Red Faction II
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Game
Game2020
Battle Engine Aquila
Developer Lost Toys Ltd
Battle Engine Aquila is a 2003 video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox developed by Lost Toys and published by Infogrames Europe. In the game the player pilots the Battle Engine for the Forseti military in their wars against the Muspell to decide who will rule what's left of the world. Battle Engine Aquila received little attention from the public despite overall good reviews from critics. It was listed as #86 in the… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
89 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy) · newest Sep 19, 2026 · last updated Oct 9, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
91
LovedLoved
68 positive · 7 negative
95% range 82–95%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 68 | 7 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
77 of 84 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
91% recommend · 70 yes, 7 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 77 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (138 of 149 positive).
Many players praise the game for its nostalgic value and unique gameplay. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note technical issues like resolution limits and bugs. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
I love this game, sadly the steam version is very buggy. Animations are speed up, dodging doesn't work, some sounds are speed up, it sometimes crashes. I wanted to experience a piece of nostalgia but instead I only got to experience disappointment.
- [1]
Battle Engine Aquila is a fun game, far from perfect but still worth checking out. High resolutions support fix at the end of this review. I first played it on ps2 many years ago, so yeah this game holds a lot of nostalgia for me and i'm glad to see it available again on steam. Sure it's quite old by now but still definitely worth playing if you haven't already IMO. The game deliver cool and fluid ground to air …
- [11]
A pure gem from back in the day. They don't make them how they used to! These are true battlefields, not the fake ones where everything is scripted. So the units are actually engaging each other as they would in an RTS. So if you prioritize something else than the artillery unit for example, the arty will wreck havoc among your forces, so make sure whatever else you prioritized, be it landing crafts or bombers was …
- [15]
What a walk down memory lane. I use to play this game as a kid all the time. I thought I dreamt it because for the life of me I could not find it anywhere. Then in my discover list it appears. It's hasn't stood the test of time. If you didn't play as a kid don't get it. The voice acting is terrible, the story is corny, and the characters are cardboard. But the game-play is okay and just re-experiencing it makes my …
- [2]
A childhood memory has been unblocked. The game deserves all 10/10 because I fell in love with it when I first launched it.. back when many of us didn't even know what Steam was. For 2025, the game is as outdated as possible, but you will not forget those fond memories from childhood during the first playthrough. I finally completed the game completely because I couldn't defeat Fenrir when I was a kid. Do I …
Summarised from 34 of the 91 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Battle Engine Aquila talk about nostalgic and fun for returning players; those who didn't talk about no widescreen or high resolution support. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The Xbox version received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC and PlayStation 2 versions received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Edge gave the PS2 and Xbox versions 7 out of 10. GamePro gave the PS2 version an average review over a month before the game's release. Despite positive critical reception, Battle Engine Aquila received poor sales. IGN ranked it as the 86th best PlayStation 2 game.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 89 · most liked firstBattle Engine Aquila is a fun game, far from perfect but still worth checking out. High resolutions support fix at the end of this review. I first played it on ps2 many years ago, so yeah this game holds a lot of nostalgia for me and i'm glad to see it available again on steam. Sure it's quite old by now but still definitely worth playing if you haven't already IMO. The game deliver cool and fluid ground to air combat, easily switch from mech mode to jet mode on the fly with your the Battle…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GE-Proton10-18 Released. Proton (upstream): - dxvk updated to latest git - vkd3d-proton/vkd3d updated to latest git - wine updated to latest bleeding-edge - dxvk-nvapi updated to latest git - proton script game fixes imported from upstream - vrclient fixes imported from upstream - wineopenxr fixes imported from upstream - makefile.in build fixes imported from upstream Proton(em-10/wine-wayland) - imported fsr4 fixes/updates from em-10 - imported wine-wayland (and additional) patches…
neutral · AI labelView post →I missed this game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GE-Proton10-18 Released. Proton (upstream): - dxvk updated to latest git - vkd3d-proton/vkd3d updated to latest git - wine updated to latest bleeding-edge - dxvk-nvapi updated to latest git - proton script game fixes imported from upstream - vrclient fixes imported from upstream - wineopenxr fixes imported from upstream - makefile.in build fixes imported from upstream Proton(em-10/wine-wayland) - imported fsr4 fixes/updates from em-10 - imported wine-wayland (and additional) patches…
