Giant robots have always been an interesting game concept. The idea of one rocketing around the place bringing destruction and chaos to all in the immediate vicinity without a scratch does sound quite cool on paper or, even better, as some artist's fan art picture; but the execution of it nearly always seems to turn out sloppy.
No greater example can be found in the Armoured Core series, where this concept has been done again and again, each time slightly improved here and there and the setting changed. Personally, I'm surprised at how many times From Software were willing to try and miss the target repeatedly with the amount of sequels released (this is the 13th installment if I can remember right, most of them were on the PS2). However, while this still doesn't hit the mark, it's probably as close as they've got so far.
Yep, someone drew it.
Summing up the story so far without sounding nerdy, the world nations have been replaced with giant corporations; the earth happens to be polluted and so we've built giant 'cradles' to live in the sky where the air's clean, ironically causing the surface to become even more polluted.
You're an AC pilot who's either independent or belongs to one of these companies (although all this changes is the type of giant robot you start with) and you take missions and somehow pick a certain side in between destroying this that or the other.
The key difference in the missions this time, is that quite a few involve you destroying gigantic walking fortresses named Arms Forts, essentially glorified bosses which make for a lot more entertaining missions than blowing up a convoy/defending one or taking out a ridiculously nimble pair of AC's.
The story does try to make a bigger effort to try and draw you into this Frankenstein world they've created. Though the addition of different sides and endings isn't an unexploited feature, the well animated mission briefings as well as the decent voice acting (including talents such as Steve Jay Blum and Grey DeLisle) help to add some character to an otherwise slightly dry plot.
Controls are apparently simplified from before, involving a whole tutorial level devoted to this before you start picking what robot you want. I found them to be a lot more intuitive than the last AC game I played (which had the boost, weapon and switch weapon button all on the same pad) and to be fair, it was quite quick to get the hang of and get the feeling that you're a pro already.
Bugger, I didn't leave the sword at home, did I?
If you've played the previous nex-gen installment, you'll also know about Quick Boost; shooting you forwards, backwards or side to side allowing you to dodge missiles and such with almost effortless precision, adding a faster pace that does wonders for the gameplay.
However, everyone who knows anything about Armored Core knows that its biggest selling point is the masses of customisation available. In this sequel to AC4, the garage looks a bit more minimalistic, perhaps to its advantage, as we do want to be able to equip a certain part without techno-fonts and masses of figures that matter little to all but the enthusiast. And yes, finally, we can now equip the same weapon on both arms at last, leading to dual swords with a chain gun on the back or just guns, guns, guns! Colour editing has also returned with a passion, allowing, well, anything you like, including specific patterns to add that small hint of character.
Another feature that mostly only the fans have been whining about is multiplayer. Finally, you're able to compare skills to someone other than your brother; and in this case it is functional. But the most of the people you find online are either a) Japanese or b) stupidly good at this, and more often than not, it's both.
Customising...fun fun fun.
However there are issues, which pretty much every other professional reviewer has torn the game to shreds over, while I find them more of a drag than anything else.
For example, while there's a range of enemies in missions depending on the type of enemy, the difficulty ranges from effortless, stylish obliteration to ass-clenchingly painful defeat.
This isn't helped by the controls at these 'ass-clenching' points as you'll bump into scenery quite a bit during high-speed combat and strain your thumbs trying to get a lock-on whatever you want dead.
And while the customisation is one of its biggest strengths, it's also one of its flaws as well.
In my case I ended up handling like an overweight rhino, packing punch, but too slow to actually get enough hits in. All this, because I couldn't find the right balance between moving fast and hard hitting weapons.
And finally, while the environments are slightly more varied and impressive than the other games (fitting in with the 'devastated polluted earth' setting) they otherwise feel a bit empty like there's some void there, waiting to be filled.
****in' A.
In spite of this being almost entirely identical to Armoured Core 4, bar a few improvements like 'Assault Armour' (where you explode your energy shield to somehow get rid of theirs), Arms Forts and multiplayer, I think it needs to be judged by its own merits.
Bottom Line: What it is, is a fairly competent mecha game that's putting some effort into making it stylish, yet accessible, for those interested. What it isn't, is genre defining that descends to us from above the smog of most giant robot games.
