Steel Battalion: Second chance to play

honru

CAPCOM TALKS STEEL BATTALION PACKAGING (Source: eurogamer.net)
Capcom's Xbox Live enabled follow-up to hardcore mech shooter Steel Battalion is due out in Europe on February 27th, and this week the publisher has moved to reassure gamers that they will be able to get their hands on it this time, either bundled with the massive, headline-winning 40-button controller and the original game, or simply on its own.

When the original Steel Battalion was released in March 2003, not only was its launch limited to UK retail, but almost the entire allocation for the country was swept up by greedy backroom staff at retailers and distributors, who bought them at staff rates and then thrust them onto eBay - where many of them can still be found today.

For those who did manage to get hold of the game and its iconic controller, the good news is that a simple retail box copy of Steel Battalion - Line of Contact will be made available, presumably at £30-40 (€45-60 approx.), while those who missed out can expect to pay something close to the original £129.99 (€185 approx.) asking price for both Line of Contact and the original Steel Battalion in a controller bundle pack.

Upon its release last year, SB certainly met with mixed reviews. While some (largely the single format Xbox publications) went crazy for the ridiculously vast peripheral and the hardcore, die-and-lose-your-save-games harshness of the accompanying game, many folks (including us) felt that it simply wasn't good value at the price.

Certainly an Xbox Live enabled sequel (which still requires the controller to play, it's worth noting) addresses the issue somewhat. Online we can expect Line of Contact to be a team-based, five-versus-five game in which players work together to bring territory under the rival banners of two warring factions, with plenty of new Vertical Tanks to command besides. Handled correctly, it could be one of the Live experiences of the year.


So, anyone thinking of getting it? If reviews are good I shall be considering.

Deadwing

Id love to give it a blast myself, but 185 euro is a bit much, you could buy a gamecube and a full price game for that. If it was 125 euro, and not pounds id consider it, but seeing as how the original game was by most reviews i read, a 6 out of 10, 185 blips is out of the question. However if anyone wants to lend me a copy or sell me a cheap second hand one....

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

kensutz

I got Steel Battalion. Took me ages to get it but I think it was worth every penny. It's a hard game to get used to but with a bit of patience you can really get into it.