Steamboat Incident Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

Steamboat Incident isn’t one for capturing lightning in a bottle, nor is it one for holding a candle against the other twenty-something Steamboat Willie indies that have launched since the character entered public domain. If we’re being honest, it isn’t a game that you would immediately look at and think, ‘now there’s an original idea.’ Frankly, it’s about as on the nose as Willie-inspired properties can get. The question is, does it add fuel to the boiler, or does it serve only to lay anchor in a sea of familiar shipwrecks? Let’s talk about it.

Without laying it on too thick, Steamboat Incident aims to keeps you in the gutter, without a plot to wrap your fingers around, and more importantly, without the usual padding that you would typically expect to find in a stealth-based horror. In an effort to keep it simple and to the point, it focuses on the basics—the vague narrative, the paper thin personalities, and the notion that, if you happen to find yourself kidnapped by an eerily familiar monster, you are likely going to want to find an escape as soon as possible. And I guess that’s all that Steamboat Incident is: a cat-and-mouse affair that builds its walls around familiar escapism tropes.

Steamboat Incident certainly doesn’t beat around the bush with its premise. Rather, it chucks you directly into the fray—in an old and decrepit steamboat, of all places—and it tells you to source components needed to repair the wheel. It doesn’t tell you why you’re the victim in a monster’s deluded fantasy, nor does it take the time to flesh out the details with the usual jargon and character backstories. Simply, it reels you into the monochrome quarters of an old boat, and it tasks you with finding spare parts so that you can fix the wheel and flee into the sunset.

A stealth game at its core, Steamboat Incident centers its gameplay around the usual pillars of the genre, with nail-biting confrontations with the antagonist, hide-and-seek-like situations, and light puzzle-solving elements that require you to unlock tools—a crowbar, for example—and earn the right of passage to various areas on the boat. It’s a familiar concept that, with all due respect, you would have seen before in the likes of Outlast or, for the sake of generalizing the property, Bad Cheese. You explore a steamboat, collect items, and desperately try to avoid a mascot that prowls the cabins.

Unsurprisingly, the protagonist in this world isn’t a hero with a god complex. You do not have access to weapons, and you cannot retaliate against the forces of the enemy whenever things go awry. Instead, you have to sprint, hide, and break the line of sight, all whilst keeping tabs on your objectives and remaining well clear of the radar. Like a traditional stealth game, then — but with a mascot that looks an awful lot like Willie. But then, I think that’s the image that the developer is going for here. I mean, of course it is.

Steamboat Incident isn’t likely to take home the gold for its plot points or its monster design, nor is it likely to swivel the heads of those who adore thought-provoking puzzles, for that matter. The truth is, there is a pretty simple game here that works, but doesn’t quite have the bone structure of an alien species. As a horror game, if gets a lot of things right. With a tense atmosphere and a gloomy aesthetic that’s drizzled in a familiar black and white charcoal texture, Steamboat Incident clearly provides a well-rounded setting. It’s a small world I’ll admit, yet it manages to cram a lot of details into it — and that counts for a great deal.

It’s no secret that mascot horrors are becoming increasingly common among indie studios, which, sadly, dampens the impact that the likes of Steamboat Incident makes with the assets at its disposal. The fact that it doesn’t do a lot more to rock the proverbial boat, and that it capitalizes on a concept that appears to have more ripples than a fearsome tidal wave, is a nail in the coffin here. Don’t get me wrong, it has its strengths, and not to mention a solid foundation for a great little horror game. But, to call it an original idea just wouldn’t be an accurate description of what it is at its core.

In light of its lack of originality, Steamboat Incident is a great, albeit disappointingly short mascot horror game with a ton of great features. With an atmosphere that can leave you feeling uneasy and a fairly sizable environment that can keep you itching for another peek beneath the net, the game delivers precisely what it displays on its tin. It also plays well, too, with some clean mechanics and a fluid design that compliments the old-school cartoon aesthetic remarkably well.

Again, Steamboat Incident isn’t about to change the way that we view mascot horror stories. Though, for what it’s worth, it does make for a better experience than the generic shovelware titles that often frequent the public domain for quick cash grab ideas. At least with Steamboat Incident you have a game that both plays well and keeps you feeding out of the palm of its sticky white glove. I’d call that a win.

Verdict

Steamboat Incident doesn’t shy away from its fixation on the public domain with its hand-in-glove love letter to Steamboat Willie. Despite the fact that it’s evidently without a solid storyline or any form of technological innovation, it does, in spite of its minor flaws, make for a rather gripping cat-and-mouse experience. It might not be the best thing to grace the tide since Bad Cheese, but I can definitely find it within myself to call it out for what it is: a serviceable mascot horror that gets the job done with the tools it has in its arsenal. More often than not, that’s enough to whet the mood and give you something to write home about.