I rented it, not buy it, I knew I'd regret it if I did, but, in my time palying this game, I have had almost no kinect issues and the missions have not been frustrating in the slightest yet (I just finished the first section when the first tour achievement popped). The only problem I've had was when I get lazy and lean forward and stay there, it causes a bit of a zoom in and zoom out issue, but, all in all the game seems hectic an enjoyable! Would I reccomend a buy? No, but if you can rent it and ahve a kinect try it out.

Have you finished it? If not how many stars would you give it?

Nice Try, Steel Battalion developer. I won't fall for your trickery and mind games.

@Dagbiker: I would say out of 10.... It's sitting somewhere at a 6 or 7, granted, the main reason for me being the asking price for the content it delivers. I feel this would make a great high en XBLA title at the moment, but, if they persued some more DLC opportunitis, online Multiplayer (which is a huge step for Kinect online MP given they have coop implimented), and longer missions (as the QL says they are short usually) they could relaunch it with much more success. It is definately a rental, but I woul not buy it until it gets a price reduction. Moving around the cockpit (again, for me) feels fluid and easy to control, added with the atmosphere and motif it makes for a great 'sit and paly a few levels' kind of game. I think I have about 60% of the game more to go as there are 4 achievements related to completion and I went a little past the 1st one yesterday.

I don't know what is going on when the review sites are doing this game, but it is performing much better then I believe they are rating it for.

@Azteck: Oh no, you have seen through all my disguizezzz

Have you finished it? If not how many stars would you give it?

Wow, we must have been playing different games or something because the version of it I played was a pile of shit, verging on the unplayable.

@Hokucho said:

I would say out of 10.... It's sitting somewhere at a 6 or 7

busted. we work out of 5's here.

@Azteck:

I'm with you, buddy. I'm not going to fall for it either. Brad hated it, so I'm staying away from it.

My rental copy from LoveFilm arrives tomorrow and I'm fully expecting it to be the absolute piece of shit that it's been reviewed as. HOWEVER, I did play the demo and had zero problems with the Kinect stuff. Everything worked flawlessly for me in the demo. I take that with a grain of salt, mind. The bigger problem I've got in the back of my mind is that folk (including Brad) said that even without Kinect stuff it'd be an awful game. Looking forward to testing the madness/shitness tomorrow!

Maybe the guy who posted this is a ghost and From Software made a game that can only see dead people.

I've not played Steel Battalion yet, but i'll probably pick it up when it's cheap because I loved the first game.

I've learned not to pay much attention to when Giantbomb members complain about Kinect issues, because I rarely have any. Obviously the thing isn't perfect, but I must be lucky and have a living room laid out exactly like the Kinect wants it. Also the Giantbomb guys seem a little reluctant to go along with the Kinect, which is understandable, but occasionally frustrating to watch. I remember during the Kinect launch day and the prompt that you have to wave at the Kinect for it to see you on the Dashboard, and they were waving from the wrist, but the actual animation moves in a way that a person would wave from the elbow, and when you do it that way it works almost every time.

Anyway, I'm glad the game worked for you, hopefully it will for me too.

Well, I was using 'out of ten' because I think with a larger number I can give a more accurate representation of my experience then 5, stupid reason, I know, but that's why I did it. I do notice the QLs say they have an optimal playspace, but I never have the problems they do, ever. The setup I have so far is that Ive got a sofa, large table, and then the tv. Thats roughly 12-15 ft (somewhere in there) from tv to sofa. Usually I move the table, but with me being able to sit for Steel Battalion I don't ahve to. I have two large windows to my right and a fan o nhe cieling with its own lights. I dunno how much that helps others out but that's my setup and all my kinect stuff works great.

This is something I was wondering too. I live in Singapore and its looking like things here are different than in the West. Since buying Kinect, I've never had any recognition problems yet. Thats why it was shocking to me that Western games press were complaining so much.

Will download the Steel Battalion demo in a week and give it a shot. I did have some trouble with The Gunstringer in terms of recognition but the promise of Steel Battalion, like many have mentioned before, is too much to just dismiss immediately.

I play in a dark room on a leather desk chair. So far the game works pretty well.

The only thing I have trouble doing is venting the smoke out of my Veet.

I also keep the controller near my stomach so Kinect doesn't zoom in and out.

