We saw the Kinect-exclusive reboot of Steel Battalion last month during Tokyo Game Show, and were cautiously optimistic about its ability to combine motion controls and standard button input. When we were writing that story we found some screens that gave you some idea of the controls, and we think we explained it pretty well, but gameplay makes things so much clearer. That’s why we’re happy Capcom of Japan released this very English trailer for Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor that give you some idea just what the game looks like in motion.
Not only does it give you a look at the destroyed world being crafted by Capcom and From Software, it finally gives you a good look at what combat is like when the mech is king. As the camera zooms in where you just see the window and the cannon, that’s the direct controller movement happening. Once it zooms out, all the rest is Kinect whether you’re pulling a lever, pushing a button, or turning around to see the rest of your crew. Though not in the trailer, you can even interact with your fellow soldiers, including shaking their hands or (in one extreme case) punching them till they calm down.
After watching the trailer, our main concern is still just how accurate those motion controls will be during a really tense battle. It looks like you’ll need that smoke clearing command to work the first time, it doesn’t appear that there’s built-in of time for a few tries. We’ve yet to actually play it ourselves (the TGS demo was played flawlessly by a developer) but we look forward to finally getting our hands on – and off – the curious title.
Oct 25, 2011