But hey, it's the best we've got so far.
Recommendation: Buy it if you're looking for a giant robot game that's half decent at the very least.
No greater example can be found in the Armoured Core series, where this concept has been done again and again, each time slightly improved here and there and the setting changed. Personally, I'm surprised at how many times From Software were willing to try and miss the target repeatedly with the amount of sequels released (this is the 13th installment if I can remember right, most of them were on the PS2). However, while this still doesn't hit the mark, it's probably as close as they've got so far.
Yep, someone drew it.
Summing up the story so far without sounding nerdy, the world nations have been replaced with giant corporations; the earth happens to be polluted and so we've built giant 'cradles' to live in the sky where the air's clean, ironically causing the surface to become even more polluted.
You're an AC pilot who's either independent or belongs to one of these companies (although all this changes is the type of giant robot you start with) and you take missions and somehow pick a certain side in between destroying this that or the other.
The key difference in the missions this time, is that quite a few involve you destroying gigantic walking fortresses named Arms Forts, essentially glorified bosses which make for a lot more entertaining missions than blowing up a convoy/defending one or taking out a ridiculously nimble pair of AC's.
The story does try to make a bigger effort to try and draw you into this Frankenstein world they've created. Though the addition of different sides and endings isn't an unexploited feature, the well animated mission briefings as well as the decent voice acting (including talents such as Steve Jay Blum and Grey DeLisle) help to add some character to an otherwise slightly dry plot.
Controls are apparently simplified from before, involving a whole tutorial level devoted to this before you start picking what robot you want. I found them to be a lot more intuitive than the last AC game I played (which had the boost, weapon and switch weapon button all on the same pad) and to be fair, it was quite quick to get the hang of and get the feeling that you're a pro already.
Bugger, I didn't leave the sword at home, did I?
If you've played the previous nex-gen installment, you'll also know about Quick Boost; shooting you forwards, backwards or side to side allowing you to dodge missiles and such with almost effortless precision, adding a faster pace that does wonders for the gameplay.
However, everyone who knows anything about Armored Core knows that its biggest selling point is the masses of customisation available. In this sequel to AC4, the garage looks a bit more minimalistic, perhaps to its advantage, as we do want to be able to equip a certain part without techno-fonts and masses of figures that matter little to all but the enthusiast. And yes, finally, we can now equip the same weapon on both arms at last, leading to dual swords with a chain gun on the back or just guns, guns, guns! Colour editing has also returned with a passion, allowing, well, anything you like, including specific patterns to add that small hint of character.
Another feature that mostly only the fans have been whining about is multiplayer. Finally, you're able to compare skills to someone other than your brother; and in this case it is functional. But the most of the people you find online are either a) Japanese or b) stupidly good at this, and more often than not, it's both.
Customising...fun fun fun.
However there are issues, which pretty much every other professional reviewer has torn the game to shreds over, while I find them more of a drag than anything else.
For example, while there's a range of enemies in missions depending on the type of enemy, the difficulty ranges from effortless, stylish obliteration to ass-clenchingly painful defeat.
This isn't helped by the controls at these 'ass-clenching' points as you'll bump into scenery quite a bit during high-speed combat and strain your thumbs trying to get a lock-on whatever you want dead.
And while the customisation is one of its biggest strengths, it's also one of its flaws as well.
In my case I ended up handling like an overweight rhino, packing punch, but too slow to actually get enough hits in. All this, because I couldn't find the right balance between moving fast and hard hitting weapons.
And finally, while the environments are slightly more varied and impressive than the other games (fitting in with the 'devastated polluted earth' setting) they otherwise feel a bit empty like there's some void there, waiting to be filled.
****in' A.
In spite of this being almost entirely identical to Armoured Core 4, bar a few improvements like 'Assault Armour' (where you explode your energy shield to somehow get rid of theirs), Arms Forts and multiplayer, I think it needs to be judged by its own merits.
Bottom Line: What it is, is a fairly competent mecha game that's putting some effort into making it stylish, yet accessible, for those interested. What it isn't, is genre defining that descends to us from above the smog of most giant robot games.
But hey, it's the best we've got so far.
Recommendation: Buy it if you're looking for a giant robot game that's half decent at the very least.