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

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
Full S.T.E.A.M. ahead!
Protagonist(s): Henry Fleming Genre(s): Turn-Based Strategy Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release Date: NA: March 13, 2015 JP: May 14, 2015 EU: May 15, 2015 AU: May 16, 2015 Developer(s): Intelligent Systems Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is a turn-based strategy game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS.

Good Qualities

1. The premise of the game, as bizarre as it may seem, is original and well-executed: in an alternate world where Abraham Lincoln faked his death, he assembles a team of public-domain literature characters to destroy aliens.
2. Great graphics that fit in well with the steampunk aesthetic this game has, and have a comic book look to them.
   • The player even sets down the comic book that the game takes place in on their desk at the beginning and ending of the game, which is a nice way to convey its aesthetic, and the cutscenes are presented like a comic with still images of the characters.
3. While the combat system may seem overwhelming and hard to follow at first, it becomes easy once you get the hang of it.
   • Movement is grid-based, but you control your characters in third-person shooter style, similar to the Valkyria Chronicles series.
   • Your actions are controlled by Steam, including movement, attacking and interactions with the environment. You can replenish Steam by finding spare Steam Tanks on the battlefield (often by breaking red/gold crates), using the "Save and Restore/Save and Restore All" option at a saving device, or Tin Man's Steam Projector (which restores 3 Steam to others).
   • During the enemy's turn, you can use Overwatch attacks to attack foes as they approach, provided you have Steam left over. Be careful, as the aliens can use Overwatch as well.
   • You can use various Sub-Weapons (which range from the weak point-damaging Steam Crossbow, healing weapons Medi-Carbine and Medi-Rifle, etc.) and Boilers (each having a different amount of ATK, DEF, and Steam recovery rate) alongside your primary weapon.
4. There are thirteen main playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses:
   • Henry Fleming: He is the balanced, average character in terms of health and attack power, with his weapon being the Eagle Rifle, and can also Push enemies and obstacles out of harm's way.
   • John Henry: His strength allows him to break down barriers that most of his team cannot, and can destroy all enemies around him with his Bear Grenades.
   • Lion: He has a large health pool and uses his Lion Launcher to leap onto terrain that most other characters cannot (unless they use the Jump Booster). His Courageous ability raises ally Defense by 20%.
   • Tiger Lily: She can heal allies using her Medi-Mortar and can survive a fatal blow in a pinch (at 25% or less HP) via her Defiant ability.
   • Tom Sawyer: He has high mobility, uses his Punch Gun to stun foes and can Hop onto certain barriers, but has relatively low health.
   • Queequeg: He has the second-most health of the characters and uses his Penguin Lobber to send robotic penguin bombs to scout out enemies. His Warrior's Spirit ability also allows him to raise the team's attack power.
   • Scarecrow: He can't be stunned (due to his Brainless ability) and can use his Pumpkin Stunner to stun all foes around its blast radius.
   • Randolph Carter: He plays a defensive strategy, using his Unspeakable Lure to distract foes so their weak points are revealed, and his ability (Arcane Lore) increases critical hit chances.
   • The Fox: She has the longest sight range of any agent using her Fox Rifle, and has more powerful Overwatch attacks to go with it via her Deadeye ability.
   • Califia: Like John, she can smash barriers in her path and her Rhino Bomber has great range and damage, but she doesn't recharge Steam as well as most other agents.
   • Tin Man: He can restore Steam to his allies with his primary weapon, and like Scarecrow, he also cannot be stunned (due to his Heartful) ability..
   • Dorothy Gale: Her Toto Blaster spreads out like a fan and deals heavy damage to foes in the close vicinity, but she is very frail and can't take much damage. Just like Tom, she can also Hop up to higher platforms.
   • S.T.O.V.E.P.I.P.E.: Obtained once you obtain 100,000 Medals, he has both a melee and ranged attack and acts like a miniature version of A.B.E.
5. Except for maps where new Agents are introduced, you can fully customize who is on your team for each map or use the Default teams to see which characters the game recommends you deploy.
   • You can also customize which Sub-Weapons and Boilers each agent uses once they are selected.
6. Each agent has a Special Attack that can only be used once per map, but costs no Steam.
   • Henry: Eagle Strike - Launches an eagle-shaped missile at the enemies.
   • John: Hammer Blow - Strikes enemies around him by slamming his left arm into the ground like a hammer
   • Lion: Mighty Roar - Damages and stuns all foes surrounding him using a megaphone to amplify his roars.
   • Tiger Lily: Healing Wind - Heals all allies around her.
   • Tom: Hijinks - Scatters mines in an area.
   • Queequeg: Harpoon - Throws a harpoon that can pass through multiple foes.
   • Scarecrow: Trick or Treat - Scatters mines to damage enemies and candies to heal allies.
   • Randolph: Eldritch Shield - Creates a barrier around all allies that halves damage.
   • The Fox: Sharp Eye - Doubles her range of sight and damage done by Overwatch attacks.
   • Califia: Raging Heart - Strikes enemies close to her using her bare fists.
   • Tin Man: Steam Bath - Restores Steam to allies and damages enemies surrounding him.
   • Dorothy: Silver Streak - Passes through enemies in front of her with her Silver Shoes, but her Steam Tank is emptied.
   • S.T.O.V.E.P.I.P.E.: Double Drill - Dashes through foes in a straight line using his drills, which also damage them.
7. Great soundtrack composed by Yoshito Sekigawa, with standout tracks including Lady Liberty (the title/preparation menu theme), the three parts of Trouble Brewing, Deadly Dance II, Agents of Steam and Blessings (the final boss theme).
   • The vocal theme song, despite being cheesy, is a decent way to describe the game's story and premise.
8. Good voice acting, especially from Adam Baldwin (Henry), Wil Wheaton (Lincoln), Jeremy Shada (Tom), Grey Griffin (The Fox), etc.
9. As you collect Medals and three Gears in each map, you will unlock Sub-Weapons and Boilers, respectively. This adds some decent replay value to the game alongside the fully-customizable Agents and teams.
10. Once you beat the game once, you can unlock a Music Player to play music heard throughout the game and a Comics Theater to view the comic cutscenes again.
11. In some boss levels, you play as the Anthropomorphized Battle Engine (or A.B.E. for short), which is basically a mecha Abe Lincoln!
12. There are many multiplayer modes for both local and online play, including Deathmatch (where each player assembles a team to face off within one minute), Medal Battle (in which the players race to collect more Medals than their opponents within five turns), and A.B.E. Battle (where the two players use the A.B.E. to battle each other in a real-time battle).
13. If you have certain Fire Emblem amiibos, you can play as Marth, Ike, Lucina and Robin. Each has their own weapons, secondary attacks and specials.
    • Marth: He attacks foes with his Falchion, can strike weak points more easily using his Rapier and can heal any allies around him by casting Lodestar. His Destiny ability prevents him from taking damage from Overwatch attacks.
    • Ike: His sword (Ragnell) fires a sword beam to attack long-range foes, he can hit close-range enemies with his axe (Urvan), and can use Aether to damage all aliens around him. He is also strong and possesses the Push ability to move enemies and obstacles out of his way.
    • Lucina: She leaps to higher places using her Parallel Falchion, can shoot at distant enemies with Nidhogg, and uses her Awakening to stab through all foes in a straight line. Her Born Leader ability gives all allies a boost to their Attack and Defense.
    • Robin: He stuns foes with his Levin Sword, casts Fire to hit multiple enemies with an explosion, and can pierce through enemies when he casts Thoron. He also has the Tactician ability to increase allies' critical-hit percentage.
      • If you have all four Fire Emblem characters at once, the music changes to remixed versions of music from the Fire Emblem series, including "Code Name: F.E."
    • You can also use a Circle Pad Pro on the original 3DS for quicker rotation than the face buttons.

