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If only it had more velocity . . .

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: January 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Some of the preview scenes I saw for this looked very exciting. You command a spider-esque looking tank that can also go airborne. It has plenty of earth-shaking weapons to choose from, and there is a multitude of targets to destroy. Graphics are, for the most part, super. Land and seascapes are richly detailed, and there is plenty of special effects.

So, why only four stars? Unfortunately, the game moves as a nearly constant pace, and it is a slow one at that. And, although there is a lot to shoot at, it isn't particularly engaging. But this is still a worthy game, and should fill up plenty of hours of your time.

By the way, Aquila is Latin for "eagle."

Amazing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: December 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Absolutly amazing! I only played the demo, but it looks really really good!

Flying Mech

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Battle Engine Aquila for the PS2 is a mecha action game, where you pilot mechs that can transform into a ship and fly in the sky. The Aquila mech looks like a robotic spider with four legs while on land. You'll be fighting against other mechs and full army platoons with spaceships unloading troops and attacking your allied forces. You can join in the frey of battle to help your troops or just focus on the mission objectives to win the battle and move on to the next levels.

There many weapon types useful for battle, the rapid fire lasers have unlimited ammunitions but overheat, there is also an energy charged blast which shoots slowly but packs a powerful punch, then there is the assortement of missles which are mainly used for airborne targets. The view can be changed from FPS to third person view and making your mech fly while jet mode is very limited for a short time, before you run out of energy. You are then forced to land or crash on the ground and await for your mech to re-charge if you want to fly again.

Part of the strategy in the game play is deciding when it is best to fight on the ground mode or in jet mode, no single type works for all situations as sometimes you have to do both. In many missions you have to protect your base, as you destroy enemy ground units; enemy bombers arrive on the scene and then you are forced to fight in the skies against bombers and jets.
The battles look huge and kind of have an epic feel to them. You'll see your own allied forces on the ground and the skies shooting it out with enemy forces: tanks, jets, infantry, transport ships unloading, turret guns fending off enemies and (sometimes you). You want to keep fighting, but if you missed a
primary objective- its game over. And it doesn't matter if you your forces were winning the battles! It doesn't matter if you were undamaged. This makes the game feel linear and scripted as events happen a certain way every single time. And you must react fast before another event occurs that causes you to lose the game. It ruins the sense of freedom the game wants to convey
I just wished the game didn't try so hard with the linear element just to tell a story.

It has a bit of freedom to the gameplay and I like how you can go from a ground battle to air combat at the press of a button, but I hate all the limitations imposed by the gameplay; And although your allied troops help out in battle, they are mostly idiotic cannon fodder. You will have to win most of the battles by yourself. Another strange thing about this game is that even though your mech can take much punishment from explosions and enemy attacks, landing on water/ the ocean will instantly destroy your mech which seems unrealistic and unfair.

Pros:
+epic battles
+excellent graphics
+excellent weapons
+excellent sound effects
+excellent music
+your mech can fly
+good controls

Cons:
-severely scripted gameplay
-very linear, eventhough it
want to be free-roaming
-water destroys you instantly
-your allied troops are idiots
-limited flight time
-your energy levels always run low

Let Slip the Engines of War!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I think deep down, lots of people want a Giant Robot of their very own. Transformers, Robotech, Gundam, it's all about the Giant Robots. But video games about Giant Robots, on the other hand, have for the most part been rather lacking. And then comes along this game, with all the elements of a great action game, and some rather fun action at that.

In this game you pilot the Giant Robot Aquila (yeah they call it a battle engine but it's a GR). Over the course of the game you get several different configurations to choose from, and carry out a variety of missions that vary from protecting key objectives (destroy the attackers before they destroy your guys) to seek and destroy (just blow up everything that shoots at you). You get graded on every level (replay value!), there are multiple branches of missions (more replay value!), and a few extra features like galleries to be unlocked (yet more replay value!). But of course the main reason to play is to act out that wonderful fantasy of commanding some kind of alien super-weapon. You get to use huge lasers, swarmer missiles, and other things that blow up good. And with certain of the GRs you can jump or hover into the air for huge distances, allowing you to jump from ship to ship over the ocean (now that's cool), or chase after airborne foes. There's also a two-player mode, but you'll probably spend most of your time playing the excellent single player. The graphics are beautiful, and the sound effects deliver a satisfying crunch and blast throughout the mayhem that often ensues when you strive to take out entire fleets of ships and massive ground forces by yourself.

There isn't much of a story, but the voice acting is good and what story there is isn't half bad. And the action is just great. If you enjoy games like Robotech:Battlecry and Skygunner (and espeicially the latter), you should definitely pick up a copy of this one. Lots of fun for the Giant Robot lover in everyone.

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