
Throughout the lifecycle of an video game console, hundreds of games titles are developed and published, all taking their changes among the other games on the shelves. Some will become fondly remembered, securing a place in video game history, much like HALO, Super Mario Brothers, and Tetris. Others will merely blip the gamers' radar and be lost on dusty disconnected shelves...doomed to a forgotten existence. In 2003, British game studio Lost Toys developed an transformable mech combat shooter set on an alien world at war called Battle Engine Aquila. Hopes were high for the title by the developer and the publisher: ATARI. This game was rolled on the original Xbox, Playstation 2, and the PC on January 20th of 2003, but failed to make an impact, and the title was quickly forgotten.. For this installment of Forgotten Classics blog series, FWS will be discussing this unique title in all of its 2003 glory.
What is Battle Engine Aquila?

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The Plot of Battle Engine Aquila?
The planet of Allium is a desperate state, global climate change has melted the polar ice caps, triggering a massive flooding of dry lands, and wasting away the major cities. By the end, only a few islands were left on the surface of Allium along with two political groups that survived the apocalypse: the Muspell and the Forseti. The Forseti are more technologically advanced, who use green energy, and are governing over in a democracy, which is very much in deep contrast to their rivals: the Muspell.
The industrial dictatorship of Muspell have set their sights on the Forseti islands, and to accomplish this goal, the Muspell have cracking out war machines and genetically engineered soldiers from their dirty factories. They are greater militarily than the more peace loving Forseti. As the game opens, the Muspell are planning a major military operation to take Forseti lands as the Forseti are testing their new Battle Engine prototype mecha. Your character, Hawk Winter is a punk dock worker that conducts illegal races, and is drafted for his natural talent to pilot the Battle Engine, thrusting Hawk into a new war for the survival of the Forsteri
The Historical Context of Battle Engine Aquila
2003 has been called the "year of sequels", and it was an important year for the Playstation 2 and the original Xbox. This year saw the release of Bioware's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic along with the beginning of the mega Call of Duty franchise, and Xenosaga. Along with this, there was the release of sequels to notable previous titles like SOCOM, Time Crisis 3, Max Payne 2, and Silent Hill 3. This was also the apex of the PS2 and the Xbox lifecycle with quality games coming out on a continual basis, but the end was in sight, Sony and Microsoft were developing the next-gen consoles. We also have to remember that 2003 was the year that we got Dead or Alive...let that memory sink in. Yep, good times. During this period of gaming, there was a great deal less online presence and more time and energy was devoted to the single player experience, but is in a decline today, sadly.
What Happened to Battle Engine Aquila?

Given the fickle nature of the gaming industry and gamers in general, games either make an impact and give rise to sequels or they fade away to the resell shop with a few scattered fans raving on the internet. This was the fate of Battle Engine Aquila, fading away with a few fans, like me, fondly remembering this title and raving on sites like this one. ATARI tried hard with Battle Engine Aquila, marketing the title for success with playable demos on gaming stands at stores like Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. In gaming stores, there was the arresting game art and posters, and this is how I was first educated of the game. Reviewers placed Battle Engine Aquila on "games worth waiting for" lists and when the game came out in January of 2003, reviews were solidly positive, with an average of 7 or even 8. However, the game had been delayed, and it was not shipped during the busy November/December release span, and instead was released in January. January was a bad month for games or anything, because of the Christmas exhaustion for consumers. Sales reflected this, and Battle Engine Aquila, despite the positive reviews, was unsuccessful, and prices dropped quickly. When I bought the game in 2004, it was brand new and more than half in original price.

Battle Engine Aquila Today

Why is Battle Engine Aquila an Classic?

The Modern Mini-Review of Battle Engine Aquila
Due to the length of time since the release of Battle Engine Aquila, I decided that I would write a mini-review of the game. Overall, this game is a fun experience with a unique setting and a fresh take on mecha, along with little touches in design that make this game a standout, even among mecha games. The controls are good, the weapons awesome, and being in the middle of massive engagements is a very nice touch, along with the combined arms approach to both military organizations. During the game play, the game sings. Crushing massive amounts of Muspell forces, unleashing grenades while performing an "death from above" tactic is the great moments of the game and never get old. But, when the game attempts to further the plot, it stalls. The basic plot of an Muspell invasion of the Forseti territory is simple enough and should be enough. However, the game attempts to tell a larger story and the result is very mixed, due mainly to the awful visuals of these cutscenes and poor dialog.
While no 2003 game is going to look "modern", much of Battle Engine Aquila is good, especially while you are fighting, however, the cutscenes are terrible, simply terrible. The human characters are more simian looking, and despite this being an alien world, they use common Terran names and other touches that betray the alienness of Allium. At times, it seems that the developers didn't even try to make an effort with this alien culture. This is compounded by the bad dialog and lack of an engaging "story" within the settling due to a simple lack of writing. However, the single worse element of Battle Engine Aquila is the weakness of the Forseti forces, and their endless bitching about it. During the majority of battles, the Forseti relay too heavily on the Battle Engine and your skills at the controls to turn the tide of them giving dominated by the Muspell. Trained soldiers will start to bitch and whine when they fall under attack, and scream for your help. This rapidly becomes annoying, and without your aid, the Forseti military will fail, and you flunk the mission. Thank the Lords of Kobol that the gameplay is so much fucking fun and that for a fan of mecha, this is a refreshing take, or else I would be temped to join the Muspell and end their bitching permittely.
Next Time on FWS...
Take a look on the "Dark Colony" pc game intro. Terrans vs Greys at its finest!! The ending is just awesome... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxO6s41Gc8
ReplyDeletemuahaha that alien
ReplyDeleteI dont know why but I feel nostalgic about these games... even today I dont play modern games, i prefer something like Papas Games or similar restaurant management games!
ReplyDeleteWas there a follow up on Aquila? Was one of my favorites too!
ReplyDelete