Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor's potential is sabotaged in the worst way possible by controls that just don't make the cut.

It's always made me a little uneasy to see game reviews that read like they could have been written about a vacuum cleaner. "Guns of Combat delivers five hours of fun for a $60 price tag, while the superior Dyson model ..."

For me, a game is more than a product. It's an experience, crafted by artists, and reviewing one should never be as simple as going down a checklist and awarding X number of points if the game in question has a certain number of levels or weapons.

It's impossible for me to begin to critique Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor's level design, graphics, story, etc., because at its most fundamental level, this product simply does not work and is the worst implementation of Kinect controls I've ever experienced.

Was I able to begin to form some opinions about the visuals, story, music and other non-Kinect facets of the game from the four hours or so I played? Sure. But I didn't experience all or even most of what the game had to offer and, as such, would be really reluctant to make any sweeping judgments about those elements. Besides, the control problems I encountered were so pervasive, so detrimental, that I firmly believe there is no amount of visual, musical or narrative mastery that could make this an experience I could in any way recommend.