Nintendo Announce Code Name: S.T.E.A.M

Nintendo announced its new IP for the Nintendo 3DS last night at the E3 Developer’s Discussion. Titled Code Name: S.T.E.A.M, the turn based strategy RPG is set in the steampunk inspired universe of London. It has elements of third person action games as well as shooters. Developed by Intelligent Systems (Fire Emblem Awakening) the premise of Code Name: S.T.E.A.M is that it allows you to play as an elite fighting force formed by Abraham Lincoln to battle invaders from other worlds.  

The action takes place on the battlefield, a la Valkyria Chronicles, where the camera follows the units from a third person perspective rather than the usual top down view familiar in other SRPGs. Verticality becomes extremely important as you need to use the environment to your advantage as you traverse the map. The way you move around the field is determined by the amount of steam that you have in your steam tank. Actions are also determined by this tank, so you have to make sure that you have enough steam to be able to attack others and to defend your character. Code Name: S.T.E.A.M sounds to be an interesting approach to tempt new gamers to the genre not familiar with SRPGs.