Introduction
What to say about Battle Engine Aquila?!?! I have been pondering over this for a while now. Basically though, I think it is a poor attempt at yet another Mech game. So, that being said, here is the review.

The Game
In Battle Engine Aquila you an armoured spider like mech that has all the usual mech-game type things. The only interesting thing about he mech is you can transform back and forth from walker mode into jet mode at any time. Walker mode seems to be by far the most thought out (probably because it’s easier). In jet mode it is so totally unrealistic for flying that you just don’t feel you are in any sort of jet at all. When you pull up to climb there are no rolls you can do, and the controls are sub-standard. For guns there are three main choices and they depend on which mode you are in: pulse cannon, vulcan machine gun, and rockets.

In the game you are a racer that used to pilot other spider-like Mech’s so the military calls you up to pilot their Battle Engine because they lost all their pilots. You are thrust into the action of war right from the beginning. The gameplay is a bunch of different little story lines that keep you doing the same mission over and over (protect this, escort that). For every mission you do the game assigns you a grade that depends on how many objectives you were able to complete. The replay on the game is alright because depending on what kind of grade you get you can fork into different scenarios and change it up a little. However, its still basically the same thing over and over. The more you play and the farther you get the more maps you can unlock for other game modes.

Within the game you can also play multiplayer modes. There is a co-op mode, a skirmish mode, and an opponent mode. The co-op mode puts you both against the Xbox in battle. The skirmish mode gives both players a base which they must protect while at the same time going to destroy the opponent. And the opponent mode is the classic one on one where you just try to kill each other.

Graphics & Sound
The graphics in the game are all right. Pretty standard for Mech games. They could have probably done a much better job on the models, but it seems to suit the overall impression of the game – sub-standard. The only good thing is there are no slowdowns or hiccups in the framerate. This is a definite plus for gamers like myself who can’t stand little pauses (I really don’t want to rest my fingers in the middle of a fight scene). There was really nothing exciting to say about the graphics. Overall, they were so-so.

The sound in the game is much the same. Very standard Mech game sounds. Nothing that really struck me as out of the ordinary. So, there isn’t too much to say about this portion of the game.

Mojo
Blah!!!!!!! What more do I have to say? Anyone who is reading this review will already have gotten the impression that I have about the game. It is a totally unmemorable game.

Lowdown
Well, if you are really into Mech games or sci-fi games in general you might like this game. The storyline is okay. It’s just nothing special. I like to see games that really add something to the gaming community. This game if it would have come out a while ago probably would have scored higher. However, it’s just not what I would consider a quality game. You might consider renting this game before you buy it! But, be prepared to be bored to death after a few hours of basically playing the same missions over and over again!

"Give Us Something New" - JT

Gameplay: 5, Graphics/Sound: 7, Innovation: 4, Mojo: 2. Final: 5