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A shooter game with a bit of a brain (hey, that rhymed).

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: April 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Think of Star Wars Starfighter (or comparable game). Now, think of any arcade car-combat game (Twisted Metal, for instance). Now, think of a 3d RTS game (Battlezone style). This is the odd amalgamation that comprises Battle Engine Aquila. The basic setup of BEA is that you are piloting a prototype military vehicle called the Aquila. Aquila is designed to both fly like a jet and walk like a six-legged mech, and switch between either mode on the fly. Aquila is the newest weapon in a long-lasting war between two archipelago nations. The thing that separates this game from most other shooters is that, though you are an extremely powerful weapon of war, you are not the only one. Battles in Aquila are really battles. That is, it's not you vs. an army, it's an army vs. an army. You can literally stand back and watch the war go on (though you won't win this way). This game is designed so your job is not to win the war, but to fight in it.

Gameplay:

Gameplay in BEA is similiar to Jedi Starfighter, but you can walk too. You basically have a mission goal, be it invasion, defense or target elimination. All of the game's missions take place on either islands or over the sea (the world of BEA consists entirely of archipelagos, groups of small islands). At the beginning of a level, you are given a mission objective, choice of Battle Engine weapons layout (starting later in the game), and choice of wingmen. You are then let free to basically complete your mission as you see fit.

Throughout the battles, you are given a small map of the island with a two-color overlay to show you in real-time who controls what part of the island you're on (missions over the ocean have no map, since there's no land to control). This lends a bit of strategy to the fights, since you can always tell where the relatively safe or hostile areas are, as well as how close your side is to winning or losing the island. Herein lies one of the problems with this game, however: there's not enough strategy to make the game really all that much deeper than Starfighter (though, if you enjoyed that game, you'll probably like this one).

Your Aquila is fitted with three weapons, a shield and some armor. Your three weapons are usually a rapid-fire weapon, a more powerful but slower energy weapon, and a missile/bomb weapon. Ammo is refilled at designated pads, which can even sometimes be placed on larger flying ships. Your are protected by an energy shield, which only operates while you're walking, and serves as a measure of how long you can stay aloft while flying. In the air, you're only protected by your armor, which can be repaired at the aforementioned pads.

Enemies consist of infantry, tank-like vehicles, flying vehicles, and walkers similiar to you. There are also emplaced guns, factories and training facilities, and various other buildings. Infantry are more or less cannon fodder, though it is sometimes fun to see them fight other infantry. Tanks and walkers are the majority of the enemy force. Enemies come from either factories (or training facilities, in the case of infantry) or flying transports. This lends some credibility to the large size of enemy forces, since you can actually see where they're coming from.

Overall, BEA plays like a very basic RTS style game, though its focus is pretty much entirely on action. Basically, if you liked Starfighter, you'll probably like BEA. The difficulty level is either middling or difficult, depending on whether you're playing the regular missions or their harder equivalents. This is dictated not by an options setting, but how succesful you are at fulfilling your secondary objectives. Do them all, and you'll switch to the difficult missions. Leave one undone, and you'll stay in the regular mode.

Graphics:
Graphics in BEA are pretty much average. Terrain is somewhat fuzzy, but you're never close enough to see extreme detail, and since you'll spend much of your time flying you won't really notice it. The islands are small enough that you can see from one end to another in the air, with ocean stretching past the coasts to the horizon. The islands vary in topography; from soft, grassy, hilly terrain to volcanic mountains. Trees are plentiful, decent looking, and can be shot down (one of the better special effects is seeing trees being felled by a travelling missile). Water also looks good, and seeing the frames of ancient buildings sticking out of the ocean is a nice detail.

Models aren't extremely detailed, but look pretty good considering there have to be hundreds active at once with no slowdown. All the vehicles are animated well, if somewhat basically, with moving turrets and treads. Textures are pretty detailed, and the actual look of different vehicles differ greatly depending on what side they're on. Your side is blue mostly, with the enemy as red. This makes it easy to see who's on your side and who isn't, even when flying. The most impressive unit feature is scale. Buildings are believably big, and being able to land on a flying fortress, while its in the air, to refill ammo is pretty neat. One of my favorite tricks, in fact, is to actually land on a flying enemy transport and blast it to heck while I'm standing on it.

Lighting effects are basic, but not bad. There are some particle effects, but not many. Weapons effects aren't bad, though, and seeing two armies exchange fire can be pretty impressive. The only real problem with BEA's graphics, overall, is their general generic appearance. Nothing's really going to make you whince, but nothing's going to take your breath away.

Audio:
BEA's audio is okay. Weapons effects are generic, but work. Music is nondescript, but not annoying. Again, it's the scale of the battles that'll get you. Nothing here's really bad enough to stand out, though. Just all pretty "okay".

Overall:
If you like Starfighter, get BEA. It's better. Otherwise, get it if you can find it for $... You'll definitely enjoy yourself.

Amazing game, has everything

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is truly amazing. The graphics are nothing short of stunning. THe game play is intense, with hardly a dull moment. The single player path has different missions based upon how well you do in the previous mission, and your weapons can also be upgraded based upon this. THe missions themselves are varied and challenging. Your tank/jet has an energy level that powers either shields or your ability to fly, so no shields when flying, and you can only fly as long as you have energy, which makes it hard, because you need to keep track of how long you can stay up for and when to reach a safe landing area. Also, flying and walking modes have different weapons, ranging from vulcan cannons (anyone else wondering why all cannons are always "vulcan" cannons, like that means anything?), plasma grenades, blasters, flux missiles, etc. Each weapon has its own effective targets/targeting systems/ammo amount, ect. In short, this game is intense, varying, and challenging. I recommend it to anybody.

Not a run and gun game....for once!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 11, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best games that has been released for Xbox. Battle Engine Aquila is truly revolutionary; there is simply no other game like it. The best aspect is that you know that you aren't alone on the battle-field; you are part of a whole. However, if you want to simply take on the whole Muspell army yourself, you will summarily beat down. You have to use your forces and realize that you are support for your team, and nd not the other way around. This game is the first of its kind, and is most definitely worth the money. BUY THIS GAME!!!

If only it had more velocity . . .

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 28, 2002
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."

Goooood, very good!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: February 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Just got it this morning, been playing for 3 hours straight. This is a great game! Finally something other than a guy walking around with a gun shooting people. If you are looking for something other than a 1st person shooter, sports or racing game. Get this! Lots of action, lots to kill, AMAZING graphics.

Decent war game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is okay. You play the role of a Mech joke in a war between two island deweling nations.

Basicly your the great hero that is suppose to lead your nation to victory.

My main compliant is how easy it was for a giant mech to be taken down by enemy tanks. Around six hits will do it I belive. Also your viechle can bearly fly makeing it tought to race to the front and fend off tanks then fly back to base to stop bombers.

But other than that the game is great. Your base will send out tanks and infantry as long as the right buildings are there as well the enemy base. Tank out there production buildings to hurry your sides victory.

The story is VERY lineal. Win or lose. If you win with all side missions accompliesed you get a harder version of the next mission if you want.

That's about this game in a nut shell.

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