Nintendo Announces Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. for 3DS, Developed by Fire Emblem Studio

While Fire Emblem and Advance Wars developer Intelligent System has been hard at work on its Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem project with Atlus, it’s also been toiling away on a new, unannounced project for Nintendo, and that game has now been unveiled.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is predominantly played from an over-the-shoulder perspective, similarly to Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles.

Titled Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (meaning “Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace”), the next game from Intelligent Systems is set during an alternate 19th century in which Abraham Lincoln brings together a combat unit in London, England to defend Earth from an alien invasion. Similar to Intelligent Systems’ previous games, S.T.E.A.M. is a strategy role-playing game; however, the game differs in that it is largely played from an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective, taking a page from Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles. When taking turns during a battle, players are given a set amount of steam, which is used to move, attack, and perform other actions; when all of the steam is used up, players can take no more actions. The game is mainly played using the 3DS’ touchscreen, though whether or not this also applies to attack aiming is currently unclear. The game’s campaign is split into numerous missions; outside of the campaign, some form of online multiplayer is also included, though specifics have not been given at this time.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.‘s primary enemies are aliens.

While Nintendo has only made screenshots available to the general public so far, the game seems to be a treat to see and hear; the visuals are cel-shaded and inspired by the silver age of comic books, and the game setting is presented in a steampunk environment, with mechs being usable in gameplay. In terms of sound, the game’s soundtrack is teased as possibly being composed by Yoshito Hirano, the main composer behind the Advance Wars series; Hirano seemingly is using rock music as the basis for the soundtrack.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is expected to be released next year for Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo is expected to show footage of the game tomorrow during its live Treehouse stream on its Twitch channel, and we will update this post with footage if it becomes available.

Source: Nintendo 3DS E3 2014 Roundtable (courtesy of Polygon)