Steel Battalion

Description

Steel Battalion has players in control of 19 massive bipedal robots called Vertical Tanks as they lay siege to battleships, planes, tanks, and more on a 3D battlefield spanning an area of roughly two square miles. As a soldier looking to reestablish order throughout a war-torn island, players embark on a series of 23 combat missions to quell potential threats from enemy factions. Gameplay is designed primarily as a simulation, where players carefully monitor a series of instruments measuring the status of such systems as cooling, radar, oxygen level, fuel, and more. Among the featured weapons are plasma torches, rocket launchers, and machine guns. Up to six armaments can be carried at once as players topple buildings and other fully destructible objects on their way to fulfilling their objectives. In-game communication is offered via radio, allowing players to obtain situational updates as well as order commands for support troops. Completing missions allows players an opportunity to upgrade to a more sophisticated model of tank. Steel Battalion, released as Tekki in Japan, comes bundled with a 40-button controller specifically designed for the game, spanning nearly three feet in length. Providing an interactive experience worthy of receiving Popular Science's Best of What's New Award for 2002, players can squeeze individual triggers to fire weapons, manipulate dual joysticks for movement, press foot pedals to accelerate and brake, pull levers to shift gears, and activate various other switches, buttons, and dials to make the vertical tank come to life.