Steel Battalion review (Xbox)

Steel Battalion is as hard-core as console gaming gets. The game is a mech sim that recalls the feel of the location-based BattleTech mech combat simulators. The controller is gigantic and intentionally cumbersome. The game itself is deliberately punishing, too. When you begin play, you'll first create and name a pilot. As you progress, that pilot will earn credits that can be used to buy new VTs or the ability to resupply in the field. Should that pilot die because you failed to eject from an exploding mech before it went critical, or should you lose so many mechs that you don't have enough credits to purchase another one, the game ends--and erases your pilot's save data. Game over, big time.

Actually, considering you could merely back up your pilot to a memory card to circumvent the finality of death, this seems more like an inconvenience than something that adds to the game's realistic atmosphere. Also filed under the needless-realism heading is the game's music, which only plays if you spend 1,000 credits on a boom box. The music even sounds like it's coming out of a small, tinny portable radio speaker while you're listening to it. Most players who are willing to shell out $199 for a game with only around 10 unique missions will probably enjoy the extremes that the game goes to, but at times it almost feels like portions of the game were designed specifically to annoy. Once you've become comfortable with the game's control, though, Steel Battalion isn't very difficult at all, so losing a save or running out of credits becomes a rarity.

As much as the controller and gameplay design helps create a specific atmosphere, the game's graphics are what really stands out here. While the models themselves aren't very impressive on their own, Steel Battalion makes excellent use of filters, shaders, and plenty of other visual trickery that makes just about everything in Steel Battalion look absolutely amazing. The landscapes look like war-torn battlefields, and everything just has a gritty, realistic wartime look to it that really puts you in the thick of the fight. From the look of enemy VTs as they collapse and explode to the dirt that kicks up everywhere when you turn too fast and send your mech falling to the turf, Steel Battalion is a breathtaking visual experience.

However, it isn't without its shortcomings, which really stand out due to the great look of the rest of the game. You'll notice quite a bit of pop-up in some areas, specifically relating to tall buildings in city-based levels. It sticks out like a sore thumb when compared with the rest of the game. Also, the view window in the game is incredibly small. The viewscreen is surrounded by the rest of your cockpit, including lots of gauges, meters, and counters for your remaining ammo. Some alternate camera angles or the ability to view the game without the cockpit surrounding the view would have really been nice, though that probably would have made the game a bit less immersive. But the one thing that really hurts the presentation are the awful cutscenes and mission briefings. You would expect to see brilliantly produced video packages for each mission, detailing exactly what you need to do. But the cutscenes consist of static images of characters that make Steel Battalion look like some sort of warped, militaristic dating sim. The mission briefings make use of lightly animated maps, but they mostly consist of a picture of some sort of military commander and some relevant text.

Nevertheless, the best thing Steel Battalion has going for it is its incredible presentation, and the game's sound effects play a large role in it. The game sounds fine through standard TV speakers, but it also makes great use of the Xbox's built-in Dolby Digital support. Little things like closing the cockpit come out of all five speakers, making it truly feel like you're being surrounded by your VT's cockpit. The in-game sound is also quite good, though other games, like MechAssault, have had more impressive explosion sound effects. For a game that is clearly designed to push console gaming to the limit, again, you'd think that Capcom would have sprung for some more voice acting to go in the mission briefings, but these are text-only, complete with a couple of grammatical errors.

So does Steel Battalion really need to be played with that gigantic controller? No, since most of the nonessential functions could have been mapped to secondary menus and crammed onto the standard Xbox pad. But that's missing the point entirely. The game, with its simple "dodge then shoot" gameplay, isn't really worth playing in its own right. But when taken as a complete package, Steel Battalion is an impressive, one-of-a-kind product. With a $200 price tag and an occasionally punishing approach, Steel Battalion was clearly designed to scare off all but the most hard-core game players. If you're willing to put up with this sort of game design, you'll find a short, fairly simplistic game that is backed up by one of the most impressive presentations ever seen on a home console. If that sounds like something you'd want to own, then don't hesitate to pick up one of the huge Steel Battalion boxes as soon as possible. It's one of those unique packages that you can't find anywhere else. But people looking for exciting, deep gameplay will likely get bored with Steel Battalion rather quickly, and would definitely be better served elsewhere.