Mecha-based video games have always served to meet a tiny niche of gamers that like deep gameplay and customization experiences. While some games in the past have tried to even go to great lengths, providing a complex console controller to mimic the piloting of a mecha, accessibility is a big problem for these games as well, and more recent titles have attempted to reduce the complexity while keeping the customization aspects and the combat systems in place. The latest entry in this genre is From Software and Ubisoft's "Armored Core For Answer," a sequel to Armored Core 4, and while it feels like some effort has been made to make the game somewhat accessible, there are still significant burdens towards players that have never played a mecha game before, which make it difficult to really get into.
Let me digress into a small gaming tangent: There's a little-known title for the 360 called "Earth Defense Force 2017." It's not a high-budget title, nor is the gameplay very deep. Basically, it's a third-person shooter; you start each mission selecting two guns to take with you to face off against giant ants and spiders, waves of flying gunships, and giant robots as they ravage across a fully destructible landscape. The game is extremely repetitive and lacks any significant depth to it, yet it is tons of fun to play -- it may be the fact that as you defeat your enemies, they drop goodies in the form of additional armor or new weapons, which you can then use on subsequent missions, even going back to earlier missions and attempting them at a harder difficulty with more substantial firepower. It's the perfect type of game if you have just a few minutes to play, in that it helps to let off steam, and with its local co-op mode, it's great fun with friends.
The reason I go into this tangent is that there's a lot of similarities I found in Armored Core For Answer as I found in Earth Defense Force 2017. The game doesn't present itself from the audio or visual side as being stunning, but has enough to make the genre work -- destructible environments, large playfields representative of the size of mecha, and sufficient voice acting to help guide you in missions. Despite the power available today in consoles, sometimes it makes sense to go with less visual impressiveness if the gameplay can easily make up for it. "Armored Core" does that to some extent, but unfortunately suffers from being a game that presumes you are well acquainted with other games of its type.
Set in some arbitrary point in the future, where humanity has abandoned the surface of Earth while armies of mecha fight the wars on its surface, you play as a new mecha pilot. After you start your game and select one faction of your choice, which will influence what missions and mecha upgrade paths you have available, you are given a selection of missions to complete. These range from wiping out all the other forces on a map, destroying large roaming fortresses, defending points from enemy attack, to escorting unarmed transports through contested lands. Each mission has a reward value, some with optional bonuses, but the game will reduce your reward for any repairs and ammo replacement it has to do on your mecha once you complete the mission. Some missions also offer you the option of bringing a wingman in to help, though a cut of the profits will go to them. There's also a series of side missions that involve working your way up a ranked ladder in one-on-one battles against other mecha. Failing a mission doesn't cost anything outside of the time and effort put into it, and as there are usually 2 or 3 missions available, you may have to find one that is best suited to your current skills and mecha abilities.
Being a mecha game, there are three things that the game needs to have, and that is customization, customization, and customization; Armored Core has all of these in spades, and the number of options and features available is rather impressive, though you may need to read through the manual to understand all of the terms. Credits earned in battle can be used to buy all sorts of mecha improvements, ranging from new weapons, body parts, targeting computers, to joint stabilizers. All these add-ons are balanced by your current mecha's power levels and weight capacity, and influence the mecha in play; if you overload your mecha to its weight capacity, it will not be able to turn on a dime in combat and may make close-quarters fighting difficult. A tuning feature allows you to adjust the performance of the mecha in various areas, though you can allow the game to auto-allocate tuning points when available. Even color schemes can be changed to a high degree. Stats junkies that love this stuff will probably get a kick out of most of this.
