Steambot Chronicles 2 Review (no fat)

Game Description

When you hear the words 'non-linear' describing the game your first immediate thought is "Here's another dozen nights thrown out the window." While it's true that replay value and an incredible amount of freedom can indeed turn a good game into an awesome one, non-linearity is not by any means something easy to achieve.

Steambot Chronicles 2 tries to be just that: a non-linear role-playing game. So the obvious question is whether its for real or just an excuse for the lack of a good storyline.

Steambot Chronicles 2 Gameplay:

The good news is that the game's manufacturers don't boast a 'relaxing nonlinear adventure' for no reason. As you play more and more of this game you realize there's just so much you can do. So you're bound to be staying in front of your PS2 for some good hours.

You play a character called Vanilla Beans (yummy ;) ) who finds himself washing up on a beach without remembering anything (he knows his name because it's written on the harmonica he has with him when he is found. Speaking of being found, Vanilla's savior is a girl called Coriander (or just Connie) who also serves as his guide for the first few minutes. So what is it you get to do in this game? Well...

First you get to control your own trot-mobile. This small wonder of technology is a biped robot which you can you to move around or battle it out with other trot-mobiles. Though the inclusion of this mech component of the game is pretty cool, though the controls for one of these suckers aren't.

You control a trot-mobile with both analog sticks, which gives it sort of a mechanic feel, but during a battle you'll often find these controls infuriating. There is some relief though, due to the fact that you can customize your trot-mobile in various ways (colors, license plate, new body parts, etc.)

But don't even think that's all you can do in this game. Second on the list of things you're bound to do for quite a lot of time is play music. You start off with just playing harmonica, but pretty soon you get to learn just about any instrument you can think of. Playing these instruments is devised as a series of mini-games which, although a bit frustrating, due to the controls, can be quite fun.

You get to join Connie's band, the Globetrotters and play gigs around the world which is, well, pretty cool. However, it doesn't stop at this point either.

You can get your own house (which you can decorate to your liking), play on the stock market, or rob little old ladies and help gangs of bandits commit unlawful activities. And this is largely due to the fact that Steambot Chronicles doesn't dictate that your character has to on the right side of the law.

At all times, when dialog is required, you can select Vanilla's questions and answers, as well as dictate his actions, which means you pretty much get to dictate you character's alignment. Although you have almost complete freedom over your actions, the game is not completely non-linear and at some points you can feel the game flowing towards the defined ending in an unnatural way.

There's a lot of replay value to this game as there's always a lot to be done with your character. Most likely, after finishing the game once with your favorite alignment (good or evil), you'll then proceed to finishing it again on the opposite side just to see how that's like.

Steambot Chronicles 2 Graphics:

The game doesn't benefit from the greatest graphics in the world, but the visuals aren't that bad either and Steambot Chronicles 2's graphics actually contribute a lot to the feeling of an interactive manga cartoon the game holds.

Steambot Chronicles 2 Sounds:

As there's a lot of music to be heard in this game an obvious interest has to be manifested towards its sounds. The soundtrack is pretty good, though at some moments forgettable. The only annoying thing is the translations the songs get. While the acting and the translations of all the lines are actually not bad, the songs' lyrics are enough to have you pulling out some of your own hair quite quickly.

Steambot Chronicles 2 Overall Impression:

While Steambot Chronicles 2 feels a bit awkward (which can always be expected from a Japanese import) it brings along a lot of quality moments. The amount of freedom the game offers, both in terms of the way you shape Vanilla's character and in what you choose to do, means this title proudly deserves to be called a 'nonlinear role-playing game'.

Steambot Chronicles 2 Pricing

Steambot Chronicles can currently be purchased for $49.99.