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IGN Review of Steel Diver
Steel Diver, one of Nintendo's three first party launch titles, is one of those games that, for better or worse, completely takes you off guard. It's certainly not the big gun any of us thought the Big N would be bringing to the table come 3DS launch time (which is noticeably lacking in mustachioed plumbers or Hylian heroes), but could this wild card still be worth its $40 price tag? The answer is complicated.
The key to getting the most out of Steel Diver is having a full understanding of what you're getting into. It is essentially a submarine simulation game that plays a lot like an action puzzler, with a turn-based strategy multi-player mode and a first-person shooter periscope mini-game.
The main game, Mission Mode, puts you in the shoes of a Steel Diver, a member of a secret submarine fleet comprised of the best of the best. The missions put you behind the wheel of one of three submarines, each with different pros and cons such as maneuverability or torpedo selection. All seven missions you complete in this mode have an objective attached, such as to find your way into an enemy base, but this is mostly a thin backdrop for the actual gameplay, and serves no other purpose.
You control your sub of choice by using the stylus to manipulate two levers, one of which controls your vertical depth (how high or low your sub is) and one of which controls your horizontal movement and speed (in other words, whether you're going forward or backward and how fast you're doing it). In two of the three subs, there's also a pitch wheel you can spin to tilt the angle of your vessel.
As you move along the level towards your goal, navigating puzzling underwater labyrinths along the way, various obstacles like water mines, homing missiles, destructible rock obstructions, and even volcanic eruptions threaten to deplete your damage meter. Drain this meter and it's game over, which is why you must not only navigate well, but also use your sub's torpedoes to help clear a path.
The first couple of levels are a cakewalk, but the later levels will have you scratching your head and eagerly replaying them over and over, trying to outmaneuver the fierce combination of the level design and the constant onslaught of enemy attack. While I enjoyed the amount of thinking and strategizing these advanced levels provided, there were far too few of them. Even going back to beat each mission with all three ships and finish in better times didn't make up for the fact that there were just not enough missions to choose from.
I also wish there had been more boss fights, as these were always particularly engaging to overcome and provided a much needed change of pace. Dodging missiles while waiting for an opening in the enemy's defense to attack and slowly chipping away at their damage meter one blast at a time (all while trapped in a relatively small, 2D plane) made these moments feel like a much slower-paced Mega Man with submarines, and that's a compliment. But, again, there weren't nearly enough of these encounters to make this package feel complete.
Of course, the gameplay itself is truly what matters, and between a solid Mission Mode (which was, admittedly, far too short), an amusing Periscope Mode (which has you either spinning around with your 3DS or moving the dial to spot and destroy all surrounding enemy ships as fast as possible), and a standalone multiplayer turn-based strategy game, there's more fun to be had here than you might think.
While this isn't exactly the new IP I was looking for from Nintendo, and it's true that the game is probably too slow moving for a lot of folks, once I settled into its pace I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed myself. While I admit I hastily dismissed Steel Diver when I first started playing it, I eventually found myself hooked.
THE 3D EFFECT
As for the new system's driving component, the glasses-free 3D effect, I have to say Steel Diver left me unimpressed, especially compared to some of the other launch titles I've seen. While it was neat to see the torpedoes shooting toward me, outside of that, the 3D effect doesn't add much to the experience.
©2011-03-18, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The key to getting the most out of Steel Diver is having a full understanding of what you're getting into. It is essentially a submarine simulation game that plays a lot like an action puzzler, with a turn-based strategy multi-player mode and a first-person shooter periscope mini-game.
The main game, Mission Mode, puts you in the shoes of a Steel Diver, a member of a secret submarine fleet comprised of the best of the best. The missions put you behind the wheel of one of three submarines, each with different pros and cons such as maneuverability or torpedo selection. All seven missions you complete in this mode have an objective attached, such as to find your way into an enemy base, but this is mostly a thin backdrop for the actual gameplay, and serves no other purpose.
You control your sub of choice by using the stylus to manipulate two levers, one of which controls your vertical depth (how high or low your sub is) and one of which controls your horizontal movement and speed (in other words, whether you're going forward or backward and how fast you're doing it). In two of the three subs, there's also a pitch wheel you can spin to tilt the angle of your vessel.
As you move along the level towards your goal, navigating puzzling underwater labyrinths along the way, various obstacles like water mines, homing missiles, destructible rock obstructions, and even volcanic eruptions threaten to deplete your damage meter. Drain this meter and it's game over, which is why you must not only navigate well, but also use your sub's torpedoes to help clear a path.
The first couple of levels are a cakewalk, but the later levels will have you scratching your head and eagerly replaying them over and over, trying to outmaneuver the fierce combination of the level design and the constant onslaught of enemy attack. While I enjoyed the amount of thinking and strategizing these advanced levels provided, there were far too few of them. Even going back to beat each mission with all three ships and finish in better times didn't make up for the fact that there were just not enough missions to choose from.
I also wish there had been more boss fights, as these were always particularly engaging to overcome and provided a much needed change of pace. Dodging missiles while waiting for an opening in the enemy's defense to attack and slowly chipping away at their damage meter one blast at a time (all while trapped in a relatively small, 2D plane) made these moments feel like a much slower-paced Mega Man with submarines, and that's a compliment. But, again, there weren't nearly enough of these encounters to make this package feel complete.
Of course, the gameplay itself is truly what matters, and between a solid Mission Mode (which was, admittedly, far too short), an amusing Periscope Mode (which has you either spinning around with your 3DS or moving the dial to spot and destroy all surrounding enemy ships as fast as possible), and a standalone multiplayer turn-based strategy game, there's more fun to be had here than you might think.
While this isn't exactly the new IP I was looking for from Nintendo, and it's true that the game is probably too slow moving for a lot of folks, once I settled into its pace I was surprised by how much I really enjoyed myself. While I admit I hastily dismissed Steel Diver when I first started playing it, I eventually found myself hooked.
As for the new system's driving component, the glasses-free 3D effect, I have to say Steel Diver left me unimpressed, especially compared to some of the other launch titles I've seen. While it was neat to see the torpedoes shooting toward me, outside of that, the 3D effect doesn't add much to the experience.
©2011-03-18, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved