If you were alive in 2002, you may remember Steel Battalion for the original Xbox. To many gamer's dismay, it required a special giant $200 controller and a priceless amount of mental fortitude, making it? one of the?? most unique games of last generation.

Flash forward about ten years -- the long awaited spiritual successor is about to drop. It's Kinect-only. Most of the unique technological features and settings are dropped in favor of a "grittier", Call of Duty-esque theme. Ar??e you already seeing some early warning signs here?

When you start the camp?aign, your character bends down to pick up a broken piece of the mech you're abou?t to pilot -- this is basically a metaphor for the entire game.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Capcom
Released: June 19, 2012
MSRP: $59.99

As previously stated, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is a Kinect-only joint?? that uses a controller in tandem with Microsoft?'s high-tech camera.

Now, I have a decent size basement, and plenty of room to play Dance Central 2 with both my wife and I. To maximize my experience, I cleared out the room and placed a chair in the middle of it. I was able to cal?ibrate my motion tracking sitting and standing settings in-game. So far, so good.

Upon piloting my mech (which are called Vertical Tanks) for the first time however, the game's control issues become immediately evident. Simply put, the fact that they're required i??s absurd, because they absolutely do not need to be, for reasons that become clearer the further the game goes.

First o?ff, you have to sit up straight while playing (no slouching!). If you want to have less issues, this is non-negotiable. As you can imagine, it's very awkward to sit up straight con??stantly during gameplay -- especially when games are supposed to be a relaxation tool for some people. While this isn't a deal-breaker, pretty much everything else is.

Posture aside, the main problem is switching between the game's two points of view. Basically you're in a jalopy tin-can mech with three other co-pilots in your default view, looking at your instrument panel -- you start every mission in this same manner. In order to actually see outside of your tank (to you know,? move, or shoot anything), you have?? to put both of your hands in front of you to "grab" the panel and pull yourself forward.

This motion never works cons?istently, and the controller itself (which the game says you need to hold, as both movement and firing are done from it) even blocks your hands from the sensor sometimes. This basically means that in the heat of battle, you're putting your hands in front of you back and forth constantly just to see/shoot/move, and go back to view your instruments.

Once you make the motion to utilize the viewport, you don't have to specifically keep holding your hands forward, but you can easily move in/out of it accidentally, depending on where your hands ??are at all times -- so basically, not only do you need to sit up straight, but you need to babysit your hand placement as well. This wouldn't be so bad if it actually worked, and you didn't have to constantly move in and out of your viewing area to mess around with pointless switches and gadgets like the HVAC system. To make matters worse, a large AP shell will cause you to shake out of your viewport, which means more two-handed masturbation while fumbling a controller.

The other big issue is that you are required to physically stand up for a lot of sections?? to pop open the hatch and periodically check out the action. ? This is a cool idea, but constantly has motion issues, and again, actually looking around is done with the controller, which can hinder the Kinect's sensors. It also means you need even more playing space, because the Kinect needs to detect your head before you're allowed to play the game (and every time you get up to use the bathroom or whatever, you have to recalibrate this).

My breaking point came around Mission 5, which forces you to stand up, and scout for an enemy platoon. After about thirty seconds I found said enemy unit, and was told to "make sure I give the signal so my unit can start up the engines" -- except the game doesn't tell you what "the signal" is. I pressed every button, waved my arms around like an idiot, and even tried to vocalize something for the Kinect mic -- nothing. Eventually we are getting shot at, and then my engine-guy decides to start it up. After that, you have to "juice" the engine yourself by holding your right hand down, grabbing a lever, and pulling. Even though I had been doing this fine the first four missions, for some reason my Kinect shat itself and it?? wouldn't do it.

After getting killed four?? times (having to wait for the enemy unit to show itself from the very beginning of the mission each time), I had to go do something else for a while. Eventu??ally, I figured out the mission, and was able to continue on my way. But shortly after that, I had another similar experience that severely impaired my ability to enjoy the game.

