The casting was announced via Twitter, one week prior to the game’s release.
.@wilw spotting! Wil Wheaton lends his talents to #CodeNameSTEAM for #3DS as the voice of the great Abe Lincoln. pic.twitter.com/hpFVuPofVj
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 5, 2015
Lincoln is one of many characters in the game pulled from the breadth of Americana, both historical and literary. Playable characters include Tiger Lily from Peter Pan, the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, and Tom Sawyer. The game’s design draws heavily from the Silver Age of American comic books, such as the work of Captain America creator Jack Kirby. In that regard it is reminiscent of Ken Levine’s Freedom Force games.
Unlike the real-time strategy of Freedom Force, Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is turn-based, like Intelligent Systems’ other popular strategy franchises. Each character is moved in sequence, with a fixed amount of steam to be spent each round on movement and actions. Unlike earlier Intelligent efforts, perspective is limited to a tight, third-person view from behind each character as you move them through the three-dimensional environments. Removing the omniscient eagle eye of traditional strategy games makes positioning all the more important as you assess the situation and look around to spy enemies and upgrades.
Cementing the connection to Intelligent Systems’ previous games, players can use any of the Fire Emblem Amiibos (Marth, Lucina, Robin, and Ike) to add those characters to their squad. Keeping with the series’ tradition of permadeath, these characters, unlike the game’s main cast, cannot be revived if they fall during battle. They can, however, be added back into the squad once combat is over. Their equipment also cannot be altered.
Wheaton earned his place in the Geek pantheon by playing the young Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Subsequently he has become ensconced as a pillar of the Los Angeles geek community as an actor, writer, voice actor, and host. He regularly collaborates with college roommate and Nerdist host Chris Hardwick, and co-runs the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel with Felicia Day.
His gaming credentials run deep. As part of Geek and Sundry, Wheaton hosts the TableTop series in which he plays board games with various geek celebrities. He has also voice acted in numerous games, including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Fallout: New Vegas, and most recently There Came an Echo.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. arrives exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS on March 13, 2015.
