Steel Seed Review – Prince of Persia Meets Sci-Fi Stealth

Steel Seed Review

Stealth adventures are a rarity in today’s gaming landscape. While many titles feature stealth elements, few fully commit to the concept. Steel Seed embraces this idea and emerges from the shadows with the aim to feel both fresh and familiar. Developed by the team behind Close to the Sun, will it fill a clear gap in the market or quietly slip by unnoticed?

After a catastrophic event renders Earth uninhabitable, robots inherit the planet, building a new technological world atop the ruins of the old. You play as Zoe, who awakens to find herself part human, part machine. With no memory of her past, Zoe sets out to uncover the truth about her origins and the fate of her father. While the premise is simple, the narrative remains focused and avoids unnecessary complexity. As a result, it’s easy to become emotionally invested in the story and connect with the characters as they navigate a ravaged world.

You Got a Friend in Me

At the heart of the journey is Zoe’s relationship with her companion, KOBY, a small drone that follows her across the wasteland. Though KOBY’s speech is unintelligible, Zoe’s responses carry the weight of their conversations, cleverly conveying meaning through context. It’s a subtle but effective storytelling technique that reflects the care put into the writing, fostering a strong bond between the player and this sentient. The relationship is further developed through the gameplay as the drone is an important accomplice and protector of the protagonist.

Stealth takes the spotlight as you must remain in the shadows to eliminate the number of robots that guard each area. Staying out of sight is intuitive due to the straightforward mechanics that allow you to execute enemies with ease. Whether from behind cover or from a high, you can take out foes quickly and silently. However, rather than just eradicating a mech, you can also hack them to align their allegiances with you. This will make the bot attack the opposition, causing a distraction while you quietly sneak past.

KOBY is also an ally in your adventure, and harnessing his abilities will aid your journey. You can switch perspectives to scout the area and tag all enemies in the environment. This is key to remaining undetected, as you’ll be able to track their route so that you can stay out of sight. When scouring the surroundings, you’ll encounter environmental traps that you can take advantage of. Working out how to maximise the impact of an explosive adds depth and strategy to the experience. In addition, you can also set mines, create cover, and shoot guards to aid Zoe on her quest.

Adapt or Die

When spotted, you must switch tactics and either scurry out of sight or attack. Luckily, Zoe is able to fight, but she is not as proficient in this area. You can combine light and heavy strikes to demolish those who stand in your way, however, you mustn’t become reckless, as you can be killed with a few strong hits. To defend, you can dodge attacks and unleash a strong counter if timed perfectly or maintain distance and use KOBY for ranged attacks. Although a serviceable system, it isn’t as strong as the stealth component of the game.

Whether you want to focus on stealth, combat, or gadgets, you can upgrade either section via the skill tree. This will give you more options for that playstyle, allowing you to be more proficient in that area. Each ability is tied to a challenge, which gives another goal to complete on top of the mission objective. For example, you may want the upgrade that requires 10 perfect dodges. Due to this, you are incentivised to adapt your approach so that you can unlock more skills. It’s a great method to encourage experimentation without forcing the player.

A pillar of the experience is its traversal. For large portions of the game, you’ll be climbing and solving environmental puzzles to reach your objective. This is where the game truly shines. Wearing its Prince of Persia inspirations on its sleeve, you will leap from ledges, run across walls, and swing from the environment to narrowly survive. Storm in a Teacup also amps up the intensity via Uncharted-esque cinematic platforming sequences. At times, you’ll slide down the terrain as the world crumbles before your very eyes. This leads to pulse-racing segments where you leap from and to collapsing buildings in order to reach safety.

A Glitch in the System

It’s clear that the game is ambitious. It delivers high octane, cinematic sequences, perspective shifts, and gameplay variety and all with stunning visuals. With this in mind, there are a few technical issues that crop up. I did encounter a few glitches where the protagonist didn’t land correctly, resulting in them being stuck in the environment, and some framerate drops, particularly in the final environment. In addition, sometimes the momentum of jumps dramatically drops, meaning you can’t reach your target, resulting in you restarting the segment. The developer is aware of particular problems and is aiming to patch these with the day-one update.

The overall presentation of Steel Seed is brilliant. Harsh lighting creates strong divides in the environment, adding a sinister atmosphere to the mechanical world. Areas differ aesthetically and give glimmers of events from the past. Aspects are accentuated through perspective shifts, where the camera alters, highlighting the incredible art direction. Combined with the synth-infused score, the game manages to capture an authentic Sci-Fi world.

Steel Seed successfully blends its inspirations into a compelling sci-fi adventure that feels both fresh and familiar. It truly shines during its climbing and cinematic platforming segments, delivering memorable moments that echo its influences without feeling derivative. While the stealth mechanics stand out, thanks to a variety of tools and strategies for silent takedowns, the melee combat feels less refined by comparison. Technical issues do occasionally hinder the experience, but they’re not enough to derail what is ultimately a focused and engaging journey, especially for fans of the genre’s classics.

***A PlayStation 5 code provided by the publisher***