Kinect isn't entirely to blame here (as I've had plenty of good Kinect experiences since buying it at launch) as much as the de??sign choices involved. Unfortunately, there is no voice control capability whatsoever; either to augment the experience, or provide an additional control scheme. To add insult to injury, you may be having issues as a result of a false positive when calibrating. To be clear; the calibration tool can be deceiving. Sometimes if you're sitting too far away, the game will correctly calibrate like nothing is wrong, leaving you to guess whether or not everything is fine. After you're unable to grab a pivotal lever and suffer an untimely and frustrating death because you're not immersed in the game's perfect conditions, you may not be inclined to keep playing.

I could have fixed this entire scheme with one simple design philosophy -- allow the player to turn the Kinect off. Simply allow the left analog stick button-click to move the player in and out of the cockpit (a button that is not used, mind you), and by pressing the right analog stick, allow the player the option to select certain instruments -- done and dusted. Utilizing voice commands to bark orders at crew-members (thus not forcing you to w?ave your arms around) could have also helped immensely, and helped drive the "crew unity" point across much more effectively. 

Even then, if you put all of this forced control nonsense aside, you're greeted with one of the most generic games of all time. All of SB:HA's characters are? literally stereotypes, including the "aww sheeet!" token black guy and the "haha you must be a virgin... loser!" New York guy. Even the loading screens remind you of the shallow supporting cast, such as the "proud Native American who eventually embraced his heritage", or the "OCD young female". The story is fairly terrible (like a World War 3 Kojima fanfic gone wrong), and the art direction is non-existent, as it's basically a very simple "Army" aesthetic.

The game attempts to have you "connect" with your crew through "fist bumping and hand shaking" Kinect motions, but it falls c??ompletely flat due to how unlikable pretty much every character in the game is. Also, these simple movements are often plagued with the above tracking problems.

For those who feel like putting up with the game's controls, there is a full coop feature for up to three other players for some missions. By playing coop you're able to unlock new VT parts, so it's in your best interest to look for people as much as possible. Everyone pilots their own independent Vertical?? Tanks, and in the few coop sessions I was able to test, I had ??no latency issues.

All of the above issues are quite a shame -- I liked the original Xbox title (giant controller and all), because it worked. All I had to do is push a button and it?? did what it needed to do. It was extremely non-user friendly and had some questionable design choices, but ultimately it was beatable, and unique for the time.

Heavy Armor on the other hand isn't unique in any way. At its core, it's a basic mech game with a "realistic and gritty" feel to it t??hat 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.

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It's humorous to see these newly announced pre-order incentives for Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. So far, everything Capcom has shown points toward a rather bleak-looking game filled with death and destruction. You know what it could use? Brightly colored vertical tanks that just pop.

Not that the same criticism can't be said of many other games as well, but it seems particularly worth commenting about here given the tone of Heavy Armor. Three retailers -- Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop -- each have their own set of arm??or. Take a look in the gallery below.

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Oh man. We all knew Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor was going to be violent but this latest trailer is certainly driving that home. The deep rumble of the mechs as they cross the landscape, their guns exploding and the ground trembling along the way has me really excited. I don't think I've been this interested in a mech game since my first experience seeing a PlayStation 2 playing Ring of Red (which, admittedly, was?? more about the console than the game).

And then there's that stabbing sequence we see bits of??. Well, that's one way to earn yourself an M rating.

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I had a lot of doubts about how Steel Battalion would make its transition form massive controller to the Kinect system with the newest entry into the series, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor for XBOX 360. Those worries I had about losing the feeling of immersion in the game seem pretty well answered in the newest trailer, which details some of the games impressive Kinect control set up. What has me most intrigued is the included use of a standard controller for your moving and shooting in the game, which I personally feel like I'd get the most pre?cision with.

Now tell me you don;t feel a bit a spent after watching that video. I doubt that they've gone over the all the possible controls in the game, and I've already forgotten what was mentioned first! Perhaps the whole thing will come naturally after a couple sessions, but I'm feeling pretty stressed out from all the multi-ta??sking that was on display. Not that I&nbs?p;wouldn't mind slapping my crew around --but come on, don't I have to do enough of that at home?

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As the sort of person who plays a lot of drek using Kinect, I'm eagerly anticipating the opportunity to get my body all up in a walking battle tank in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. Much to my dismay, a whole lot of other peopl?e are going to get that opportun??ity before I do, as Capcom has vowed to bring their heavy mech shooter with the full-bodied flavor to PAX East this coming weekend.

