Steamworld is comprised of many games: Steamworld Tower Defense,…

Steamworld is comprised of many games: Steamworld Tower Defense, Steamworld Dig, Steamworld Quest and Steamworld Heist. Steamworld Heist has always been my favorite of the Steamworld series. The entire series uses a Steampunk aesthetic, but Heist and Heist 2 are the only games that have an emphasis on the "punk" part of steampunk.

Corrupt regime ruling the world starving the poor of resources? Check. The royal navy and space force deprive the Steam-powered bots of ever so scarce water, knowing that the steam bots need it to survive, while the royalists don't as they run on diesel.

The ruling class employing pro-fascist policies? Check. The royal diesel bots enslave the "criminal" steam bots, and place heavy taxes on the ones they deem "innocent". It's either pay them a hefty portion of your water intake every month, or go to the hydro mines.

Hard as nails anti-heroes, using morally questionable means to fight back against the corrupt regime? Check. In both games, the protagonists are thieves. They board ships, hold the crew at gunpoint and take everything their victims have in the cargo hold, regardless of whether they're innocent civilians or navy drones. They're not exactly robin hood, as they steal from anybody they can. Piper especially, seeing as she's not exactly welcome in Gat's bar due to her frequent theft, and ringing up unpaid drink tabs for months. When push comes to shove, the heroes are forced to band together with the very steam bots they've robbed many a time in the past to fight back against the royalists ever expanding colonization.

One of my favorite moments in the second game is when you discover a diesel bot hanging at an exclusively steam-bot bar. The two are normally at eachothers throats due to the fascist regime being exclusively diesel, however this diesel bot has personally witnessed the horrors that befall his own kind should they resist the crown's rule, opting to defect. Just as in real life, military soldiers are only a tool of the wealthy - While many soldiers may hold the same fascist views as their rulers, there are still those who enlisted genuinely believing they were doing the right thing, only to duck out as soon as they learn the truth.

The Steamworld games are all great, I love every single one, but this is an aspect of Heist in particular that I've not seen anybody online talk about. I genuinely feel that Heist and its sequel are the only games that embraces both the aesthetic of steampunk and the politics that are a core part of punk. Just the same as how there are many pieces of media that employ the cyberpunk aesthetic, but not the punk ideals.