Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor – An Immersive but Flawed Experience

As the landing ramp goes down, chaos breaks loose. United States soldiers charge onto the beach of an occupied New York City and hit the dirt as bullets slice through the air overhead. Others aren’t so lucky. Massive machine gun rounds saw many of the young men clean in half – others simply explode in a red mist. The source of the death can be seen up ahead, a two legged metal monster, raining destruction with its massive guns. Luckily the USA has their own steel behemoth to even the odds, piloted by none other than you, the player. The boat ramp falls, and your comrades call for you to charge the beach and provide cover fire for the men on the ground. You reach for the lever to bring power to your mech, only to grab the wrong switch and turn on your headlights. Attempting to recover you flick them off and reach for the power again. Your crew members are yelling at this point, as shells bounce off the steel hide of the walking tank. Again you try to bring the fight to the enemy and reach for the power, only to grab the wrong control panel. My co-pilot, afraid of my lack of control and the almost certain death closing in around us, opens up the hatch and leaps out of the vehicle. Finally you grab the right switch, and send shell after shell, round after round into nearby bunkers and enemy mechs. The day is yours, but not without much difficulty.

This scene accurately describes my very conflicted experience with the Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor demo for the Xbox 360. The game utilizes both the Kinect and the controller to deliver an incredibly unique and engaging experience to the console – when it works.

Players pilot Vertical Tanks, or VTs, from inside the cockpit. It is in incredibly immersive and wonderfully chaotic experience.  An assortment of levers, switches and control panels are displayed in front of you – you only have to reach out and grab one to use it. From inside the cockpit your crew members, who help co-pilot your VT, load shells and handle the radio, constantly chatter. You can hear their fear, their anger and their triumph, as well as see it on their faces. The game even requires you to interact with them, fist bumping them after a successful mission or punching them in the face when they get out of line. A feeling of claustrophobia is masterfully captured; just as if you really were riding in a giant metal room with bullets beating against the outside.

Sadly the gameplay isn’t up to par with the top notch presentation. The Kinect technology just isn’t precise enough to handle the chaotic experience that is Steel Battalion. Constantly when reaching for a switch or lever I would grasp the wrong one. Fumbling with the controls in the tutorial is one thing, but out in the battlefield, with your crew members screaming and explosions ringing in your ears it is incredibly frustrating to know what to do only for the game to not be able to register your movements. One you do get your VT rolling however, players use the controller to move the vehicle and to shoot and, surprise, everything works as it should.

Steel Battalion is definitely on to something, offering a level of immersion almost unheard of in video games. Sadly, when the Kinect controls the majority of the time fail to work, it really takes you out of the experience. Maybe the full game will be more responsive than the demo, but if not Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor will be remembered as a great idea that is held back by the technology it is trying its hardest to utilize.

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