Bad Qualities

1. Enemy turns can take too long to finish; fortunately, an update allows you to speed them up.
2. When Wil Wheaton and Adam Baldwin were announced to be voicing Lincoln and Henry, respectively, two vocal minority groups were turned off by this due to the two actors being on opposite sides during GamerGate.
3. There is no overhead map, which makes navigating the battlefield hard.
4. There are some brutal difficulty spikes, such as Chapter 10, Chapter 12-1, Chapter 15-2, and especially the second half of Chapter 16-1.
   • Even worse, enemy reinforcements constantly respawn at certain parts of each map, making completion even more frustrating.
5. Sadly, due to the 3DS online servers shutting down on April 8th, 2024, you cannot play online multiplayer at all.
6. Unlike the main characters, the Fire Emblem characters cannot be revived by the Save and Restore All option; instead, their Amiibo must be scanned again to get them back.
   • Additionally, you can't play as Roy, Corrin, Alm, Celica or any other Fire Emblem characters due to their Amiibos releasing after this game.
7. Sequel-baiting: The ending cut scene shows that President Lincoln possibly survived using an Emerald Key after the final battle against the Great Shugguth, but a sequel will most likely never happen due to this game's poor sales.

Reception

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. received largely mixed-to-positive reception (scoring 69/100 on Metacritic and 7/10 on Nintendo Life), with much of the criticism directed at long enemy turns, confusing level layouts (and lack of an overhead map) and difficulty spikes, while the game's acting, art style, music and characters were praised.

While exact sales figures are unknown, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. sold less than 2,000 units in Japan and about 50,000 in the United States.

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