About 12 years ago, FromSoftware (Alden Ring) ripped off the Capcom license and released one of the worst video games of its generation.
Game news About 12 years ago, FromSoftware (Alden Ring) ripped off the Capcom license and released one of the worst video games of its generation.
When we mention FromSoftware, we immediately think of Dark Souls, Bloodborne or Alden Ring. However, there was a time when the Japanese development studio – which walked away with the 2022 Game of the Year trophy – produced software of questionable quality. Enter your mecha and speed up to 88 mph… We’re going back to the days of the Xbox console.
summary
- Bigger robots, bigger controller
- Still big mecha, but this time, you’re the controller!
- Fight to play
Bigger robots, bigger controller
It was during the E3 Xbox conference on May 16, 2001 that Capcom confirmed its support for Microsoft’s machine by announcing the upcoming arrival of three games. The first is a remastered version of Onimusha, the second is Dino Crisis 3, while the last, presented as a robot simulator, is called Brain-Box. Little information filtered out at the time, except that Shinji Mikami was involved (as a general producer). It was only after a while that the press began to take a real interest in this strange product, and for good reason. Now called Steel Battalion (Tekki in Japan), This Xbox exclusive promises an unprecedented experience: one that gives the user the impression of finding themselves in a real mecha cockpit.. The dream of many gamers in the early 2000s, tired of Evangelion, Gundam and Grendizer on television.
To get the pilot into the guts of the giant robot, Capcom took the liberty of creating a software-dedicated controller with about forty buttons (!), two joysticks, a gear lever and three floor pedals.. The Japanese, who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the enormous American Xbox controller, have finally created the most attractive pad of the Microsoft machine, measuring 88 cm in length and 26 cm in width! In this impressively immersive station, the player goes into battle as if he were in control of a mecha. He has to activate a series of switches to start the machine, mash the accelerator to move forward, fine-tune the aim with the left stick to target opponents, turn the tuner knob to change the radio frequency. , Capcom went so far as to include a small window to lift up to press a large flashing red button when a mecha is about to explode. When pressed, you are kicked out of the Mac. If we explode inside the robot, then all saves are erased from the console’s hard drive!
Steel Battalion is a game “Hardcore“At all levels. Stiff in its general interface that fills a good portion of the screen with dull graphics – especially compared to other mecha games of this era – it requires a long learning curve and managing all the game’s functions as efficiently as possible.. Developed by Nud Maker (former developers of Human Entertainment) in collaboration with Capcom Production Studio 4 (Dino Crisis, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Devil May Cry), Steel Battalion was released here in 2002 for 200 euros, and although the price was considered high. All over the world, it is selling like hotcakes. Word of mouth is good, and the press is excited about the sensations caused by the ultimate mecha simulator on the market. It received a maximum score from G4TV, 9.5/10 from Game Informer, 8.5/10 from EGM and 8.3/10 from IGN. The Atsushi Inaba-produced title was re-released in 2004 as Steel Battalion: Line of Contact, a 100% online multiplayer-oriented sequel thanks to Xbox Live.
Still big mecha, but this time, you’re the controller!
With such a concept, namely a giant controller dedicated to consoles, Steel Battalion doesn’t need to be a franchise spanning countless episodes. however, 10 years after the release of the original software, a new episode arrives, this time exclusively on Xbox 360. Subtitled Heavy Armor, the game surprises with its bias. Here, there is no control panel, joysticks, throttles, pedals, eject button. Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is primarily played with Kinect! Indeed, when Capcom discovered the first demo of Microsoft’s sensor, some managers believed that it would make the license more fun, especially by adding movements that only the assistant could recognize. With Atsushi Inaba leaving the Japanese company, Tatsuya Kitabayashi replaced him as producer.
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He managed to get a waiver from Microsoft on the use of Kinect. At the time, the American firm required that developers using the accessory not require players to hold a controller while playing. In Heavy Armor, the Pad/Kinect duo is a must, and a great first. On the mecha board, part of the controls are done using sensors: the start handle is located on the bottom right, and a lever can be pulled to release smoke in the event of an explosion. We can also reach the periscope on top of the robot or the window we are moving towards by dipping both arms forward. The pad, for its part, is used for crouching and aiming, while the triggers provide the opportunity to shoot. To make Heavy Armor a success, Capcom decided to trust From Software. The Japanese studio has already made a name for itself thanks to its work on ChromeHounds, Metal Wolf Chaos and the Armored Core series.
Fight to play
unfortunately, The choices made by FromSoftware undermine the point of making the game’s management almost imperceptible.. A two-handed movement to move forward is routinely seen as a single-handed gesture and results in opening or closing the shutter. Attempts to access the side panel send us to a teammate. For convenience – in general – controls, each interactive component is automatically selected when you approach it. But with so many levers and buttons on the screen, it only increases the risk of taking the wrong action. Another big problem is that Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is a difficult game where even the slightest mistake can be fatal. However, and as we said in our test at the time, we inevitably make mistakes. Usually at the worst time.
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor could have been a good match war game if we didn’t have to fight to play. At the time of its release in 2012, the press was unanimous: the FromSoftware title published by Capcom was a disappointment, even a failure. On Metacritic, it has an average score of 38/100, ranking it among the worst games of the seventh generation.. Yes, Duke Nukem Forever and 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog also had high Metacritic averages. This misstep will surely bury the license. Capcom will no longer attempt to bring the franchise back in any way, neither on Wii U, nor on Xbox One’s Kinect 2.0, nor on PSVR. In Jungle, a gruesome video game Jungle, a mecha simulator conceived by Capcom, is dead.
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