Codename S.T.E.A.M. isn’t like most traditional turn-based strategy games. Similar to 2008’s amazing Valkyria Chronicles, it embraces a third-person perspective and uses it to create tense face-offs against alien invaders. Saving the world as a group of real (and fictional) American heroes might sound a little weird, but S.T.E.A.M. has some interesting qualities. Here’s a rundown of 5 things you should know about Codename S.T.E.A.M.

Welcome to a Weird World

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It’s All Built on Steam

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The Importance of Overwatch

Third-Person Suspense

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The alien enemies of this steampunk universe might appear to be a strange bunch, but the agents of S.T.E.A.M. (that’s the Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace Codename S.T.E.A.M. is a turn-based strategy game at its core, where you maneuver a squad of four teammates to take out enemy threats. Steam is the resource at the heart and soul of every action on the field, so its important to make sure you’re getting the most out of it to move and attack efficiently.Movement uses up steam units with every step, but you can gain it back if you retrace your steps. You can use this to do vital reconnaissance and find good attack positions. You aren’t locked in any decisions until you’ve fired a weapon or picked up a health item. When you finally strike, you can line up the shot in real-time and fire a round or two at the enemy. The amount of steam left in your boiler sets up how many steps you can take and how many attacks you can pull off.Overwatch is a critical part of success on the battlefield, but it can be tough to explain. Basically, you’re choosing not to use a weapon during your turn. But this allows you to automatically react to an enemy during its turn. The important thing to note is overwatch isn’t tied to every primary or sub weapon. A handy green icon indicates that a weapon can do it.Successful overwatch attacks are awesome to pull off, and they can even take out weaker enemies entirely. But be careful: the enemies can use overwatch against you to screw up your plans!There is no overworld perspective view in Codename S.T.E.A.M., but that’s a good thing. It adds layers of suspense and tension because you can’t immediately see every nearby threat. Worse, some enemies are cued to your position by sound. In these cases, tiptoeing around the map will help you capitalize on the element of surprise. Getting the drop on a group of enemies is really satisfying, and you’ll love when a plan comes together. But enemies will punish mistakes made on the battlefield, so don’t get careless.Each hero has a primary weapon that’s unique: Tiger Lily’s Medi-Mortar can fire a blast that heals members of your squad, Lion can launch himself over ledges or into an enemy to attack. You can pick custom sub-weapons and unlock more by picking up coins scattered on the battlefield. Equipping a special boiler addadditional benefits, like being able to recharge more units of steam. With the right combinations, you can outfit a team to be a dominating force.

Jose Otero is an Associate Editor at IGN and host of Nintendo Voice Chat . You can follow him on Twitter