Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor

 Xbox 360
  • Publisher: Capcom
  • Release Date: Jun 19, 2012
User Score
2.5

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 94 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 94
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 94
  3. Negative: 71 out of 94
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  1. laskedryck
    Jun 20, 2012
    8
    One of the few games that I felt that I wanted when I played the demo. If you read the many negative reviews about the game, it's because of Kinect problems. Movements that do not work and so on. I do not know what they did when they played heavy armor? I know it works for me 95% of the time. Kinect and 360 control works great together. Just wanted to say I love the game, and I do not haveOne of the few games that I felt that I wanted when I played the demo. If you read the many negative reviews about the game, it's because of Kinect problems. Movements that do not work and so on. I do not know what they did when they played heavy armor? I know it works for me 95% of the time. Kinect and 360 control works great together. Just wanted to say I love the game, and I do not have any problems with Kinect.… Expand
  2. Xborn74
    Jun 19, 2012
    8
    "Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor" is a Mech simulator in a wartime environment, developed by From Software (Chromehounds and Armored Core) and produced by Capcom, being a continuation of the original Xbox game (2003).

    The story takes place in 2082, in a world which since 2020 has lost all the latest technology and computers. In this shattered world, China has become a world power, and    "Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor" is a Mech simulator in a wartime environment, developed by From Software (Chromehounds and Armored Core) and produced by Capcom, being a continuation of the original Xbox game (2003).

    The story takes place in 2082, in a world which since 2020 has lost all the latest technology and computers. In this shattered world, China has become a
    world power, and dominates much of the world on an iron fist, even having dominated the USA. In this future, the technology is based on mechanical elements only, and in battle armors called VT (Vertical Tanks), which are species of tanks with legs for locomotion. You assume the place of the protagonist, Lieutenant Powers, a war hero, and commands a VT in a battle for regain the USA - from the landing on the coast of NY where the game starts.

    The game has great graphics: the CG and openings are the standard of From Software, that is, stunning and realistic graphics that resemble photo realism and showing bloody and realistic battle scenes. The visual in-game is also excellent: the game goes on inside the **** and its crew of 3 men, and the control panels of the VT, and you can put your head out of it.

    The graphics and overall ambiance of the game are Retro, remembering movies and equipment of World War II. The details and movements are fluid and well realistic, and the game has strong colors with a filter that resembles the colors of the colored movies from WWII. The internal environment of the VT is well
    detailed, with multiple instruments, and damage to your TV are shown as having actually taken place.

    The look of the VT is old, resembling WWII tanks mounted on mechanical legs with rough textures and appearances. The same applies to soldier's uniforms, which resemble the past, not the future. The atmosphere inside the VT transmits the sensation of a claustrophobic environment, of a inside of a war tank, for example.

    Audio: The game has dialogue lines extremely well told and acted, conveying the sense of the crew, and the ambient sounds in battle are realistic and differentiated, with various effects like bullets whizzing by, the mechanical walking of the VT and realistic explosions.

    The gameplay is of a battle simulator within this retro Mech: everything happens in 1st person, being the controls a mixture of Kinect with the conventional controller. With the controller, you can move your VT, turn around, and can use weapons with left and right triggers. With Kinect, you commands the Mech, sitted: you slide the screen to the side to visualize your crew, and extending your arms at different points at the screen, on the various existing controls on the inside, that controls the functions of the VT, as to adjust the speed, type of ammunition, fire hatches and enter and exiting the scope, where you see the battlefield and commands the VT.

    If standing up, Powers put the body out of the VT (being an easy target), and can use his hand at eye level to use binoculars. Inside the VT, sited, you use the scope to move and fire in your targets. The missions have objectives, and you should try and achieve them, while trying to stay alive and avoid losing members of the crew: the structural damage to the VT are shown by points in various locations within a diagram of it on the screen, and shots located affect specific things, and may kill members of the VT. At the same time during some parts, you can interact with the crew, greeting them, or holding someone in despair.

    The battles are complex due to the variation of controls, but nothing that we don't get after playing a bit, and a nice tutorial shows the commands before the battle, in a training camp. But the games is not easy, being realistic and we must make strategic decisions, because the shots can destroy your VT quickly.

    The game also features an online mode on Xbox Live, where you and 3 friends over control a battalion of four VT, each commanding one, and that should make the campaign very interesting. In the main game screen, we can see a picture of his battalion showing the names and who is dead, and we customize the appearance and weapons of your VT.