Lucky bastards. Although a crowded show floor is hardly the best place to play a Kinect game, I'm still deeply resentful of eve??ryone who gets to play it in Boston. Go play a round on my behalf, would you? You can imagine me sitting here in front of m??y computer seething with rage while you do it.

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Tara Long and I teamed up once again to give you a look at Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. It's the first major Kinect game that uses the actual controller, meaning that you can actually have total freedom w??hen it comes to the movement. What a concept!

Tara and I both shared our initial impressions on the new Steel Battalion and came away impressed by what we experienced. Check out my hands-on preview going into greater detail on the controls.

The post Hands-on video with Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor appeared first on Destructoid.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Kinect. At best, I've used my Kinect to shout at Netflix when feeling incredibly lazy or when I've built up enough motivation to workout with Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. It's also fun when you're pretty drunk and want to play something stupid, like Hole in the Wall. That seems to be the case for everyone. You either use the Kinect to be ??really lazy, get a cheap workout or do dumb drunk sh*t.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the one Kinect game that makes using the Kinect worth a damn. The way that Capcom and From Software has pulled this off is due to you still having to use the actual controller, meaning ?there's no awkward movement controls or that you're stuck in an on-rails experience.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (Xbox 360)
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Capcom
Release: June 19, 2012

I saw Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor in action back at Tokyo Game Show last year and was incredibly excited for it. I loved the original back on the Xbox, largely because of the over-the-top 40 button controller with two joysticks and three foot pedals. Of course, that controller made the barrier to entry extremely limited, due to its size and the pr?ice.

Last week, I finally went hands-on with Heavy Armor and am happy to report that the game plays great. Moving, looking and firing off ??your gu?ns is all tied to the Xbox 360 controller. Free moving in any Kinect game sucks. The key is to just leave the freedom of control to the actual controller.

It's everything else that's tied to the Kinect motion controls. You'll first begin in a tutorial level where you'll learn how? to use the vario?us Kinect motions, as well as meeting your teammates. Even though this is set in the future, and you're piloting a freaking mech (or Vertical Tank as it's called), you'll need three additional teammates to use your tank properly due to a silicon eating bacteria that has set technology back hundreds of years.

Your character, Lieutenant Powers of the American forces, is the main pilot of the Vertical Tank (VT for short). Your three additional teammates will eac?h man the communication station, while the other two will be in charge of reloading your cannon and machine gun. If your teammates do get killed, then your capabilities will get severally limited as you either won't have key intel or you'll have to reload the weapons yourself. You don't have all the time in the world when you're getting attac??ked from all angles so it's important to try to keep them alive. You will get replacement soldiers at the start of the next mission, however.

Kinect movements will vary in a lot of ways. You'll be sitting down while playing for t??he most part, sliding both arms either forward or backwards just above your legs to either look through your viewport or get into the center of your cockpit. Pulling your right arm straight up past your head (like you're pulling something down) will pull down your periscop??e in order to aim at distant enemies better.

Pulling yourself into the center of the cockpit will let you interact with just about everything. On the right you have your starter, the self destruct button, the vent system, floodlights and a couple of other things. On the left you have the camera system which you can use to see what's around your?? mech through the little monitor. Putting your right or left arm up will pull your characters respective arm up, and doing a simple motion of pushing or pulling will have you activate whatever you're trying to use. I did struggle a little with some of these movements, but it wasn't anything that was too annoying.

Other motions will see yo??u standing up in order to poke your head outside of your mech and pulling your left ha?nd up like you're looking through binoculars will pull up binoculars in the game. There are a bunch of other gestures too, like catching objects, shaking hands and even doing a fist bump. Additionally, moving either arm like your opening a sliding door will let your turnabout in the cockpit so you can look at your teammates and interact with them as needed.

After the tutorial, I played through the first level which sees you seizing a beac??h in New York. A large ?Asian superpower has attacked the city and American forces are trying to drive off the invaders. I feel I did pretty well overall. I was worried that I'd have a hell of a time managing everything inside and out, but I got by pretty well on my first try.

