announced a brand new IP for the Nintendo 3DS. It’s code named S.T.E.A.M., and it has the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto behind it.
S.T.E.A.M. is a huge cel-shaded turn-based strategy game that is being sold as arguably the biggest upcoming 3DS game. Players will take control of a group of units sent out by Abraham Lincoln to defend against a space invasion. These units aren’t only comprised of humans, but other races as well, including a cat-like humanoid.
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Its combat is inspired by action games, with a strong dose of strategy, similar to Valkyria Chronicles. In essence, you control a character in third-person, and can swap to other units in your squad. Deciding which character to control and which attacks to utilize is key to taking down enemies without suffering casualties.
Steam is a major element in the game, and nearly everything in its fictional world revolves around it, so much in-fact that it’s used as the resource for turns in battle situations. Each turn you get to move around the battlefield freely to explore and set yourself up in a defensive position, or offensive attack. As long as you don’t perform an action or get caught by an enemy, you can continue to navigate. Avoiding enemy confrontation when setting up isn’t easy given the verticality of the maps, though.
Weapons are varied, and like the cartoon-styled pixel-art graphics are full of personality. Big weapons with bear heads attached, and even an eagle rifle can be equipped to your characters.
There are presently nine characters in the game, although more are likely. In one of the demonstrated battles only four were deployed to combat.
S.T.E.A.M. will release in 2015.
