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Ars Technica Article on Steampunk Games

A little while ago, Mike Thompson contacted me about an article for Ars Technica entitled “The Memories of Our Future” about the Steampunk genre in computer/video games, and I’m very pleased to see that the article has just appeared on the site and I share the honour of being interviewed with Mr Sanders of the Five Fists of Science and (the lovely) Mr Iversen of the Zeitguyz games company!

Touching on why Steampunk has taken a back seat in many games, and looking at why Steampunk games might be getting a lot more interest in the future, it’s a very nice article that I recommend taking a look at! It might not mention your own particular favourite Steampunk game, but feel free to mention them below. Thank you, Mike!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 6:23 pm by Tinkergirl and is filed under Steampunk Images.

insanity

I, for one, welcome our new Zeitguyz overlords. Their game is going to be amazing.

Joe Sinister

There is a shooting game for the Xbox 1 called Gunvalkyrie, which takes place in an alternate 19th century and is very Steampunk! Its backwards compatible with the 360 and is very good IMO. You can find it dirt cheap in most gamestops that still carry xbox 1 games.

Cringe

The most steampunk game I've played... Syberia 2.
Amazon Link

Mechanical Mouse

The Zeitguyz game looks like a steam punk Max Payne. I'm prebooking my pre-order!

EdgeyDev

Hey guys,

I'm currently working on a heavily steampunk influenced xbox 360 title. This site has provided some great reference for the title. Check it out if you are interested.
www.edge-of-twilight.com

cheers.

GISKARD

Doesn't anyone remember The Chaos Engine game for the Amiga? Graet two player, and I loved the aesthetics of the game.

IncredibleGeek

I have to agree about Arcanum pulling off technology well. It made using tech decidedly different from magic, which just makes it so much better than the usual "sufficient level of technology is indistinguishable from magic."

And when did length become a /bad/ thing? I remember when 50 bucks bought you more than 8 hours of gameplay.

John Pfeifer

Personally, I found the "extremely time-consuming" nature of Arcanum's tech system to be a benefit. The author decried the fact that the game took "over 50 hours", while I found it gave the accomplishments more meaning, and gave me more time to enjoy the overall atmosphere. Compare this to games that are completed far too fast, or pile riduculous amounts of loot on the characters.

Skreenname

@Animus Aqualis:
There is always Dark Void coming out next year which has some Steampunk themes.
And Damnation is also got Steamish themes.
=D

Nicodemus Cain

I'm disappointed to see that Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends wasn't given a mention. For those who haven't played it, one of the factions, the Vinci, were very much steampunk, having any array of clockwork vehicles.

Stephen Skubinna

Yes, vonW, I knew of the WH40K video games but haven't played any so far so don't have any real handle on how closely they approach a steampunk genre. Not very, would be my guess though.

As to the miniatures based part of WH40K, I have a fair collection of Chaos Marines, whose paint scheme relies heavily on brass trim. I suppose I could make little boilers and piston engines for them, outfit them with top hats and pocket watches, and go for a corrupted Jules Verne look. Maybe "Verne meets Lovecraft."

Gangrell

While not purely Steampunk, the tinkering and "Walking mechines" due lean heavy in that corner as far as I can tell. What game is this? The over looked jewel of the PS2, Dark Cloud 2.

vonWolfehaus

Very cool article. I posted a thread about it in the Aural-Ocular forum as well.

Stephen: Actually Warhammer has several video games. Among the many 40k games, there's Mark of Chaos and even a PSP game, and probably others.

Stephen Skubinna

Warhammer is not a video game, and is not steampunk, but the race of dwarves do have decidedly steampunk elements - they're the engineers of the mythical world, and produce war machines somewhat like what Leonardo da Vinci would have had he a reliable lightweight power source (yes, they're steam powered).

Likewise the computer game Rise of Legends has steampunk elements in it, but flavored more by the Renaissance than Victorian England.

Close, not enough for the proverbial cigar, but still close.

Animus Aqualis

As for the Steampunk games, though Bioshock certainly has similarities to Steampunk it is set to the genres of Biopunk and Retropunk and since it is a spiritual successor of the Cyberpunk based game Systemshock. I wonder if they will go down the list and after perhaps a 2nd Bioshock(just like with System Shock) start with an actual 100% steampunk based Steamshock game. If they would it could seriously put Steampunk on the map as far as videogames. Making way for other great Steampunk games.

zeek

Love the Five Fists, Matt Fraction has never managed to disappoint me with his writing!

As for Steampunk games, I just finished playing Penny Arcade Adventures and it's definitely worth mentioning, set in the 1920s and full of evil steampowered robots.