Once you are ready to enter the battlefield, you get a brief on the mission objectives, but this is duplicated by voice-over commands in the game. A mini-map shows you where your foes are, including their elevation relative to you. Combat from your side is done through up to four weapons, two on each side of the mecha which you can toggle between, including pistols, assault rifles, laser cannons, missile launchers, and swords. It is important to know when best to use each weapon and keep track of ammo, as except for certain melee weapons, each has limited ammo use that cannot be restored during battle. It is entirely possible to run out of ammo and have no other means of attack. Combat takes place in all three dimensions, so you do have the ability to launch your mecha into the air and launch aerial assaults this way. A special engine on the mecha allows you to move at a burst of quick speed after a brief warming-up period, but this puts a serious drain on your power supplies and will end once you've consumed all your power, after which you have to wait briefly for your power to be restored. This engine can also be used, when tied to certain equipment, to create short-range blasts that can wipe out several foes at once. Basically, most features one would expect of mecha combat are here.
The primary problem with the game is that it seems to be set up assuming you are completely familiar with the genre, and have played through mecha games before. Combat is not easy, particularly if you are coming from a first-person/third-person background, as trying to manipulate the camera and moving about in all three dimensions is very difficult and took me a long time to get a hang of it. This is compounded by the fact that, as noted, mechas do not turn on dimes, and many of your movements will have long tails to them even when you've lightened your load, overshooting your potential target. This is not so much a problem in certain missions when you are fighting slow or fixed enemies, but, for example, in the championship ladder battles, the sluggishness of maneuverability leads to either experiencing difficulty targeting and shooting at enemies, or quick depletion of your armor. The ammo reserves for the weapons are extremely low at the beginning, and I found myself more than a few times trying to take out a massive fortress with effectively what was a peashooter against it. Even with the tutorial help, which mainly goes over the control scheme but doesn't get into effective combat practice, it was very difficult to judge how and when best to use the weapons that I had, and even when I cleared missions, I was struggling to complete them, the mecha likely being held together by a piece of string with the amount of damage that I took.
And that's where the game really bites you, as while your mecha is repaired and restocked automatically after a successful mission, coming in with a badly damaged mecha can quickly make any reward you get disappear quickly, if not actually cost you credits. There was only one mission in the early part of the game where I came out with more than 10% of the actual credits for the job. This makes progressing in the game complicated in two ways: First, without money, you can't upgrade your mecha, and thus you'll be given more difficult missions with minimal ways to actually improve your rig, meaning that you continually fight a losing battle if you don't figure out how to fight effectively -- and there are missions that make taking damage a virtual guarantee, so you are going to be losing some of that reward as you progress through. The other aspect that makes this difficult is that missions only keep getting harder, and when you progress in the game's story chapters, older missions will suddenly disappear and be unavailable to play. Thus, you cannot go back and practice on these easier missions to gain money to get the mecha outfitted for the tougher ones. These aspects all combine to make the game very, very difficult to get into if you have never played a mecha game before.
There's a reason why I diverged into "Earth Defense Force" and that is that the game, while difficult at times, has several means by which the player can step back to easier levels or earlier missions to earn weapons and armor that will help with more difficult missions, which is part of the charm of that game. "Armored Core" could have been like that without any serious changes to the game -- at least allowing the player to retry earlier missions with better weapons would end the mission with less damage and less ammo to replace, thus earning more rewards. Unfortunately, as it is, once you start doing poorly, your funds will start drop and further missions will see less and less reward, starting a cycle of draining your credits completely. I'm sure a player accustomed to these games would have fewer problems along these lines, but even a sequel should try to make itself accessible to new players to the genre.
Beyond that, there's not much more to the game. There's approximately 50-odd missions from what I could tell, each taking maybe 5 to 10 minutes when you can play through them successfully. Many of the missions can be played cooperatively with a local player, or someone over Xbox Live (one area where this game has a leg up on "Earth Defense Force," which can only be played co-op locally), and there is a competitive match version for up to 8 players as well.
"Armored Core For Answer" isn't a bad game -- its major flaw is that it presumes you have passing skill with mecha games, making it a much more difficult experience for players that lack the finesse that such games need. It's not a very deep game or one that pushes the limit of today's console technology, but it is the type of game, in the vein of "Earth Defense Force 2017," that can be played in brief snippets at a time, requiring minimal preparation. As there aren't that many mecha games out there, this may be one to get your feet wet first, presuming you are willing to play at the lowest difficulty to get a feel for how the game works.
