Steel Battalion: Line of Contact

Reviewed by:
Alex Porter

Want to play a “Vertical Tank” simulation game in which 10-story tall, heavily armed mechs atomize planes, enemy strongholds, and each other? Well, sweep aside the collection of remote controls and crusty take-out containers littering your living room to accommodate the monstrous, 40-button controller required for Steel Battalion and you’re set. The peripheral apparatus (only $150!) helps you man the mechs with dual joysticks, shifting levers, accelerators, and brake pedals—even a wiper button for scraping robo-guts off your windshield! Collaborate online in five-on-five contests deploying strategy—including the naughty “peeping sphere” for eavesdropping on enemy communication—or play in every-destructive-jackass-for-himself solo modes. Either way, you’ll add valuable mech piloting skills to your résumé in punishing combat situations that are as close as you’ll ever get to the real thing…were these machines not totally fictional.

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