The only bad thing about this game is the mission design (length) and brutal difficulty level. I'm really liking it so far. Best part was chopping off the dead guy's hand to get the microfilm.

@Residentrevil2: I have a tip for smoke venting. WHen you pull the panel out, do it in one fluid motion and as soon as it locks in, quickly drop your right arm, that usually stops you from putting the panel back away and lets you vent the smoke much easiar. Also, I haven't gotten to your spot, mind sending me a msg and helping me with coop mission 2?

Just snagged it, founda dude who did a good job handling VTs and I focused on the boats. Worked great!

Clearly you were paid off. That's how it works right? Also, what ever happened to that Panzer Dragoon like Minecraft game? Don't remember it's name.

@august said:

Maybe the guy who posted this is a ghost and From Software made a game that can only see dead people.

makes sense.

I liked the idea of this game from the quick look, it just seems poorly executed. The idea of using the kinect to control a tank is a brilliant idea, I even think you could drop the controller completely if you went traditional tank style with a pair of levers controlling the tracks and hell, maybe even voice commands for your engineers and gunner. I think that might actually be the only Kinect game I would look at and say "I want to play that game".

How much did they pay you? You...you Judas!

@Azteck said:

Nice Try, Steel Battalion developer. I won't fall for your trickery and mind games.

ROFL Steel Battalion marketing strategy; "Come on guys, it's not THAT bad. Commme onnnnn"

Lies! All horrible, horrible lies!

So should I believe the two random anonymous guys in this thread that actually like the game or the superior number of professional reviewers claiming that it's a piece of crap?

Seems legit...

Well, I'm certainly convinced.

@bibamatt said:

My rental copy from LoveFilm arrives tomorrow and I'm fully expecting it to be the absolute piece of shit that it's been reviewed as. HOWEVER, I did play the demo and had zero problems with the Kinect stuff. Everything worked flawlessly for me in the demo. I take that with a grain of salt, mind. The bigger problem I've got in the back of my mind is that folk (including Brad) said that even without Kinect stuff it'd be an awful game. Looking forward to testing the madness/shitness tomorrow!

So, I'm following on from this that I posted yesterday. My copy arrived this morning and I've played the first four missions. I'm not having any real Kinect problems so far but DAMN I'm not enjoying the missions at all. They go from REALLY HARD to 90 seconds of easiness level to level. I died about six times on the very first mission straight after walking forward for the first time. Then the second mission has you crawling forward and pressing a button. Literally, that's the whole mission. It's weird and I think people should play it. But it's BAD.

I haven't had any real Kinect issues either. The game plays fine for me, though I agree the missions are a bit short.

@Zereta said:

This is something I was wondering too. I live in Singapore and its looking like things here are different than in the West. Since buying Kinect, I've never had any recognition problems yet. Thats why it was shocking to me that Western games press were complaining so much.

Doesn't the Press always complains anyway? lol But really, Kinect seems to be a case by case basis, witch is unfortunate. Looks like Micorsoft wanted to get that casual crowd money so fast that they rushed to release the device, I wonder what would have happened if they had taken an other year developing it?

Then go buy it if it's not bad.

The issue with Kinnect games is that experiences can be wildly variable due to the wildly variable Kinnect responses. There are some people who have hair that Kinnect doesn't like or their living room is the wrong size. How is it that the player's fault?

It would have been half decent if they just released a damn controller for it instead. However I'm glad they didn't because the controller for Hawken looks damn sharp

@krazy_kyle said:

It would have been half decent if they just released a damn controller for it instead. However I'm glad they didn't because the controller for Hawken looks damn sharp

I don't know about that. From the conversations on Bombcast and the Quick Look it sounds like the mission design is terrible where that has nothing to do with the control input.

@EXTomar said:

@krazy_kyle said:

It would have been half decent if they just released a damn controller for it instead. However I'm glad they didn't because the controller for Hawken looks damn sharp

I don't know about that. From the conversations on Bombcast and the Quick Look it sounds like the mission design is terrible where that has nothing to do with the control input.

Yeah, it's not even the Kinect stuff that makes this game bad. The controls make it broken for some, but the awful game beneath them would be awful with controller controls, too. I've been playing it today and might've given up if I was just using my controller. As it is, the Kinect controls make it, at best, a curiosity.

when I played the demo the detection was really buggy and had a hard time detecting me even though the skeleton in the top left corner looked fine.