GameCyte Giveaway:Armored Core for Answer is probably not your best bet if you've never played a mecha action title -- but if you have, or if you're curious, you can have our very own review copy for the low, low price of free.
Submit a comment below explaining why you feel you’re particularly interested in the game, include a valid email address we can reach you at, and in a week’s time we’ll choose one lucky GameCyte reader to be the recipient of our slightly-used PlayStation 3 review copy of Armored Core for Answer.
Hey Mike, good review! Just wanted to give you a tip: You can in fact go back and replay levels you already beat in order to get a higher ranking.
I don't have the game on hand, but if I'm remembering correctly there is a section in the menu titled Data or Review or something to that effect. If you go into that section, you can check out the full mission tree, see all the missions you've played already, and give them another go for better results. This is definitely the only way you can get some of those hard to reach S Rankings and the rewards that come along with.
Looks interesting. I loved the Armored Core games for previous gen systems but have yet to take the plunge on a next gen console. I still hold on to the sentiment that you can hardly go wrong if you include giant mecha though so I would love to play this one.
I'm interested in the game because I love the first one on the nex-gen consoles, but it's not interested I beat it, it's because the challenges the game gives you to beat missions. To me some games these days don't challenge you as much, but this one does and it keeps you playing it over a over again, time and time again.
Seems like an interesting game that would take a lot of time to master. I've never played any of the armor core games but have always been interested in them for their deep level of customization and being able to build a L33T mech to pound everyone in. Plus the demo was was pretty cool with that awesome super weapon and everyone loves giant robots.
I'm interested in the game because for years Armored Core has sucked a whole lotta balls, so I'd like to see if they can break that vicious circle. Anyone saying they want the game because they just love Armored Core with all their itty bitty heart is, frankly, talking bollocks.
Oh, and because it's free. Free is ALWAYS good. Gracias.
I hate to say it but almost all of the negative points mentioned in this review fascinate me. I've been playing mech games since the big daddy: Mechwarrior! Customization, per-mission payload adjustment, endless tweaking, and flying giant robots basically combine to make my all-time favorite genre.
That said, I haven't played an Armored Core game since the PS1 entries, so I'd be interested to try this one out. I'd love to be able to review it as a giant robot game, rather than as another entry in the AC series anyhow: how does its customization compare to Front Mission? How do the environments stand up to Chrome Hounds, Steel Battalion, or Metal Gear Solid 4? Are the characters and missions as varied as those in Chou Soujuu Mecha MG?
Incidentally, CSM:MG was made by Sandbox, the same studio who did the Chikyuu Boueigun (Earth Defense Force) series, and is a *fantastic* robot game. It's for the DS and makes terrific use of the touchscreen; I cannot recommend the game highly enough and consider it one of the three best games in my collection. Check it out!
@Scott: Congratulations! Your prize shipped out today.
@Sleet01: If we had a second copy... we'd be sending it your direction right about now. You bring up some excellent points, and I'm sorry you didn't make it into our giveaway before the November 17th cutoff.
We'll be giving away plenty more games though -- every game we review internally will make its way into a reader's hands.
The reviewer made a couple of mistakes in this review.
Yes, you can replay older levels over again. Also you can replay them in HARD mode to unlock even more stuff.
Also there IS a maneuver to Turn on a dime. you do a quick dash and then turn left or right. This causes you to do a 180 turn instantly.
This is my first Mech game. Unless you count Custom Robo for the Gamecube. And I must admit that using the DEFAULT control scheme was horrible (DEFAULT scheme doesn't even let you strafe!) But once I customized the controls. It became much easier.
This is a gmae that you need to put a little time into to learn, but is very much worth it. Also online coop/multiplayer AND splitscreen VS mode is fun too!
BTW, You also have the option at the end of every mission to accept the grade you got or try again. So, you can practice any level as much as yyou want until you get a passing grade/reward you like.
