Review – Steel Seed

I’ve seen several smaller studios release stealth games over the years. At times, it’s almost felt like a cursed genre for independent developers. When I was introduced to Steel Seed, the story and mechanics showed enough promise to warrant my time with it. Has the team at Storm in a Teacup been able to break the curse?

Content Guide

Violence: The game features various robots as enemies. When they die, they crumple in a metallic heap. Zoe has a small robotic companion, Koby, that can be knocked out by enemies. When he is, she screams as though he’s been killed.

Sexual Content: There is no sexual content

Drugs and Alcohol: There are no drugs or alcohol.

Language/Crude Humor: While I don’t directly remember any profanity, it strikes me that, thematically speaking, it’s entirely possible some language could be in the game. It’s entirely possible the narrative just wasn’t impactful enough for it to stand out in my mind. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of stray curse words find their way in.

Dark/Spiritual Content: The game is set in a sad alternate future where machines have taken over in place of mankind. Zoe is trying to find remnants of her father so she can theoretically revive him. The robots don’t want her to succeed, though.

Review

Our story opens with the young Zoe lying on a cold metal bed. Her father, a brilliant scientist, can be seen in the near distance, preparing various medical tools. Before long, she falls asleep. When she awakens, she finds herself not in flesh and bone, but steel and circuitry. The world has changed around her but, like Mega Man‘s Dr. Light, her father made her into something more; something capable of surviving the harsh AI-driven future.

After an introduction to Koby, her robotic drone companion, they set off to uncover what’s been happening. She narrowly escapes doom from a sniper and discovers an artificial intelligence her dad left behind to help restore humanity. With his guidance, she sets off to recover four pieces her dad left behind with hopes of reviving him and recovering the life she once knew.

While it’s trying to do something unique, Steel Seed feels like it’s walking a path paved by far too many predecessors. I can respect a strong female lead, but there was nothing novel or surprising about Zoe or her story. In its marketing literature, Steel Seed touted itself as a “thought-provoking sci-fi experience.” While there are some mildly intriguing moments, I ultimately found Zoe’s story to be bland and predictable.

From a gameplay perspective, Steel Seed feels a bit schizophrenic. On one hand, it features large areas with fun, dynamic platforming and traversal. On the other hand, the game slows the pace with big, elaborate stealth encounters. It feels one part Tomb Raider, one part Assassin’s Creed. The problem is that, while moments of both shine, neither fully sustains the experience.

First, let’s discuss the game’s platforming. This was Steel Seed‘s strongest suit, and, frankly, the whole experience probably should’ve been focused here. There are walls to run, oil slicks to surf down, wall climbing puzzles to navigate, and obstacles to slide around. The game even has a few standout sequences with fun, impressive set pieces that make the game feel like a Hollywood blockbuster. Sadly, having that be the focus of the game likely wasn’t viable due to a woefully lacking combat system.

The combat, which the game forces you to engage with heavily at a few key points, was designed to be third-person hack-and-slash with advantageous timed counters. Unfortunately, the timing for parrying feels spotty at best, and the rest of the experience just feels button-mashy. You have a skill tree you can grow and upgrade over the course of the game and that can add some extra tools to your belt, but it still never changed the system’s fundamental problems for me.

Given the game’s poor combat, I can understand why the team decided to make the rest of the experience focused on stealth action. To Steel Seed‘s credit, I quite enjoyed engaging with the game’s stealth systems. Getting the drop on an enemy, insta-killing them unaware, always felt good. When presented with an awkward situation, like jumping off a roof to assassinate a foe two stories below, the game erred on the side of fun, granting me the kill even if the trajectory was awkward. I can get behind that. It’s fun.

My problems with Steel Seed‘s gameplay, though, come in a few ways. First, the game’s autosave mechanics are atrocious, bordering on non-existent. Upon entering an area, you’ll want to use Koby to tag as many foes as possible. Using cover or the game’s electronic static fields (pretty cool!) to conceal yourself, you’ll work meticulously to dispatch each enemy. Being spotted means trying to hide or fighting it out. Let’s say you take 10 minutes to clear half an area before you’re caught and killed. You’ll inevitably have to start the entire zone over, right down to re-tagging every enemy. It’s an exercise in patience I just didn’t care for after the first time.

On top of poor autosave mechanics, there are story sections that completely ignore traversal and stealth, opting instead to force the player into several waves of enemy arenas. These allow no hiding and often have you facing multiple foes. Given the game’s poor combat mechanics, these sections almost had me ready to walk away from the game entirely. The decision to have these arenas in the game nearly ruined an otherwise serviceable experience.

Steel Seed is a decent-looking game. I like Zoe, Koby, and a few of the enemy designs. There are some phenomenal moments I really enjoyed, too. Unfortunately, given the title’s proclivity to have everything be mechanical, almost every environment and enemy feels like it was assembled in the same factory. Environments began running together, as did the limited enemy variety. I believe the unlockable costumes were a minor touch that offered some fresh variety to the game, though.

While there are moments of fun to be had with Steel Seed, my time with Zoe and Koby ultimately fell flat. The game had fun platforming and some enjoyable stealth moments, but that was all undermined by poor autosaving and infuriating forced combat segments. The narrative was boring and predictable, too, leaving me underwhelmed when the final credits rolled. There’s a Steel Seed of fun to be had here, but the experience ultimately needed some more time to grow before it was pulled off the vine.

Review copy provided by ESDigital Games