I'm just shocked this many people own a Kinect.

@Metzo_Paino: The Gb guys aren't the only ones having problems. IGN, Gamespot, GI, Destrucoid all gave them terrible reviews.

As I said before, it's worth a rent, not a buy. Just something quick to say there.

@vince_kupo said:

@Zereta said:

This is something I was wondering too. I live in Singapore and its looking like things here are different than in the West. Since buying Kinect, I've never had any recognition problems yet. Thats why it was shocking to me that Western games press were complaining so much.

Doesn't the Press always complains anyway? lol But really, Kinect seems to be a case by case basis, witch is unfortunate. Looks like Micorsoft wanted to get that casual crowd money so fast that they rushed to release the device, I wonder what would have happened if they had taken an other year developing it?

Gonna say that nothing would have changed.

My belief is that Kinect has the makings of a great device but was launched for a console that does not have enough power to run it at its best, and hence, the version we have is far inferior for gameplay because the Xbox 360 was just not designed to handle the full capabilities of that technology.

It is also why the Kinect works well outside of gaming and why many third party non-gaming institutions have adopted the technology.

So yea, everyone who bought a Kinect for gaming took part in a expensive beta test for Microsoft. Games, controllers and TV screens had to die so that Kinect V 2.0 could live. :P

@Hokucho said:

Well, I was using 'out of ten' because I think with a larger number I can give a more accurate representation of my experience then 5, stupid reason, I know, but that's why I did it.

How much out of 745 though?!?!

Just as an update, im a little past the halfway mark (got the 3 of 6 campain achievements) and I'm still satisfied with the rental. Matchmaking becomes easiar the more coop missions I unlock, an while it is slow, it is rather successful. Still having very little issues involving kinect functionality.

@bibamatt said:

@bibamatt said:

My rental copy from LoveFilm arrives tomorrow and I'm fully expecting it to be the absolute piece of shit that it's been reviewed as. HOWEVER, I did play the demo and had zero problems with the Kinect stuff. Everything worked flawlessly for me in the demo. I take that with a grain of salt, mind. The bigger problem I've got in the back of my mind is that folk (including Brad) said that even without Kinect stuff it'd be an awful game. Looking forward to testing the madness/shitness tomorrow!

So, I'm following on from this that I posted yesterday. My copy arrived this morning and I've played the first four missions. I'm not having any real Kinect problems so far but DAMN I'm not enjoying the missions at all. They go from REALLY HARD to 90 seconds of easiness level to level. I died about six times on the very first mission straight after walking forward for the first time. Then the second mission has you crawling forward and pressing a button. Literally, that's the whole mission. It's weird and I think people should play it. But it's BAD.

i read the first bit and was hoping you had updated, I am disappoint, but as you suggest i might still try it out. I mean it was the whole reason i bought kinect for this promise of proper games on the system that a man can stand up and say i played it.

@Azteck said:

Nice Try, Steel Battalion developer. I won't fall for your trickery and mind games.

LOL

With that said, I think the big issues are just the controls and the missions. People have been slagging the concept and style; but I dig the art, and I think the VT world they showed was interesting. The game just needed: A) not to be a motion game B) To have had more time to create a better narrative and less wooden characters C) To have had a more varied and interesting mission structure and plot.

The damn game should have been a controller based game. They could have used the cockpit view (w/ a view port so you could shoot from that view) and the periscope view, but the whole game should have been played with the controller. In driving games when you steer or shift you see the guys hands steer the wheel or drop to the shiftier to change gears, and that is how it should have been in cockpit view in this game. You use the controller, but in cockpit view his hands would adjust the controllers.

The real shame is they WASTED this game on Kinect. I assume Microsoft owns this IP, so you won't see this game in any form every again because it has become an embarrassment. Thankfully, nobody owns the humongous walking tank idea since it has been around too long...all the same we might not see a decent WW 2-style walking tank game ever.

If I can get my capcard to work I may try and do my first video ever on this game. Mainly to just illustrate that the kinect isn't always an issue. Can't do it tonight but I'll see if I can do some footage before I return the game to the rental store.