If there’s one issue common across stealth games, it’s that the divide between sneaking and game over is too severe. In Splinter Cell and the earlier Metal Gear Solids, so long as you’re undetected, everything is fine. One slip up, though, and it’s basically the end – you can fight back in theory, but the controls and mechanics aren’t designed for open combat. Drawing inspiration from Dark Souls, Assassin’s Creed, and the large-scale exploration of Star Wars Jedi Survivor, a new stealth game blends hiding and fighting more seamlessly. PCGamesN goes hands-on at this year’s WASD Live.
In a dark, quasi apocalyptic sci-fi world, Steel Seed, a new stealth game from Storm in a Teacup, casts you as Zoe and her robotic companion Koby. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, overwhelmed and outclassed by increasingly sophisticated cyborgs and AIs. Our possible salvation lies at the nadir of a gigantic underground facility – picture a bad-mood version of Portal’s Aperture Science. Wielding a chunky electric sword and a range of other, upgradeable weapons, it’s Zoe’s job to quite literally get to the bottom of this.
If stealth is your preference, Steel Seed allows for incredibly graceful movement. Climb, slide, and dash to stay out of sight, or use Koby to scout ahead, tag enemies, and hack doors to let you slip past. If everything goes wrong, however – if you’re spotted, or maybe you just decide it’s time to change tempo – combat in Steel Seed is equally fluid. Basic traversal feels like Assassin’s Creed’s parkour. Battles, on the other hand, are punchy and punishing. You might get an easy win if you fight one-to-one, but engage multiple opponents and you’ve got a serious challenge on your hands.
Like the best soulslike games, you can lock onto enemies one at a time then sidestep, roll, and parry to avoid damage, while picking the pinpoint moment to launch an attack yourself. This is the best part of Steel Seed. Where a lot of stealth games more or less force you to stay in the shadows, if you want to go loud, it’s an equally viable approach, especially if you customize your build appropriately.
On the contrary, if you want to remain hidden, the environments in Steel Seed are vast and detailed – like the intricate, multi-pathed pseudo hubs of Star Wars Jedi Survivor, the challenge you to identify the best route of ingress, then use your skills and wits to traverse it unseen.
“There’s a lot of exploration in the game,” one of Steel Seed’s representatives, Mark Allen, explains live from the showfloor at WASD. “There are areas, especially later on, where you can see the whole thing and you’re going two or three levels down. The team has spent a lot of time working on these environments to make it all feel much more real world.
“The game is stealth based but there are certain parts where you will have to use combat. But you can actually use combat or use stealth. When it’s one-on-one, you can rely on combat. But when you’re against multiple enemies, they’re pretty tough. But playing in stealth mode versus combat will give you a totally different experience.”
Helped along by an eye-catching visual style, which blends sci-fi and grimdark into something super distinctive, Steel Seed is currently looking very promising. We’re still waiting on a release date, but it’s scheduled for launch some time in 2024. You can head to Steam and wishlist it right here.
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Additional reporting by Nat Smith at WASD for PCGamesN.