neutral · AI labelView post →A childhood memory has been unblocked. The game deserves all 10/10 because I fell in love with it when I first launched it.. back when many of us didn't even know what Steam was. For 2025, the game is as outdated as possible, but you will not forget those fond memories from childhood during the first playthrough. I finally completed the game completely because I couldn't defeat Fenrir when I was a kid. Do I recommend it? For the Olds who found her in the good old days, definitely yes. For the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a genuinely fun and, dare I say, original game with lots of love and attention put into it. You play as a transforming, arguably overpowered super-mech that can lay waste to the battlefield on land and from the air. The battles are nicely simulated and have a good sense of scale (for a game that's almost 2 decades old), and the over-the-top explosions and general mayhem is surprisingly good for stress relief. The story campaign will be your main focus in the game. Here, individual…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I used to be obsessed with this game when I was 10 years old. Then our computer at the time died and I ended up losing this game forever. Or so I thought. Now 27 years old, me and a buddy were sitting around and having a few drinks and talking old obscure/not-well-known video games from our childhoods. I brought up Battle Engine Aquila, and in looking it up on YouTube, my buddy saw that it was recently added to steam. I bought it there and then via the steam app on my phone, and when I got…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A pure gem from back in the day. They don't make them how they used to! These are true battlefields, not the fake ones where everything is scripted. So the units are actually engaging each other as they would in an RTS. So if you prioritize something else than the artillery unit for example, the arty will wreck havoc among your forces, so make sure whatever else you prioritized, be it landing crafts or bombers was worth it! The videos show you the base gameplay, what they can't show you thou…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →How i would love a modern Battle Engine Aquila, this was a PEAK game back on the original Xbox, still fun today and it has splitscreen on PC!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game, sadly the steam version is very buggy. Animations are speed up, dodging doesn't work, some sounds are speed up, it sometimes crashes. I wanted to experience a piece of nostalgia but instead I only got to experience disappointment.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just how I remembered it on PS2. Beautiful. The nostalgia really hits with this one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had a demo of this game when it first came out, but never got chance to pick it up back in the stone age of PC gaming. I was excited to finally get to play the full game. Unfortunately, the game has not been uploaded for modern systems. I couldn't get my controllers to work at all, and I think this is probably the best was to play. The mouse controls have a lot of movement smoothing applied to it which makes mouse controls feel floaty and awkward. There's no option to turn this off, which for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Does a remake of the first Wipeout count? It was technically made very recently, as the source code was leaked in 2022 and a couple of projects re-built the game based on that, but the original came out in 1995 If that doesn't count then it's Battle Engine Aquila from 2003
neutral · AI labelView post →What a walk down memory lane. I use to play this game as a kid all the time. I thought I dreamt it because for the life of me I could not find it anywhere. Then in my discover list it appears. It's hasn't stood the test of time. If you didn't play as a kid don't get it. The voice acting is terrible, the story is corny, and the characters are cardboard. But the game-play is okay and just re-experiencing it makes my heart melt a little.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →why no full hd :( EDIT : go here https://www.gamepressure.com/download.asp?ID=68861 but its a secret
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very rememberable game. An unusual combination of features, which were mixed very well. The devs gone very creative in both gameplay and modeling design. You control a mech which has ground and air modes. It enables interesting tactics such as landing on top of big enemy air transport, blast it with some high-damaging weapons, and take off before it blows. It also involves some strategic thinking. In most missions, two forces fight in RTS fashion, but you don't command them. They're all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unexpected game. I got it because the trailer seemed good. The game runs just fine in Windows 10 and, even when it doesn't support wide resolutions, it is able to look just good. The graphics are simple, just like the classic starting 2000s. The plot is just there to explain the game, but is welcomed. Not bad, not great. Just good enough, and that's good enough for me. The mechanics in the game are interesting and the transforming mechanic is interesting. I would have loved to have…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember playing a game called Battle Engine Aquila and it had fantastic amounts of foliage (for 2003 I think it was) and I asked Glenn Corpes how the fuck he did that. He said he just drew tree sprites in the distance, and only as you got closer they turned into real 3D trees...
positive · AI labelView post →Sick game, really fun. Using the community guides you can crank up the graphics fairly high resulting in a game that still looks really good today. It plays great, I use an old sidewinder joystick to play. The 4 side buttons are WASD, joystick to look, and the rest of the functions are on the thumb buttons and that hat on the stick. Super fun this way, makes it a little more like you're actually piloting an experimental giant robot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I still have the disc for this game somewhere tucked away but when I saw it was coming to steam I just had to play it again. My initial thought replaying this game was "how was this not more popular when it launched?". It really was a great game for its time, but having checked now what other games launched at the time I can also understand why it went under the radar for most people. The other reason is just that whilst the gameplay is really good, the story, cutscenes and voice acting are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Take control of the advanced prototype mech Aquila, that can transform from a tank into a jet. Shoot everyone invading the Forseti territory and fight a war against the Muspell army. Cool sci-fi game! https://youtu.be/L85-2JYCgpY
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Battle Engine Aquila is that demo you played on the Official PlayStation magazine #24 that you couldn’t remember the name of. You play as Hawk, a dockworker with a robot that he races on the side. After proving he is the bestest robot racer ever, he is recruited by Colonel Chuck Kramer, who I thought was voiced by Keith David for the longest time, at the behest of Hawk’s friend Tatiana. And yes I did remember all these names. Because Hawk was the bestest ever at racing warehouse robots, he is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Battle Engine Aquila-style game where you’re scooting around vast battlefronts in your souped-up Crisis Suit intervening at various flashpoints to turn the tide.
