Jun 26 2007

Notable Steampunk Games

Posted by Phillip as Consoles, Featured Articles, Gaming, Gaming Features, Online Gaming, PC

A month ago, Ia wrote about the Steampunk style being applied to computer parts and peripherals. As she said, Steampunk is a “look based on the type of sci-fi/fantasy/speculative fiction literary genre”. As can be expected of any noteworthy genre, Steampunk has made its way into the video gaming industry. Several Steampunk games have become classics and worldwide bestsellers; still, you might not be aware that some of these popular games are Steampunk games.

Here’s a shortlist of Steampunk games that have enthralled countless gamers:

Thief — The Thief franchise (Thief: The Dark Project, Thief II: The Metal Age, Thief: Deadly Shadows) takes place in a Steampunk metropolis where the rogue of a protagonist achieves his goals by sneaking around enemies, dousing torches with water-tipped arrows, and just plain sleuthing around instead of bashing villains’ heads. Well, of course that’s still allowed, but avoided. If you think this makes for boring gameplay, think again. It spiked my adrenalin just as well as Counterstrike did. Very groundbreaking.

Warcraft — Yes, Blizzard’s venerable Warcraft franchise has a touch of Steampunk! Dwarves wielding rifles? Gnomish cities run by steam engines? Steampunk, baby. The World of Warcraft, Warcraft III, and Warcraft II provide one of the best game universes where magic and technology coexist.

Final Fantasy — But of course! Square’s paramount franchise has been long-known to mix the fantastic with the scientific — magic spells, airships, Guardian Forces, spaceships. Of the seemingly-endless train of FF games, Zidane and Garnet’s Final Fantasy IX is the most Steampunk of ‘em all.

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends — With one of its three races (the Vinci) heavily relying on gunpowder and clockwork, the fantastical successor to the historical Rise of Nations falls neatly into the Steampunk genre. As befitting a magic-and-tech game, Rise of Legends sports a magical civilization called the Alin, as well as the alien race of the Cuotl.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura — The game’s title says it all, doesnt it? For yours truly, Arcanum is the best Steampunk computer game built to this day, not only because it is brazenly Steampunk, but also because it is one of finest (if underrated) game worlds, ever.

Arcanum is a role-playing game done in Fallout fashion, which shouldn’t come as a surprise, as its developer (Troika Games) was formed by ex-Fallout devs.

You can think of Arcanum as “Industrial Revolution meets Tolkien”, what with steam-powered trains coexisting with tree-dwelling Elves. There is friction between “magick” users and technologists/scientists in the game, and players are better off focusing on one half of the skill tree.

There was talk of an Arcanum sequel, but unfortunately, Troika Games dissolved after publishing only three games (living up to its name, eh?). Ah, at least Fallout 3 is just around the corner!

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Comments (11)

11 Responses

Mr Butterscotch
26|Jun|2007

Great article – out of those I think that Thief is probably my favourite. What a cracking game.

N.B. I’m back from my holidays!
Phillip Kimpo Jr
26|Jun|2007

Thanks The first time I laid my hands on Thief — a demo — I was amazed at how opposite it was to traditional first-person games (the “shooters”), and how its formula worked as good (or even better!).

That said, I’m biased towards RPGs. Count in the detailed game-world of Arcanum, and you have my favorite Steampunk game
Dave
23|Aug|2007

My fav steampunk game was Crimson Skies & its sequel.
Laser Engraved Moleskine Notebooks » Crimson Crux
01|Jul|2008

[...] me of my Notable Steampunk Games article at [...]
Miscael
14|Aug|2008

Isn’t BioShock a Steampunk game?
A Dude That Knows His Steampunk
30|Nov|2008

No, BioShock is not a steampunk game, neither is WoW. Please take it off the list.
Xeigrich
21|Feb|2009

BioShock is not steampunk. It is a dieselpunk/genepunk hybrid.

There is very, very little steampunk in any of the Final Fantasy games or in the Warcraft series (especial WoW, which has even less than Warcraft). Puttin a musket in a fantasy game doesn’t make something steampunk, and dwarf machinery can only take the concept of steampunk so far before fizzling out. Only Final Fantasy VI comes close to steampunk. Final Fantasy IX is far from steampunk, especially if you actually play it and find out that the airships run on magical MIST, not steam.

And Fallout 3 could not be any FURTHER from steampunk — I know it’s not on the list but it’s mentioned at the end. It’s a view of a postapocalyptic future as might have been envisioned by Cold War era paranoia. There is ONE steam powered object in the whole game, a weapon. Everything else is nuclear powered or electric powered. It is nukepunk (aka atompunk) with a hint of Teslapunk and if I remember correctly, some dieselpunk as well. Yes, that’s a lot of punks, but Fallout 3 is a complex game.
donny
27|May|2009

For the record bioshock is somewhat a steampunk game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
Xeigrich
13|Jun|2009

“For the record,” BioShock is NOT a steampunk game at all. It shares common elements with other works of steampunk, but there are NO valid grounds to prove that BioShock is steampunk itself. The number one point to prove that BioShock is not steampunk: there aren’t any steam-powered machines. The city itself even runs on geothermal power, with everything else inside it being electronic or internal combustion powered.

If anything, BioShock is closer to cyberpunk than steampunk, but in a definitive 1950’s low-tech sort of way.

Oh, and don’t use the wikipedia steampunk article, as someone’s long ago removed the reference to BioShock’s fleeting similarities (and rightly so). That article in particular is unreliable, just check the history.
Jeremy
26|Sep|2009

For anyone old enough to remember, the best steampunk game ever, in my opionion, is The Chaos Engine (aka Soldiers of Fortune), from 1993. Best played on an Amiga emulator.
Aladdinsane
31|Oct|2009

At Xeigrich, I think you are mistaken as machines in BioShock are powered by steam. How do you hack the machines? By redirecting the steam flow.

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