Mecha-based video games have always served to meet a tiny niche of gamers that like deep gameplay and customization experiences. While some games in the past have tried to even go to great lengths, providing a complex console controller to mimic the piloting of a mecha, accessibility is a big problem for these games as well, and more recent titles have attempted to reduce the complexity while keeping the customization aspects and the combat systems in place. The latest entry in this genre is From Software and Ubisoft's "Armored Core For Answer," a sequel to Armored Core 4, and while it feels like some effort has been made to make the game somewhat accessible, there are still significant burdens towards players that have never played a mecha game before, which make it difficult to really get into.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hey Mike, good review! Just wanted to give you a tip: You can in fact go back and replay levels you already beat in order to get a higher ranking.
I don't have the game on hand, but if I'm remembering correctly there is a section in the menu titled Data or Review or something to that effect. If you go into that section, you can check out the full mission tree, see all the missions you've played already, and give them another go for better results. This is definitely the only way you can get some of those hard to reach S Rankings and the rewards that come along with.
November 13th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Looks interesting. I loved the Armored Core games for previous gen systems but have yet to take the plunge on a next gen console. I still hold on to the sentiment that you can hardly go wrong if you include giant mecha though so I would love to play this one.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I'm interested in the game because I love the first one on the nex-gen consoles, but it's not interested I beat it, it's because the challenges the game gives you to beat missions. To me some games these days don't challenge you as much, but this one does and it keeps you playing it over a over again, time and time again.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Seems like an interesting game that would take a lot of time to master. I've never played any of the armor core games but have always been interested in them for their deep level of customization and being able to build a L33T mech to pound everyone in. Plus the demo was was pretty cool with that awesome super weapon and everyone loves giant robots.
November 14th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I'm interested in the game because for years Armored Core has sucked a whole lotta balls, so I'd like to see if they can break that vicious circle. Anyone saying they want the game because they just love Armored Core with all their itty bitty heart is, frankly, talking bollocks.
Oh, and because it's free. Free is ALWAYS good. Gracias.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I hate to say it but almost all of the negative points mentioned in this review fascinate me. I've been playing mech games since the big daddy: Mechwarrior! Customization, per-mission payload adjustment, endless tweaking, and flying giant robots basically combine to make my all-time favorite genre.
That said, I haven't played an Armored Core game since the PS1 entries, so I'd be interested to try this one out. I'd love to be able to review it as a giant robot game, rather than as another entry in the AC series anyhow: how does its customization compare to Front Mission? How do the environments stand up to Chrome Hounds, Steel Battalion, or Metal Gear Solid 4? Are the characters and missions as varied as those in Chou Soujuu Mecha MG?
Incidentally, CSM:MG was made by Sandbox, the same studio who did the Chikyuu Boueigun (Earth Defense Force) series, and is a *fantastic* robot game. It's for the DS and makes terrific use of the touchscreen; I cannot recommend the game highly enough and consider it one of the three best games in my collection. Check it out!
November 21st, 2008 at 12:24 am
@Scott: Congratulations! Your prize shipped out today.
@Sleet01: If we had a second copy... we'd be sending it your direction right about now. You bring up some excellent points, and I'm sorry you didn't make it into our giveaway before the November 17th cutoff.
We'll be giving away plenty more games though -- every game we review internally will make its way into a reader's hands.
March 11th, 2009 at 8:05 am
The reviewer made a couple of mistakes in this review.
Yes, you can replay older levels over again. Also you can replay them in HARD mode to unlock even more stuff.
Also there IS a maneuver to Turn on a dime. you do a quick dash and then turn left or right. This causes you to do a 180 turn instantly.
This is my first Mech game. Unless you count Custom Robo for the Gamecube. And I must admit that using the DEFAULT control scheme was horrible (DEFAULT scheme doesn't even let you strafe!) But once I customized the controls. It became much easier.
This is a gmae that you need to put a little time into to learn, but is very much worth it. Also online coop/multiplayer AND splitscreen VS mode is fun too!
BTW, You also have the option at the end of every mission to accept the grade you got or try again. So, you can practice any level as much as yyou want until you get a passing grade/reward you like.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
as the guy above said, AND
the reviewer missed a lot of key point both good and bad.
i dont even think he played the game for more than half an hour