Code Name S.T.E.A.M

The League of American Gentlemen

Although known mainly for Mario, Pokémon, and Zelda, Nintendo has a wide range of lesser known games covering all sorts of genres and ideas. One of these is Code Name S.T.E.A.M, a steampunk strategy game on the 3DS where classic literature characters fight monsters pulled right from the writings of Lovecraft.

Story

The game begins with someone taking a comic book to their desk to read, that comic book being Code Name S.T.E.A.M. This framing device doesn’t have much impact on the story, aside from the cutscenes using comic book style frames.

As for the story itself, it’s set in an alternate steampunk history. The game kicks off with the unexpected start of an alien invasion. The protagonist, Henry Fleming from the book The Red Badge of Courage, is able to survive the initial attack alongside his war buddy, the folk hero John Henry.

The two meet up with and are recruited into S.T.E.A.M, an organization made and led by Abraham Lincoln (who faked his death) for the purpose of combatting supernatural threats to humanity. From there the game becomes about fighting back against the invaders.

As the game progresses other literary characters join your team, either hailing from works by U.S authors or having some association with the U.S in the case of Tiger Lily and Califia. Due to the odd legal situation around Zorro, the game instead has a character called The Fox who is heavily implied to be the daughter of Zorro. Other members of S.T.E.A.M include Queequeg from Moby Dick, Tom Sawyer, and all four of the main characters from The Wizard of Oz.

Keeping with the U.S theme, the aliens are taken right from the writings of H.P Lovecraft. Once Randolph Carter joins the team players can view his bestiary, which is full of references to the Cthulhu mythos, such as linking the founding of STEAM to the events of The Shadow over Innsmouth and identifying the Prowler enemies as the Human-Deep One hybrids from it.

Speaking of themes, one detail I like is that the aliens all make use of ice in contrast to the humans’ steam technology. Ice and steam can be considered opposites, frozen water versus boiled water. It’s a subtle yet clear way of contrasting the opposing factions, and more interesting than simply using different color schemes.

While the plot is quick paced, profiles written by John Milton Hays help flesh out the cast and world. Coming from the makers of Fire Emblem, I am a bit let down by the lack of character interaction. I wouldn’t want an exact copy of Fire Emblem’s support system, but I wish there was some way for the game to dig even deeper into its cast the way supports allow Fire Emblem to.

Also now that I’m reading Dracula, I have to single out Quincey Morris as a disappointing exclusion from the roster. As a literal right from Texas cowboy he fits in with the playable agents, and Dracula is all about the clash between modern technology and ancient evil, which makes a Dracula character perfect for a game about fighting Lovecraftian monsters with steampunk technology.

Gameplay

While most turn based strategy games go for a bird’s eye view, Code Name Steam uses a third person camera perspective, following whichever member of your four man squad you’re currently controlling. This means that you never have a complete view of the map, demanding a cautious approach.

What also sets it apart is that what a character can do on the players turn is governed by the amount of steam they have. The maps are laid out on a grid, one square of movement equals one unit of steam, different guns have different steam costs needed to fire them. Any leftover steam can be used on the next turn in addition to what you gain on turn start.

When attacking, you need to aim your gun like in a third person shooter. Enemies have weak points you can hit for increased damage, aiming for them when you can is important. If you screw up your aim you’ve wasted steam.

If a character ends a turn while still having enough steam to use their gun, then on the enemy’s turn they will fire at the first enemy who enters their line of sight. However, the same goes for the enemy, so you’re not safe even on your own turn.

In gameplay each character is distinguished by a unique primary weapon, a passive skill, and a special move that can be used once per map. Characters can be customized by equipping them with a subweapon and a boiler, the latter of which determine a character’s maximum steam and the amount gained on turn start.

New subweapons are unlocked by collecting coins, which can be picked up in the maps and earned from defeating enemies. There are also three gear collectibles in each map that unlock new boilers, with the final boiler requiring every gear in the game.

One thing I love is how the Oz characters are designed. Lion is a character meant to courageously charge ahead and tank enemy fire. Scarecow deploys bombs that can also be used as cover, you need your brain to make full use of him. Tin Man is a support character who grants steam to other characters, you’d need a big heart to take that role. If enemies target Dorothy she’s dead, but if she gets up close to an enemy with her Toto Blaster aimed at their weak point they’ll melt from her damage output.

The maps are all distinct with different layouts and win conditions, like ascending a valley to eliminate key enemies or sneaking past enemy artillery to reach the goal. Sadly, the game does not show you the map layout until after you have chosen your squad.

To me this is a big oversight because many characters vary in effectiveness between maps. For example, Queequeg’s Penguin Launcher sends out robot penguins that waddle ahead until they collide with something and explode. In theory they can go on infinitely. However, since they only move in a straight line, each corner and obstacle in a map reduces the effective range of the exploding robot penguins, AKA one of the greatest weapons ever.

Reviewers complained about the length of enemy turns so much that people who didn’t even play the game repeated that talking point, leading to a patch that added a toggle to speed the turns up. What people overlooked is how the enemy turns make you pay attention to shifts in the camera angles to guess where exactly that enemy behind the wall is, it builds tension. I do frequently use the toggle myself, but I had fun with the game before it, the ‘issue’ was blown out of the water.

On top of the normal strategy gameplay, sometimes you play as Abraham Lincoln piloting a giant robot shaped like himself to take on equally giant aliens. These segments are done in real time, with no turns or waiting. Your actions are still governed by steam, which refills when you stand still. It’s a fun change of pace.

In addition to all of this, the game has a multiplayer mode that I unfortunately never properly tried when it was new. Which means I can’t comment on it too much and it’s unlikely to be part of your experience. Unless this post somehow prompts a new online community for the multiplayer.

Lastly there is a secret playable character, one who was enough of an actual secret when the game came out to have their existence be doubted and their exact unlock condition unclear. Now I can say with confidence how you get them, beat the game and collect 100,000 coins. Though once you achieve that there isn’t much else to do in game, a far too common flaw with video game unlocks.

Relation to other Nintendo games/ Legacy

When Code Name Steam was first revealed at a developer roundtable for E3 2014, the response from Nintendo fans was ‘how dare you make this and not Majora’s Mask 3D.’ Prior to that there were complaints about Nintendo only making Mario and Zelda games. Incidentally Majora’s Mask 3D would later come out and go on to prompt hundreds of youtube videos about its inferiority to the original.

Marth, Ike, Lucina, and Robin from Fire Emblem are all playable in Code Name Steam as bonus characters who are unlocked by using their amiibo figures. They have no role in the story, but do have profiles written by Milton. Nintendo also attempted to win over the fans who hated Code Name Steam for the crime of being a new game and not a remake of an N64 game with the pre-order bonus of a special Majora’s Mask pin.

While Nintendo fans weren’t kind to Code Name Steam, Smash Ultimate was. A brand new remix of the song ‘Trouble Brewing II’ can be played on stages that fall into the ‘other’ category, and Code Name Steam’s remix of the Fire Emblem theme, Code Name F.E, can be played on any Fire Emblem stage. Henry Fleming is also available as a support spirit who boosts fire and explosion attacks, a reference to his explosive special move.

In case it wasn’t clear, I am still bitter at the unjustly dismissive response this game got on release. Code Name Steam deserves better than to be remembered as the game with long enemy turns that wasn’t Majora’s Mask 3D. It’s a unique game with a lot of heart, one that is unapologetic about being different.