Customer Reviews

Armored Core: For Answer

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've seen the Armored Core series before and heard bad things about Armored Core 4, but I wanted to give Armored Core 4A a try anyway since it sounded like they made your mechs more configurable and the gameplay more fun. I can't compare to the previous ones since I haven't seen them, but my hunch is they succeeded.

The game is fun and supports a variety of play styles (missiles or guns? Heavy or light?) with a wide variety of parts. There are even quite a bit of blades for melee combat and some ECM and counter-ECM gear. Configuration is fun and a huge part of the game.

The game features many large enemies such as naval vessels and quite a few huge arms forts. These forts are gargantuan in size and really fun to fight since they give you something to unleash loads of ordinance on that doesn't dodge out of the way rapidly and can blow you away with its immense firepower.

Although this is apparently a staple of the series, I didn't like the fact that I was limited to firing only three weapons at a time (left, right, and shoulder mounted weapons). You can swap between your arm weapons and back mounted weapons, but you can't fire your arm and back weapons simultaneously. This made me feel that perhaps the people who designed these awesome robots never thought of the idea that someone might want to actually fire everything.

I guess my last mech game was MechWarrior so I'm spoiled that way. Another staple of the MechWarrior series missing in Armored Core is the first person cockpit view. It seems like it'd be very easy to add (just move the camera forward a bit and hide your mech. Maybe add a crosshair), but you're limited to a third person view.

The parts have reams and reams of statistics associated with them, so designing a mech is not exactly simple, but this added to the richness of the game for me. I would have liked to have more money to spend early on so I'd have a little more variety in the parts I could stick on my mech when going up against a tricky mission.

Bottom line: Good game, lets you blow stuff up, supports a variety of styles of play, and seems to be an improvement from what I've seen of the series. I recommend this if you're into mechs or things that go boom.

Let me say that I have been a long time fan of the Armored Core. This game is NOT for everyone. It has a very steep learning curve, due to the detail of customization for creating your mech (or Next as they are called in this game). But outside of that, this is a really fun game. It has 42 campaign missions and 30 1 on 1 Next battles. The online play is not to be taken lightly, as this is where many people who are very familiar with the game get most of their fun. So online is very competitive. Many of the campaign missions feature huge mobile enemy bases called Arms Forts which you have to battle in a medley of interesting ways, which all lead to some very fun, fast-paced, action packed battles. I highly recommend this game for anyone who is a fan of hardcore action shooters. Come on, see if you can keep up with us!

I've played several of the previous AC games, and I gotta tell you that this one is fine tuned to the T. If you liked any of the previous titles at all, this will blow your mind. If you haven't played any of the previous titles, this one can also be enjoyed by itself. Though AC vets will find some really god nuggets of reference from past titles. But please, don't let it stop you if you haven't played the others...this one is great all by itself, and though huge mech fights may seem complex on the surface it is actually an easy game to get the hang of control-wise.

I thank Amazon for making this game be available for purchase. Usually this series is incredibly hard to find in my area, but thanks to the site I was able to procure it :D.

On the game itself:

If you're an Armored Core fan and liked 4 but found it lacking in some areas you'll heavily enjoy this game. More parts and styles vastly increase the was you can build your mech. The story mode is quite a bit longer, spanning 42 missions divided into 3 paths for the final sets of missions. Choose between maintaining existence and place under the companies, paving a new future for humans in blood and steel or simply watch the world burn and help it along.

The Next vs Next combat has been enhanced (in my opinion) and proves more much satisfying and fast paced. Different regulations affect the gameplay, making it easy or hard. Don't expect enemies to fight the same way they do from ordered matches in the story however, or you'll be in for some PAIN. Arms Forts hold some fun as a sort of "Robot vs Battleship" feel. Though most arms forts prove to be little trouble after finding out their immediate weakness, some AFs will force you to show the game your skill at high speed missile dodges.

Assault armor will be most likely your weapon of last resort should you find your ammo counter at 0. Though some weapons and specs are capable for turning it into a primary, inexhaustible, if not slow to recover, weapon.

I didn't dislike this game. It looks like it had alot of things going for it hence why it is 3 stars and not 2 or 1. My issue with this game is its marketed and sold as a standalone product where someone with absolutely no experience in the Armored Core Universe could hop in and play. This was not really the case. I liked the gameplay and it really did feel like you were in a giant bot blowing massive holes in things. The problem was in the customization aspect and its impact on later parts of the game. I did great in the first few missions of the game where your mech was more than upto the task of taking down your foes. But since I was totally lost on what was good to put on the Next and how different components worked with their crazy statistics, I couldn't build a Next that would allow me to actually beat some of the later missions and so I was only able to get about 7-8 missions in on a game with 40+ missions supposedly. So if you are one who has played the AC series before, you probably were much better at this game than I. I wouldn't say I was disappointed with this game but I was frustrated because I could sense a great gaming experience but was unable to seize it due to my in-experience with the content. Take this for what its worth.

The game continues on in the good old AC fashion with custom bots and intense game play with the addition of balancing not seen in the last generation. The world is further brought to life and expanded on via the strength of current generation consoles. As a long time fan of the series, I was not disappointed in any way.

This best ever! There are several different ending based on what mission you do and how you do, you can have four different endings and several other mid-story paths that leads you to greater foe depending on your skill level. Keep playing and you can play different paths continuously. It is a great game to play online and has several features that allows you to play with other players through partnership. A must for Armored Core series fans!