Steel Battalion Video Game Review

Steel Battalion's difficulty has been compared to "driving a manual transmission while driving." It better be worth it for 200 hard earned dollars is more of what I think.

The game is based in the year 2080 and there is war looming on the horizon in the Pacific. It is really a forgettable story, so don't even worry about that. Just worry about staying alive and doing your job. The learning curve on this game is incredible, and until you get the hang of everything, expect to die a lot. What doesn't help is the death sequences. If you die and don't eject in time, you start from level one all over again. It doesn't matter how far you are, you still die. If you eject, you need to buy another Mech. If you don't have enough money, you are kicked out of the army and have to start over. And don't even try to edit your save data without a modded Xbox, because you can't. Play this game and you will see what a challenge it really is.

Hope you have a big TV for this game, or you may be severely let down. Most of the screen is covered with dials and gauges, so the viewing window for action is a smaller amount than what you would think. I played on a 20 inch TV and found myself leaning forward with some of the smaller enemies. Do not fear though, there is a code that can give you a full screen without all the gauges.

Once you get past the small viewing area, the game is not bad looking at all. I occasionally have some small gripes when it comes to fog or how dull the colors are, but it's the nature of the game, so it isn't a huge complaint. The Mechs are modeled nicely, and they sure are fun to blow apart. And don't forget enemy fire. It helps seeing a missile trail coming your way just in time to dodge it. Also, the cockpit is fully functioning, seeing dials turn, gauges move, you name it, and it functions.