How I rejoiced yesterday with the discovery on my return from holiday in sunny Beirut, that Xbox 360 would see the long awaited sequel for Steel Battalion, one of the all time great games.
Yes Steel Battalion, the game with THE all time great controller, a thing of awe and beauty, and extreme difficulty.
Not only that, but it will be a dedicated Xbox kinect title, which will be very interesting. Will it be the first super 'hardcore' game designed for kinect?
Many people think this will mean waving about shouting "missile!" but as a mech pilot myself, I am almost sure it will mean a game which fully integrates the standard controller with the possibilities offered by Kinect.
Think about it. The original SB controller had about 5 joysticks and 348 buttons. What better way to replicate the joys of controlling a mech than with an xbox controller PLUS all the input options that kinect will offer....
Shouting commands ("EJECT!!!") while moving your body to physically control the mech, and using the joypad to control aiming and subsystems will be awesome! It will however make my wife think I am a total nutter, but that's a price I'm willing to pay, plus she probably already thinks that anyway.
The preview video I watched (Here) shows trademark Steel Battalion dull graphics, for a real 'lofi battlefield visuals' feel that the original Steel Battalion so effectively used. I hope that From keep the lumbering mech feel, and not the speedy Jap style Armoured Core bots they may be used to.
I hope that the game can keep true to the Steel Battalion "real mech pilot sim" identity, and become a show case for kinect for hardcore gamers. The ability to feel part of the action, which is what Steel Battalion achieved so effectively originally can only be enhanced by an imaginatively utilised kinect and joy-pad combination.
My only hope is that From, the developer, have learned the lessons from the almost awesome Chromehounds, the only good mech game for Xbox 360 so far, and make the online play fair and FUN. The amount of lag, disconnects, and general tragic nature of the online code, meant that the Chromehounds experience was totally marred by frustration and time-wasting.
While Japanese games can be great for originality and character design (not to mention MECHS!) they have often let the side down in terms of UI and netcode / multiplayer options. Compare the hell of Chromehounds with Halo or COD multi player for a stark contrast.
I cannot wait to recreate the multi player fun we had in Chromehounds (well, sometimes, when it actually worked. I don't think we EVER achieved a full 6 v 6 game, in 2 years of trying) in an even more awesome Steel Battalions environment, with better controllability and a more heavyweight feel.
Lumbering tanks are kings of the battlefield...honest!
Go on the US Army, you know you want them....
Monday, September 27, 2010
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