Steampunk worlds you shouldn't miss

February 20, 2023

I am a steampunk lover. My childhood is full of Jules Verne books and Sherlock Holmes novels. I will show you a list of worlds that I think are a lot of fun to get into this fascinating genre. They are not in any particular order.

Bioshock Infinite

The collapse of a theocratic and fanatically racist utopian society serves as a framework for one of the most amazing steampunk settings of recent times: the floating air city of Columbia. Consideredto be an indirect sequel of dieselpunk games with fictional settings Bioshock and Bioshock 2, this work by Kevin Levine is an artistic jewel full of details that makes playing it a real pleasure. In addition to a complex and opaque plot of parallel dimensions, the game shows a society on the brink of revolution, thus repeating the same pattern of its predecessors.

Whereas in the previous Bioshocks the world of Rapture was the victim of its own mercantilism, the world of Bioshock Infinite has collapsed under the burden of fanaticism (national, racial, etc…). The mixture of fantasy, social criticism and an outstanding artistic design makes the saga Bioshock one of the most exciting narratives you can find in the history of video games.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

I’m completely in love with this world. Mr. Moore’s knowledge of fantasy literature and British fiction is SO extensive, that one would have to be as crazy as him to get all the references he includes on his pages. However, I have to admit that I fell in love with the super group of literary characters from the nineteenth century since the very beginning. This idea serves not only to do a review-tribute to modern fantasy literature, but also to act as a mirror for British society and to talk about the monsters and heroes that lie at the heart of the Empire.

And, as if the enjoyment/source of inspiration/knowledge wasn’t enough, Kevin O’Neal gifts us illustrations full of humor, dynamism and detail that know how to deprive the characters of heroism but not dignity in such a way that, despite being extraordinary, they’re as human (and weak) as we are. Well… thinking about how they ridiculed James Bond always makes me laugh.

Steamboy

The fact that Japanese are fascinated with Europe is obvious in Japanese fiction. Katsuhiro Otomo, globally renowned for Akira, directed this spectacular steampunk story with incredible detail and vitality, which explains why they needed 10 years for its production, making it one of the most expensive animated films in history. Spies, incredible energy sources and walking fortresses push a young boy to become the savior of the British Empire.

I hope you like my list as an introduction to steampunk.