    In short, the game became the 1st Hardcore game to use Kinect, which reacts very well to commands and have realistic visuals, making it the best Kinect game to this point, along with Rise of the Nightmares. The sum of Kinect and Xbox 360 controller works perfectly, I just missed some auxiliary functions for the remaining buttons.

    The game ends up being an excellent choice for people who like games of battles, near simulator style, having a gripping story, excellent graphics and gameplay that, although intuitive, is strategic and difficult at times. If you like serious war games and Mechs simulators, pick up this game - if you don't play the Demo before because this game style isn't for the average gamer.    … Expand
  3. TWD3
    Jun 29, 2012
    8
    First this game is FUN (once you learn the controls). Fun as in I was up playing this game waaay past my bedtime- my girlfriend and my work are suffering as I am having so much fun in fact that a chronic lack of sleep and loss of free time are beginning to take a toll. As someone who once spent a fair amount of time gaming, and am only recently flirting (again) with gaming, what I'mFirst this game is FUN (once you learn the controls). Fun as in I was up playing this game waaay past my bedtime- my girlfriend and my work are suffering as I am having so much fun in fact that a chronic lack of sleep and loss of free time are beginning to take a toll. As someone who once spent a fair amount of time gaming, and am only recently flirting (again) with gaming, what I'm finding is video games have become, , but not just different for difference sake. Steel Battalion is a well balanced game that does an artful job of placing the gamer in a massive Vertical Tank. When you play Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor you actually feel like you are wielding a massive steel contraption in battle. You also feel a connection to your tank mates and when they die, you feel that too, like nothing else I've experienced in a sandbox video game before. As for the controls that seem to illicit such outrage from the main street press, once learned, they contribute to a sense of immersion that had the same command been tied to a button on your controller, never could or would. This is a game that must first be learned and then later, hours later, you begin to master the art of piloting a VT (Vertical Tank) in battle; how to take cover while under fire, how to plan your shots to hit the most vulnerable parts of your opponents Vertical Tank (VT) and all while staying cool under fire. Along the way you have fun and frustration, but for me at least, the game consumes me in nothing else but what I am doing in that moment and that?s the point. Games should be fun, they would allow us to exist in the moment, and for some of us, (perhaps too few of us), this means games must challenge us and take us places we have never been before. In order to do this each new title cannot be a simplistic reinterpretation of countless games before. And this brings me to my opening point, if the evolution of video games I've witnessed can be taken as the true state of not only gaming, but also human intelligence, the dumbing down of the masses is not merely an interesting or novel comment, it is a reality in full swing and with the full support of the media it seems.… Expand
  4. NERVI0
    Jun 29, 2012
    8
    I can play very good.
    My friends and me in middle of history game or more.
    If ingame fail playing, i not play more of 5 minuts the game.

    Graphics more nice that others games of note 8.
    Sound inmersive with same quality of before of SB:HA.
    Play game, the best of Kinect for me.
  5. ComandanteCobra
    Jan 11, 2016
    8
    I liked it...it's an underrated game.
    Punishing game but it's worth the pain.. it has great dieselpunk setting, a good mecha design, fun mission for a sci-fi-WW2 simulator game.
    Controls works 90% of the time so do not worry about them ....just put enough distance between you and the kinect and check the lighting in your room.
    I was able to play it with satisfaction
  6. CowDude121
    Aug 12, 2017
    10
    Do you like expensive setups?Do you like games with awful motion sensing and terrible controls? Do you like games featuring annoying soldiers that complain about you doing a bad job? Then Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor for the Xbox 360 is for you.Made with terrible controls and frustrating gameplay, you will forget this adventure!

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2012
83
#83 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
38

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 58 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 58
  3. Negative: 39 out of 58
  1. Gamer.no
    Oct 27, 2012
    50
    This could have been a brilliant game. The problem is that it just doesn't work. The Kinect controls work only when they want to, and most of the time they don't, something that ruins an otherwise great experience.
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  2. GameCritics
    Oct 17, 2012
    60
    For what it's worth, if I wanted a simulation of being crammed into a tiny, metal, low-tech claustrophobic coffin while people yell and attempt to kill me repeatedly while I struggle with basic controls, then Heavy Armor offers up quite the war experience. However, that's not what I was looking for, and I suspect that it's not something anyone else is after, either.
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  3. Console Monster
    Oct 17, 2012
    45
    When it is working, Steel Battalion Heavy Armor is an exciting, engaging and immersive game – but to get to the end of the campaign you're going to need to love mechs and Kinect. A lot. The problem is the Kinect experience is a significant detractor to the point of annoyance. If you could just use the control pad it would have been a far better game, even more so if an adapter could have been provided to use the impressive controller from the first game.
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