neutral · AI labelView post →It's fun and plays really smooth on Steam Deck. There are some issues that you need to accept if you want to enjoy this: - Max resolution is 1024x768, but for deck it looks fine for a game from 2003, almost native anyways. Widescreen would not help much because of the view from cockpit - You need to map controls from Options to play properly and triggers don't work well. Use the other buttons instead - Opening the menu requires Steam key + Left D-pad - Navigating menus requires the cursor…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I came here to say Brutal Legend…and add Battle Engine Aquila too. Odd game like Giants (been meaning to get around to trying that, it always looked fascinating)
neutral · AI labelView post →A lovely throwback to my childhood. Controls aren't perfect but you can easily play through the entire game without any major issues.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ATTENTION: Although it's 78 minutes long, I own the original game CD and I've played through it like this about three times, in addition to completing all the missions (including the split-screen ones) on SS. I love the game; it's the second game I've ever played (my first was GUNMETAL). The only thing I have to say about the game is that it shares two genres I love: RTS (NPC-only) and FPS. It's the combination of those two genres, a fantastic idea from the Lost Toys group. With this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was lucky enough to work 3 E3s. The first one I did was '97 in Atlanta - working the Populous 3 booth. The second one was 2003 I think? Demoing Battle Engine Aquila on the Infogrammes / Atari booth. The final one was 2005 showing City Of The Dead. We shared that booth with the Playboy game...
neutral · AI labelView post →Unique game, nothing out there like this, I wish we had mod support or a sequel
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a game that will live in my memories as a kid it was one of those games that was so memorable but i always forgot the name. Such a classic mech game that makes you actually love your ally troopers because they actually help in the heat of battles and makes you wanna (sometimes not by choice due to mission objectives) save them. At times when theres big battles it feels more like an RTS game without being able to direct the troopers. Even for such an old game the i think $9.99 isnt a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cant give thumbs up tilt we get proper monitor support, other then that nitpicking game is great and i would love to play it more... First things first find us a way to get a proper monitor and HD support. Also ease of abllity to mod the game would also be quite nice.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just as good as I remembered it on Xbox.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, great battle sim that reminds me of the old Uprising games, wish this niche genre got more love. Doesn't run so good though, can't seem to handle multi-display setups as there is no way to capture the cursor. Screen goes black for 5 seconds at a time randomly. Still worth checking out though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Though this game is a classic and has it's merit, it comes with the flaws of being an aged game. The difficulty curve can really hit you hard, and the fail conditions for missions aren't clear, and can be frustrating to deal with at times. I played this game for nostalgia's sake. (Playstation underground demo disc, never got to play the full game) and now that I can scratch BEA off my bucket list, I can confirm that others shouldn't waste their time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is an interesting game. You are a dual land / air super unit into something like an RTS world. That is a wild idea with a descent implementation. With current tech I really hope someone tries something similar. The game has no bugs and runs out of the box. Graphics hold pretty well given how old the game is. Story is very weak, AI not very good and especially at the end there are huge difficulty spikes. Descent cheap game for seekers of old good games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I picked up Battle Engine Aquila today, I never heard of it, but it's a mech game, so of course I got it, and Excite Trucks as I always wanted it ever since I heard of it and I'm going to pick up Wii games that I can play with my nieces for when they get a bit older, so that's one! And I got->
positive · AI labelView post →Finally a way to play this again on PC! It's a really old game so don't expect rich graphics, but the world building was quite nice with lots of thought given to each tank and aircraft in the game. Every allied and enemy unit in the game actually behaves as an independent agent which is pretty impressive game development. The concept of playing a transforming super-mech that also can become an aircraft is just great simple fun. Highly recommend!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A childhood game of mine on the PS2, was so happy to see it on Steam and just as good as I remember, fun quick, relatively replayable campaign. A few loadout options, challenging in some parts and good consistent gameplay.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In the beginning, the game is quite interesting, but it quickly drops. The first level is quite easy levels, but the secondery level is quite unbalanced and hidden behind well-completed levels. When you make a mistake, it doesn't show you where your mistake is. Or why you were wrong at all. The levels are short and pass quickly. The situation is different on the other level. Fifty percent do the same thing. And most times you have to hurry. Interesting but there is no development and most times…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Title: Battle Engine Aquila: A Refreshing Mech Combat Gem Rating: ★★★★☆ Battle Engine Aquila offers a unique mech combat experience with seamless ground and air battles. The engaging storyline, varied missions, and immersive visuals make it a standout game. While controls may require some adjustment and AI can be inconsistent, it's a highly enjoyable and underappreciated gem for mech combat fans.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't have many hours on this game in steam but back when I was a kid this was one of the only games I had go on get it recommend it to others its a unique game from an era of challenge not from just a wall of stats but from properly portioning your time to deal with the battles you're placed into. its a shame the dev company went under shortly after it released.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Remaster this masterpiece and take my money
