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Engadget emblem in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor makes uncontrollable VTs more stylish
Fans of the Steel Battalion series will remember fondly showing off that massive, 40 button controller to their friends and, for a time, feeling like the most hardcore gamer on the planet. Those days are sadly gone, that amazing controller not compatible with the Xbox 360, but of course these days you are the controller. Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the latest, Kinect-powered entry to the series and if you look around you'll find the above, your very own Engadget logo that you can plaster all over your Vertical Tank. While we've had limited time with the game, we have to echo the sentiment of our friends over at Joystiq who conclude that the controls are, well, broken to put it mildly. But hey, dig that logo!%Gallery-159880%
Silver Lining: Steel Battalion Heavy Armor and humanity within the mech
'Silver Lining' is a column from freelancer Taylor Cocke dedicated to highlighting moments of real potential in less than perfect games. This week he examines From Software's Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. An interesting thing happened to me within the first hours of Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. I started to actually care about the computer controlled soldiers confined to the chassis of my hulking Vertical Tank. Natch and Parker's voices would have been out of place as bad 80s stereotypes. But as the pair reloaded our tank's weapons, spewed tactical advice in my ear, and repaired our VT from encounters, I came to know them as more than chatty computer characters. They were compatriots.And then I'd aim down the sites to see enemy tanks, and do my absolute best to keep myself and my team alive – a difficult feat due to Steel Battalion's atrocious Kinect controls. My enemies were mechanical monsters, sent to destroy everything that I held dear. In early cinematics, they were shown as faceless killing machines, slaughtering men, women, and children indiscriminately.In war, one of the most powerful motivational techniques is dehumanizing your enemy. Dehumanization can also be accomplished through the use of technology. Aiming down a long-range rifle's night vision scope doesn't exactly focus on the human elements at the end of the crosshairs. Drone strikes do away with even having to look at the person being shot at. And in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, the player is literally separated from enemy combatants by walls of steel. There is no defining human factor on the battlefield, only the game of war.%Gallery-158612%
Breaking Down a Broken Game
You're reading Reaction Time, a weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro. "Why don't you just do your job and review the game? Stop shoving your opinion down our throats!"That's one bit of criticism, nested between comments both cordial and caustic, that I sometimes see at the bottom of Joystiq's thoughtful, pretentious, accurate and downright incorrect reviews (depending on whom you ask). For some, a bit of punditry only pollutes the product evaluation they signed up for. Less thought and more report, please.That's not how game reviews work at all – not unless it's their goal to confirm factual observations about the video game, which is indeed functional and playable from the first-person perspective, and features a sequence of steadily increasing challenges that must be overcome with considered manipulation of the controller's buttons. And there are graphics!But the ease at which the mythical "objective review" is dismissed nearly obscures an unusual facet of writing about games. When critics played Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor this week, they encountered a game that had clear, unavoidable faults beyond the usual suspects in level design, storytelling, play mechanisms, and emotions evoked by the premise. What happens when the game just fails to function properly?
Metareview: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
Only the majestic tone of the illustrious George Takei could sum up Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor's reviews so far: "Oh my!" In our two-star review we retreated back to the Kinect game classic "It's great, when it works," but at least we seem to have scraped some functionality out of the game. Prepare thyself, for only darkness is found beyond here. OXM (75/100): "Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor isn't for everyone. In fact, some people may be more turned off by the potential for error in its Kinect controls than by the Xbox version's overbearing, multi-button controller ... War has never been this intense, and you should try to take part." Destructoid (30/100): "At its core, it's a basic mech game with a "realistic and gritty" feel to it that you've seen a million times before. Maybe at some point, the Kinect requirement can be patched out of it. Until then, piloting these Vertical Tanks even while sober may result in a loss of brain cells." Game Informer (30/100): "The mech-combat genre isn't overflowing with alternatives, but they do exist. Save yourself the aggravation and pick any one of those. You won't do any worse." IGN (30/100): "Heavy Armor might be Kinect's most spectacular failure, but it's precisely because it's so ambitious. ... Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor deserves a lot of credit for sticking its neck out in an effort to craft a fresh videogame experience. It's one of the best ideas on Xbox this year, but ultimately it's also one of the system's worst games." Polygon (10/100): "I was never able to shake the feeling of watching through a window while someone else played Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor as I shouted suggestions and waved frantically, hoping they'd notice me. So, how is Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor as a game? I honestly have no clue. You'd have to ask the guy in the other room."%Gallery-158612%
