For beta code, I was very impressed with how solidly Line of Contact ran during the public test. There were no stability problems (though I heard a couple of reports from other testers to the contrary), the game's content appeared complete and fully functional, and I encountered no significant show-stopping bugs. However, a few things made it obvious that the development team has some hard work ahead of them if they are to make the impending March 16th release date. Foremost on the list of complaints is that of connectivity. Many users ended up in the situation of being completely unable to join other games occurring, but could effectively host their own and wait for other players to join (unless someone else created a session with an abnormally low maximum player limit). Since there was an annoyingly limited number of American or English-speaking testers, every user I encountered with this little issue increased my frustration a little more, as it was someone else I had to jump through extra hoops to play with (add to this the fact that I was one of the users with this problem). Obviously this little nagging problem needs to be nailed before the game hits retail, or a lot of people are going to be complaining. Almost as serious is the issue of latency. While playing against 2 or 3 other American testers on a decent connection was no problem whatsoever, throw some poor schmuck with an abused DSL connection into the fray and everything just goes to hell. All of the game's inputs are linked to the latency levels, meaning that it can be nearly impossible to even start one's VT in a session experiencing high latency levels, never mind how frustrating it can be to aim at someone manually or navigate a hard turn without tipping over. There were a few other problems I ran into (heavy framerate problems in certain maps and situations, minor sound and graphical errors, numerous clipping problems, and the utterly frustrating inability to communicate with all friendly players at once in a team session while playing), but the connectivity issues were the most serious and badly need to be resolved - lag problems in particular could ruin the game if left unresolved. I have faith in Capcom and Nude Maker's capabilities, however, and feel confident they can get these problems ironed out for final (it was the entire point of holding a beta in the first place, after all). You can bet I'll be checking all these issues out with a critical eye once the final game is released.

So, in bringing my massive preview to a close, one major statement I wish to make is that Steel Battalion: Line of Contact is hardly any ordinary Xbox title. It's not even an ordinary title, period. The price tag alone should make that obvious, but investing players will not just be getting a fancy, blinking controller to take up space in their households, they'll be gaining access to one of the most incredible gaming experiences developed to date. Anyone who missed out on the whole Battletech Tesla Pod craze from many years ago should realize that this is their chance to finally get in on the action - and have the thing available for home use, no less. If this game takes off with a large enough player base (which it very well may, as the hype is catching on through many corners of the internet), the chance for LoC's greatness grows even more. Rest assured, this is one hardcore simulation experience that no Mecha fan will want to miss. Stay tuned for a final release this coming March.