Granted, it was only the first level so I'm hoping it's because developer From Software wants to slowly get players used to the experience. I saw a later mission in a hands-off demo that looked a lot more intense. At one point, an enemy solider dives on top of your VT?, opens the hatch, and throws a grenade inside. You have to act quick by opening the bottom hatch and tossing the grenade out. A little later in the mission, you'll even get out of the mech and go on foot to help a wounded soldier.

I strongly feel like Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the one Kinect game that was finally designed with the hardcore gamer in mind. I enjoyed my brief hands-on time with the game and at the very least, I hope it sets the example that this is developers need to do in order to expand the Kinect beyond ju??st the casual market.

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Even though there were only two games that ever used it and it was expensive as hell, I really loved the Steel Battalion controller. I love mechs so much and I always figured that controller was t??he closest I would ever get? to piloting a mech in real life.

By some stroke of luck, Capcom decided that they would revisit the series and the team saw the Kinect as the best means of bringing that simulation mech combat action to gamers. In combination with the Xbox 360 controller, Heavy Armor is on the right path on na?iling the over-the-top controls.

Let's talk the controls first. It's not going to be easy to learn at first, but neither was the original Xbox one. There will be a tutorial to help players learn?? all the gestures. Anyway, with the controller, you'll be using the analog sticks to move around and the triggers to shoot your gun. Easy enough, right? Now here's where it gets super complicated!

First you'll be able to interact with your co-pilots (more on that in a bit) by swinging your arm left or right to look around the cockpit. The view at first has you looking at your instruments that you can interact ?with. To actually use your weapons, you will push your arms forward to look through the little screen in front of you so you can aim at targets. To go back into the cockpit view, you just pull your arms into yourself.

There were at least a dozen other int??ractable objects in the cockpit, from pulling a leaver above your head to changing a screen to see what's behind you. All of t?he actions required specific movements, so you would pull your hand up and down to simulate pulling down the leaver, for example.

All these actions need to be performed while sitting down. There are instances where you will need to stand up though, such as when you need to stick your head ??out of your mech and look at the distance through binoculars. You are a very easy target while sticking out of the top of the mech!

Additionally, you'll need ??to perform actions like shaking someone's hands for a job well done or even pull someone back into your mech because they're trying to escape. The cool thing with these specific actions is that they can go one of two ways. If you manage to grab the guy who's trying to flee your mech in time, you will need to actually punch him in the face (by doing the proper arm gestures of course) until he comes to his senses. If you don't get to your partner in time, he will get hit by enemy fire, die, and remain in your cockpit as a bloody mangled corpse until the next mission.

So you're probably thinking, why do you need multiple people to control a giant robot? Well in Heavy Armor, a microb that eats silicon came into existence and sets the world back hundreds of years as there is?? no more comptures and any sort of technology that needed silicon. With the world in shambles, a big Asian country that may or may not be China has started taking over the world.

In Heavy Armor, you plays as Lieutenant Powers as the American forces try to regain parts of America taken over by not-China. Since people can't rely on computers to assist in anything anymore, robot tank pilo?ts need additional help in the cockpit. You have three other people crammed into the tight cockpit and each person has a specific job as gunner, ??navigator or engineer.

One of the focuses Capcom has put into Heavy Armor is the emotional relationship with the crew. There's not much room in the cockpit and the sound of war is pretty nerve wracking on the co-pilots. The crew is pretty talkative and they actually do serve a purpose too. Earlier in the? demo, the gentleman running the demo almost walked into a minefield. The navigator stopped the player just in time and the crew went down another path.??

Visually, Steel Battalion was shaping up alright. The preview was in very pre-alpha status but it ran without any glaring issues. I was pretty impressed with the backdrop. I totally forgot the level was taking place in New York until I saw the cityscape and the Statue of Liberty in the background. It was kind of j?arring, actually.

I really want to get hands-on but my early impression of Heavy Armor is that Capcom is on the right path in terms of getting that Steel Battalion vibe. Capcom is looki??ng into online but there they weren't able to go into specific details.

Oh, good news and bad news! Good news: The self destruct button is in your cockpit an??d it WON'T kill your save data. Bad news: There is no windshield wiper button.

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