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor review: Grasping at nothing
With my upper body poking through the hatch of my vertical tank – essentially a massive gun turret situated atop two equally massive, birdlike metal legs – I observe the surrounding landscape with a pair of binoculars. Spotting my target, I hop back into the cockpit of the VT as one of my crew members begins to crank the engine. I pull the activation lever, sending power to the VT's numerous systems: instrument panels, ammunition gauges and, most importantly, armaments and steering.I lean into the viewport, watching through the tiny window as the VT rumbles forward and my remote target grows closer. Once we're within range, I pull down the periscope, which will lend much greater accuracy than the viewport's iron sights at this distance. Adjusting my aim slightly above the target, I let loose a shell. The armor-piercing round impacts the enemy VT's leg with such force that it is shorn clean off, sending the tank tumbling to the ground. I silently congratulate myself, but the celebration is cut short when an enemy shell comes screaming out of nowhere, slamming into our VT and knocking me back into my seat.As my team and I regroup, a second shell rocks the cabin once more, shattering the viewport glass and filling the cockpit with smoke. The panel that houses the ventilator control is tucked away to the right. I pull it forward, lock it into place, reach for the ventilator chain and ... accidentally flick on the headlights. On my second attempt, instead of pulling the ventilator chain, I put the entire control panel away again. I pull the panel out again, reach for the ventilator chain and put the control panel away again. I pull the panel out a third time and reach very, very carefully for the ventilator chain ... at which point my entire crew dies of smoke inhalation.The technology behind the Kinect is capable of enabling incredible fantasies, and it has allowed me to interact with virtual worlds in ways I never thought possible. What Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor has taught me is that, should that technology fail just once, the entire fantasy comes crashing down in an instant.%Gallery-152828%
Crank, twist and pull down a Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor demo on Xbox Live
Most of us will never know what it's like to pilot a gigantic, bipedal mech in real life – that technology is years off – but the next best thing can be experienced if you've got an Xbox Live Gold subscription and a Kinect sensor.A demo for Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is available for download on Xbox Live right now. Perhaps you'll enjoy it as much as we did during our preview session back in March. If not, it's much easier to eject those gigglebites from your storage unit than it is to eject yourself from one of those massive machines.Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor launches on June 19 in North America.
Why not get some animal-print armor with your pre-order of Steel Battalion
Depending on the retailer at which you pre-order Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, your "Vertical Tanks" will bear one of a selection of inappropriately flashy paint jobs, with in-game bonuses to boot.Capcom announced a trio of pre-order offers today for North America, each of which affords you custom armor for your VTs. Amazon gets you the "Savannah" armor, which increases bullet velocity and makes you look like you're driving a mechanical zebra, and the "Storm" armor, which looks cheetah-esque and increases shooting range.Best Buy confers the "Impact" and "Tiger" armors, and GameStop outfits your VTs with the "Rock" and "Jaguar" coverings, all of which have their own bonuses. Get specifics, and an eyeful of tiger-striped mech, after the break.
Steel Battalion has four-player co-op, two videos and one pack of screens
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor has an intriguing array of tanks and mech-like vehicles (with gigantic guns) for you to control. You use Kinect to grab, pull and lean, and a controller to view, aim and shoot. Steel Battalion will feature four-player co-op, Capcom announced, meaning that's eight arms flailing and 40 fingers flying at a single time.This schema could get messy, but if the three-hour line to play Steel Battalion at PAX was any indication, From Software may have found the perfect balance between ergonomics and entertainment.%Gallery-152828%
Put your right hand in, put your right hand out, do the Steel Battalion
We've found that Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor offers a surprisingly refined, intuitive Kinect-controller hybrid scheme, and the above video explains in more detail how that whole thing works. Reach up and pull to do this, lean forward to do that, do the hokey pokey to... well, do the hokey pokey.
Conducting a symphony of destruction in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the smartest use of Kinect I've ever seen.It's a bold statement, I know, but the marriage of Kinect and controller in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is quite unique and, even more importantly, works well. We had concerns about the game last year, but those have disappeared.%Gallery-149483%
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor available June 19
Capcom's Kinect-controlled Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor marches onto the battlefield on June 19 and June 22 in North America and Europe, respectively.We'll have a preview of latest build for the Vertical Tank (VT) simulator a little later today.
