The guys from Anticto, a small studio located in Girona, whose members have participated in various projects in the videogame industry, finally released their debut title after a period of several months as Early Access with the aim of polishing mechanics,
solving setbacks and prepare a Steam debut to match. Now, with a very positive feedback from the community, comes to the popular digital platform Steamroll , a steampunk strategy and puzzle adventurewith touches of minigolf that reminds of classics
like Marble Madness or Portal, yes, without renouncing his own personality. The objective is clear: we must escape from a ruined mine thanks to our ingenuity and the “weapons” within our reach, some spheres called steamballs with the most diverse properties. All the details in our analysis .
Scarabeus
At Steamroll we are a young engineer on his first day of work at the controls of the Scarabeus, a steam-powered vehicle with a good handful of qualities that give it great versatility in the depths of a mine. And how could it be otherwise, things are twisted underground, which will force us to resort to the Scarabeus to get out of this dangerous situation.
Fortunately, we have radio assistance from our superior, who will give us valuable advice to take advantage of the peculiarities of our metal sphere and survive such a difficult situation. Once at the controls -either by mouse and keyboard or control pad-, we will enjoy its
two aspects of its gameplayalready from the first moment; and is that as with many titles of the genre, we will have to alternate between sections of skill at the controls of the Scarabeus and moments of puzzles in which to reach a switch of a thousand and one ways to open the way and move forward.
While we move we have to be aware of the steam meter, think well of our actions and move to the next base, where we can fill the tank and solve the puzzle in turn. This will be where the different steamballs come into play , some of them explosive, others will
create ramps and so on with various properties. Once we have set the stage we will go into action shooting the different steamballs in order to reach our goal. And is that thanks to our expertise, we can aim, measure the trajectory and move to the trial-error system until you hit the right key; or rather, activate the correct switch.
A concept of minigolftaken to a steampunk universe through constant challenges. The result is interesting, there is no doubt, although in many cases we find situations subject to certain randomness, which can lead us to previous checkpoints in more occasions
than we would like. For the rest, nothing to object to a balanced game proposal that will force us to constantly improve thanks to a well-adjusted difficulty curve.
At the visual level it looks pretty good without being any graphic prodigy; In the menu of options we have at our disposal a good number of parameters to adjust the quality to the specifications of our team. And everything has to be said, it offers a sensational aspect in all its configurations; Although it does not stand out in graphic power, the setting is very successful,
especially in the play of lights and particles. The physicists also play a prominent role and Steamroll are up to the task. So much so, that it is in a title of these characteristics that they become the protagonist element; Of course, thanks to the steamballs aiming
system, we can ensure almost all of our shots, which can subtract some challenge beyond the cited design flaws of certain areas that can disrupt a
great performance. In this sense, Steamroll bets on the hackneyed scoring system through three stars, through which to achieve certain objectives to return to play a certain level to complete one hundred percent.