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I instantly gave money to this old, beautiful pearl.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you want to play with a controller, like the Good Old Days™ on consoles, then don't buy this. The devs behind this port never bothered to add full compatibility for gamepads. It is there... barely. For the first few minutes, I was able to bind my controller as per the developer's guide. I got the left stick and the right trigger bound, then it suddenly stopped recognizing my controller for no reason. I tried restarting the game, restarting Steam, plugging the controller into a different…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a great game and I loved it when I was a kid. now that I'm an adult I was dying to replay this game as it held such good memories. The nostalgia was amazing and I love the game even more. the flying controls are some of the best I've seen in any game and the ground to air transition makes things so easy to keep up with the games fast pace later in the more difficult levels. I would love a remake with how big games get now, I can imagine how awesome the game would be with more levels,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I actually held on to the PS2 game, just in case the PS5 would support it :P Seeing that this is not the case I finally picked this up on Steam, just as good as I remember. Sure, you have to use mouse and keyboards (Xbox controller does not seem to work) but the layout is fine and you can quickly adapt. The game is as good as I remember it, clearly a lot of passion went into it, what I would love to see with a sequel...ah well. Many of the missions can be over in a matter of moments if a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Battle Engine Aquila is an ambitious science-fiction combat game that blends first-person shooting, mechanized warfare, aerial engagements, and large-scale battlefield action into one surprisingly cohesive package. Developed by Lost Toys Ltd and published by Ziggurat, it puts players in control of the Aquila, an advanced transforming war machine designed to dominate both land and air. Despite originating from an earlier generation of action games, its central concept still feels distinctive…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🎲 RANDOM GAME, Battle Engine Aquila (Steam) https://store.steampowered.com/app/1346400 The planet's most powerful battlecraft is in your hands. The forces of Forseti and evil Muspell fight to the death for a flooded world's most limi... #SteamAndEpic #Battle #Engine #Aquila #Cooperative #Branching
neutral · AI labelView post →One of my favourite childhood games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fine game, finished it back somewhere in 2008-2011.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I started this after Samurai Punk shutdown and spent maybe a month or so on it between doing other projects before eventually shelving it and moving on. It's heavily inspired by Battle Engine Aquila (I used to rent the game for the Xbox as a kid).
neutral · AI labelView post →Classic game that is still fun to this day
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Refuses to acknowledge any controller connection, and the steam input profile provided the developer does nothing to alleviate this. Tried multiple controllers with and without steam input, and the game will acknowledge none of them. Extremely frustrating.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great game to chill out and enjoy. It can have its challenges, and its no AAA monster, but it has its niche and does it well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amazing blast of PS2 era fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super underrated game from the ps2 era, actual banger of a fps game that honestly should have been way more recognized for how darn fun and innovative it was
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is definitely a bit dated. But the style of combat, the scale of the battles, and versus mode make it great. You are able to control various mechs "battle engines" to take into large scale battles. I remember first playing this on PS2 and it was so fun. The PC version could definitely use some optimization but nonetheless still a good buy. I hope they make more games like this one day but perhaps with full coop.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best unofficial Battletech / Crimson Skies game ever made. You're some random civilian dude that is capable of being a pilot for a secret weapon designed by the Good Army and is drafted forcibly as their new battle walker ace. This is because the Evil Army had a spy in the Good Army that single handedly killed anybody else capable of piloting Battle Engine Aquila. Your walker can enter flight mode at any time and back again, using different sets of weapons while in air or on land. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really fun action game where you are influencing a battle.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pure nostalgia blast from the past game. I still remember playing this decades ago on such a crappy PC that I was only getting 10+ fps, maybe even less. But hell did me and my friends still enjoyed it. Split screen on a mouse and keyboard setup is something to experience! Now here I am, 20+ years later and still enjoying this hidden gem of a game. For a game released back in 2003 I'd say it still holds up. The battles can get massive and gorgeous to watch, the details on units are crazy, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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