The best Kinect to come: Microsoft's Xbox 360 spring showcase
Like the Nintendo Wii before it, Microsoft's Kinect has been braving the storm of new peripheral adolescence, awkwardly shuffling users through jump, wave, lean and jiggling gameplay, typically at a leisurely pace. Sure it's had its moments on the dance floor, but aside from being a good listener, the spatially aware sensor hasn't exactly redefined core gaming. Almost a year and half after its launch, however, the often hacked device is taking another crack at reaching the hardcore. We dropped in on Xbox's spring showcase this weekend to find out how that effort is going -- see what we found after the break.
Steel Battalion trailer brings together Kinect and controller
While the jury is still out on exactly how well Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor plays, one thing is clear: Capcom has no problem making excellent trailers for it. The latest highlights the many actions you can perform in the cockpit of a vertical tank. Our favorite: Scrabbling for a live grenade.
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor preview: Hope everything works
The Kinect-based Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is a concept that has a lot going for it, with a combination of controller and Kinect input opening up a lot of gameplay options to immerse the player into feeling like they're actually piloting a giant "Vertical Tank" (VT) mech. The only thing that could break that immersion, which we saw occur several times when we checked out the pre-alpha build at Gamescom, should be obvious: Kinect not recognizing certain gestures. It's all good and fine for a Kinect hiccup when petting your Kinectimals, but this is war! A small blessing of Steel Battalion is that it's played sitting down (for the most part). Stretching out your arms while maintaining good posture calibrates your pilot for the system. Movement, aiming and firing are handled by the controller, while the player's gestures are used to look out windows, check outside the tank by lifting the hatch (that's the standing part), look around the cockpit and to pull down or interact with several of the VT's controls. %Gallery-130736%
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor uses Xbox 360 controller and Kinect simultaneously
First announced at TGS last year, the Kinect-based Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is finally revealed in its first trailer. Like the original game, Heavy Armor has players jump into huge, unwieldy robots called "Vertical Tanks." The above trailer reveals an oppressive World War 2-plus-robots style world in which computers have all been destroyed, and then everyone goes to war. As revealed by Capcom's fact sheet, Heavy Armor maintains the series' legacy for complicated controls by using two forms of input: both Kinect and the standard Xbox 360 pad. The controller is used for movement, aiming, and firing, while the Kinect camera picks up "upper body gestures" used for starting the engine, using the scope, or operating a turret-mounted machine gun. You can also communicate verbally and nonverbally with your crew members. High fives are specifically mentioned. Steel Battalion will engage your whole body in robo-warfare next year.%Gallery-130736%
Kinect comes to XBLA, Microsoft Game Studios reveals five Japanese titles
Microsoft Game Studios unveiled five new Japanese partnerships during its Tokyo Game Show 2010 keynote today, each intended to "provide fun for users throughout the world." Takashi Sensui, general manager of Xbox in Japan, claimed the projects would "define the future of Xbox 360 and Kinect" -- a future that now promises Kinect-enabled Xbox Live Arcade games. Out of the five new XBLA-exclusive games announced today, three will use Kinect: Haunt, a spooky adventure from Parappa the Rappa's Masaya Matsuura; Project Codename D, a stylish new endeavor from Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51; and Project Draco, a Panzer Dragoon-esque flight game from Phantom Dust creator Yukio Futatsugi. These will join third-party Kinect games Child of Eden, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor and Rise of Nightmares in 2011. Microsoft also revealed Fire-Pro Wrestling from Spike, and a new version of Radiant Silvergun from Treasure (much to the chagrin of eBay profiteers). Both are coming to XBLA in 2011.
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor goes button-free on Kinect
Well, this is ... unexpected. The "Steel Battalion" franchise, perhaps best remembered for its 1,980-button controller, is coming to a platform that requires none. Microsoft has just announced that From Software will bring Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor to the 360 via Kinect. Well, technically, Microsoft just said the game will have "Kinect Enablement," so we guess there's still a chance you'll be able to play with a standard controller, we can't say for sure. Now those of you who already own Steel Battalion controllers ... well, you're probably out of luck. Maybe a job for Ben Heck? %Gallery-102396%
