Xbox

Battle Engine Aquila

Battle Engine Aquila is an excellent arcade mech game, and had it included solo skirmish and a few more multiplayer maps could have been the undisputed king of the mech genre. As it stands, BEA is a game you should really check out, for despite the somewhat repetitive missions and odd frustrating moment, it is a real gem in the rough.

Unlike Mech Assault which is basically a bunch of small skirmishes in confined areas, Aquila puts you in the middle of a huge war, with an expansive battleground loaded with other vehicles engaged in battle. To help tell the good guys from the bad, your allies are rendered in shades of blue, and the bad guys are all red. I enjoyed Battle Engine Aquila a lot, and found the two-player cooperative mode especially addicting. I don't think this game got a lot of attention when it was released, but it's very worthwhile.

This game is a great mech game in first and third person view, and it’s sure to bring hours of enjoyment to Xbox fans everywhere. With Lost Toys just recently kicking the bucket, this game should become increasingly rare, and it'd be stupid not to own it.

Battle Engine Aquila has its share of weak spots here and there, but its action-packed levels and nifty extras will keep mech fans more than happy. If you enjoy a solid first-person, arcade-styled mech shooter, then this is definitely the game to buy. And while there’s no Xbox Live support, the multiplayer fun has enough split-screen action for you and a friend. Not bad at all, huh?

A Halo wannabe in the visual department, Aquila's graphics lack originality but look pretty sharp overall. The sound is just sort of there, doing its job without being dazzling, and the controls, which slot smoothly into the first-person-shooter groove, are solid and responsive.

I'm into the ol' Battle Engine Aquila. It's an addicting game, a good game, with a solid idea, great AI, and plenty of extras. I say it's a good game, but not quite a great game. Perhaps that will change with a sequel. It's definitely a worthy buy, especial for mech fans as it offers something new and does a solid job of creating mass-scale battles. But while the battles got bigger and tougher in Aquila, I never really felt like my gameplay or tactics mattered as much as they were supposed to. A buy for anyone looking for a good mech game or for anyone who wants a good action title to run through. Definitely a good sign for things to come in 2003.

Battle Engine Aquila is an interesting take on the mech genre, and it worked out well. Instead of a slew of mechs, there is only one. Instead of personal battles between the enemy, battles are fought with armies in all out wars. Somewhat easy gameplay mixed with hit and miss visuals bring the game down a bit, but for anyone interested in a mech title provides plenty of fun and enjoyment, Battle Engine Aquila will fit the bill.

Overall, Battle Engine Aquila for the Xbox is a surprisingly solid game. The numerous missions are hard, but not impossible (they actually branch if you get a high enough ranking). In a genre full of stinkers and throwaways, the care the developers put into making this game special is notable. While it won't change your life, it's a suitable distraction.

Battle Engine Aquila is a solid looking and playing game. It's just that I got a little bored of it after a while. There wasn't enough variety of missions to keep me riveted to it. And to be honest, I'll take a good dose of MechAssault online to the 2 player multi modes here. This is a good rental game for the weekend, but I am not sure this is a game you'll play a month from now.

Battle Engine Aquila is a fair addition to the mission-based sci-fi sim genre. It meets the standards of the genre without really breaking any new ground. The branching mission paths are a nice idea, but in practice they could have allowed for more mission variety than the final product actually has. Fans of the genre will be able to dig around and find some things to like, but in the end, Battle Engine Aquila is better suited for your rental list than your purchase list.

Battle Engine Aquila can be very entertaining at times and meets all the ground rules laid out for the mission-based sci-fi genre, but it doesn’t actually break any new ground. While the overall idea is innovative, the gameplay itself isn’t. However, there are a lot of missions to get through - 26 standard missions and 16 branching ones - so you won’t be finishing this in a weekend. Regardless, the game is more of a renter than one to buy, as you will experience pretty much everything it has to offer within a few hours of play.

What I'll remember BEA for when I look back on it in the months to come, are the small but meaningful differences it has when compared to other, similar games. It's always pleasant to see a developer try something a little unusual and succeed. Here's hoping that we can see a BEA2 that drives even further from the norm yet remains as solid.

As a simple and fairly enjoyable bout of short-term release, Aquila is as good as they come. The problem for us is that from any other viewpoint, Battle Engine falls short. Sure, tere' plenty to unlock and the grading system adds some degree of replay value, as does the multiplayer mode (Versus and Co-op are available - the latter is another praiseworthy inclusion) but it's ultimately a very shallow experience.