Steel Battalion: Line of Contact

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 1:11 am

SB:LoC. My favorite game. It cost me $150 for the original title and controller, and $25 for the online sequel, Line of Contact.

What is it? It's a mech simulator. The most difficult and realistic one there is. It requires the use of a controller with 40 buttons, two joysticks, 5 toggle switches, a gear shifter, a dialing knob, three foot pedals, and an eject button with a plastic cover.

Most gamers are sceptics towards this game. The reason? Just the price tag. Rediculous. This game is worth every cent when it comes to online play. Me and my buddies have played online since LoC was released. Even now, after clocking in thousands of hours of game time, we still enjoy every minute of it. It's worth the money. Trust me.

The learning curve for this game is never-ending. You are always learning new ways to use your VTs (mechs are reffered to as Vertical Tanks in the game). With 34 different VTs, over 60 different weapons, and 24 maps total, the range of strategy is emmense. After devoting enough time to this game, the feeling of crushing the VTs of other actual players is priceless.

Good online (english) sources for this game include:
http://www.steelbattalion.org <--My fav forum is here.
http://www.lineofcontact.net
I know the creators of both websites, and play them online in LoC every now and then.

Until reciently, the Campaign mode of the online game is being shut down by Capcom due to their ideotic claims... "Current user base conditions are at a level where it is no longer feasible for us to continue the campaign mode service. We will continue Xbox Live services and support for free mission mode." Yeah, only because Free Mission is connected player to player rather than through a server that saves stats and scores for factions. Full story here: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/06 ... 32644.html
The game will still be fun to play nonetheless. An "unlock all" patch is in the works from Capcom so that we wont need Campaign to unlock all of the VTs, maps, and whatnot. I mostly play Free Mission anyways. Its easier to have fun in FM than in CM.

I'd love to talk about the awesomeness of this title, so lets discuss it.

Miguel · Post by **Miguel** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 2:32 pm

Never heard of it. It looks cool though.

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 12:30 am

Miguel wrote:Never heard of it. It looks cool though.

You know, there's a really good VT pilot I sometimes see online that has your screen name.

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:39 pm

Here's the 2003 E3 demo from way back when the game was still under the knife.
http://www.steelbattalion.org/media/mov ... movie0.mpg

It really does capture the essence of the gameplay. Good team strategy and communication is the key to winning battles.

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 12:33 pm

An update on that Capcom shut down situation. Steel Battalion: Line of Contact is stll up and running. The Campaign mode is gone now, but Capcom provided us with an "unlock all" code to counter the impending problems that would occur from not being able to unlock things in Campaign. Basiclly, besides the absence of Campaign, it's all good now.

The game is still fun with Free Mission mode. Although since I've had a full taste of what Campaign was, my own hosted matches are too hard for a lot of the newer gamers. Kind of makes me mad that they complain, but at least the other veteran VT pilots can't get enough of the more challenging matches.

Now is as good a time as ever to try out this great game. You can still catch the original game "Steel Battalion" (that comes with the controller) for $120-$150, and the stand alone online sequel "Line of Contact". Ebay is the best place to find it, but there are some availible at EB Games on rare occations. If you are a frequent player, it is more than worth the buy.

Here's a music video I made of the game's online action. This vid shows three Behemoths vs. one Earthshaker. (Earthshakers are the most powerful mech in the game.)
http://www.croeder.net/shared/behemoth_onslaught.wmv

white · Post by **white** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:54 pm

So is this for XBox, or PC?

Akela · Post by **Akela** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 6:35 am

Thanks for bringing this up, I'll get it... eventually as all my money now is going to a new computer.

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:59 pm

It's for XBox. As a matter of fact, it isn't unusual to hear of players buying two, three, or even four copies of this game with an XBox for each. This way they can have LAN action that is without the risk of laggy connections. And what's more fun that LAN parties? You can see the look on their faces when your ambush succeeds! ^_^

Keep this in mind though. This game is for those of you who like strategy, simulators, and squad combat. If you like either of these three things, chances are you'll like Steel Battalion: Line of Contact. We get plenty of comers and goers that tell us that "The game sucks! It's too hard!". This is NOT Halo 2 or Counter-Strike. This is a tactical simulator. Those of you used to constant pwnage in simple FPS games may not like it. I suck at FPS (even though I still enjoy FPS) but I rule in this game. So it's safe to say that FPS skills to not apply here. I still say this is the best game on the whole damn planet, beating the closest competition by a landslide!

Shadow Wulf · Post by **Shadow Wulf** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:21 pm

its a shame its not for PC

.

JoshuaMadoc · Post by **JoshuaMadoc** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:34 pm

I haven't played the game yet, but apart from DoA, i think this is one of the only games from the xbox that's got me interested.

Too bad game stores here in australia are complete doofs...

Akela · Post by **Akela** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:29 pm

My new computer has completely depleted my coffers but I have begun to set aside a reserve for this game but first I have a few questions.

That look like a rather awkward setup, it would seem you would need to have a desk in front of your Television Screen to use all the controls properly, how do you recommend setting up all those controlers? Also, is it compatible with the 360?

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Wed May 10, 2006 1:15 am

Well yes. Making room for the controller can be an issue. In the past players have built special tables to accomadate the controller and pedals. As of late they don't sell the custom tables anymore. You can see my setup for an example. My office desk is long enough to hold both a 27 inch CRT flatscreen, and the controller in front of it. The pedals fit conveniantly under the desk next to the subwoofer. I can feel every step the mech takes. Heh heh.

http://www.chrisroeder.net/shared/kaeborasetup4.jpg

I think I'll write up some of the latest happenings with Steel Battalion and Line of Contact tomorrow.

Kaebora · Post by **Kaebora** » Mon May 29, 2006 3:13 pm

My newest Steel Battalion video.

Steel Battalion Forever
Featuring musical stylings by Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.