Armored Core

"Mobile Suit and Gundam Wing, popular animes... but what happens when you play that popular anime?"

Earth as you know it is a wasteland. A massive war was waged long ago and left the surface nothing but emptiness. Humanity slowly drifted underground in a desperate attempt to survive. Over time, Military powers lost face as Corporations with money and power took over. Chaos was never ending and man entered a new age that I deem 'The Machine Era'. So what are you? A mercenary, a Raven, a cold blooded killer that gets the job done for whatever the costs may be.

Gameplay - 9/10
In my opinion, this is the game that started it all. Sure there were Mech Warrior games back on the PC, but this is where it exploded in popularity. Nothing more bad ass than controlling a walking hunk of metal with devastating firepower and incredible defenses: The Armored Core.

You start off learning a bit of History. What happened to the world and where you are now. Tested to assess your skills as a pilot. Are you Raven material? Only the best of the best can join the elites(or continue on for that matter).

You start with a chunk of cash and a few basic parts to build your Armored Core(AC) from. Learn the stats well. Each part has it's advantages and disadvantages. You don't want to buy a core with tons of AC but then find out it's way to heavy for your legs to hold. That'll make you slow and easy to target. I prefer fast and light myself. When you got your basic AC built, go into Garage and do an AC test. You can get used to the controls and the way your AC maneuvers and handles. I did this for about half an hour until I felt slightly comfortable with the controls. It really is a pain to play without analog sticks.

When you're ready, jump into the missions and start pounding on some Ravens. You'll get a briefing about what your task is and who or what you need to take out. You'll find out how much the mission is worth for a successful completion. This is what you want to watch. You have to pay for damages done to your AC during missions and for non-energy weapons, the ammo cost. This can get high quite fast so make sure to play smart and not get hammered from enemies. The rewards change depending on the mission. Some missions reward you with rare AC parts that can really jack up your AC. There are also hidden parts throughout the game in missions. You may or may not find them, but you'll get some hints every now and then. These are usually top of the line parts that'll make you a fierce Raven.

As you advance you're going to be buying and selling lots of parts. Upgrading is the fun part of this game and designing your AC how you want. Looks can mean the world to some people, but the power or advantages may take the cake over that. I myself like a healthy mix of both. I know my AC isn't the best and that with a few modifications with parts I could make it bad ass. But I love the look of my AC as I play. There is just something about owning other Ravens with a bad ass looking AC if you ask me.

Customizing your AC is where you'll probably spend most of your time in the game, minus the missions of course. You can custom color your AC parts with different tones and even make an Emblem for your AC to represent who you are. I never bothered making an Emblem myself though, just didn't care.
As you upgrade parts you need to keep a close eye on your stats as you remove and add things. You don't want to buy massive arms with really good AC but have chicken legs and monster cannons strapped onto your AC because you won't go ANYWHERE. As much as we would all love ultimate AC's like this, the game has to remain at least somewhat real, right? There is a huge variety of parts in this game. I think it tops over 200+ easy. One good thing about editing your AC is you can test it at anytime in the arena without anything counting against you.

Buying and selling parts can be addicting. But one VERY good thing about it is you will get the full amount of money you paid for a weapon or item, back, if you sell it. I bought and sold things all the time to compare them on my current AC and see how it stacked against multiple builds. Very effective.

Missions is where the real fun begins. This is where the story unfolds and your skill is put to the test. I can't remember off hand how many missions are in Armored Core, but I want to say almost close to 50. There are lots of sub-missions even after you beat the last real mission available to you. It's kind of weird. But alas, the missions offer a variety of things to accomplish and upgrading your AC is key to surviving really. You will really rake in the money later on so if you have a lust for real ammo weapons such as machineguns, shoot away!

Controls - 1/10
I really wouldn't recommend jumping right into this game unless you know the controls fairly well. I spent hours testing my AC over and over again just to try and get used to the lame no analog stick use. However, analogs didn't exactly exist back when Armored Core came out, so implementing them into an older game doesn't make sense, right? Wrong. Somehow Katz made analog work with their micro controllers for all the PS versions of Armored Core and I just happened to buy another wireless controller hoping it worked also- NOT! Of course not. I am still yet to borrow my friends Katz controller to use analog since I so dearly hate using the L&R buttons for half my movement. It just isn't natural.

But yeah, this is by far the worst controller setting I have ever tried to use for any game, ever. You can customize it with any button you want, but really now, what use is a mech game if you can't use analog sticks? Nuff said.

Story - 5/10
Eh, mediocre at the most. The story seems to just be a filler in my opinion to at least give the game some history. I really didn't pay much attention to the story minus those first couple paragraphs that I summed up using the game manual, ahahha. From what I can even recall, the story just jumped around and was skewed. It didn't seem to stick with the next mission(some do though) and left me confused. Though I guess having a Playstation that sucked complete ass and not hearing half the audio could be a major factor... I still heard most of the later when I got a PS2 to use instead.

Graphics - 5/10
Let's see, this was a playstation game made back in the early 90's? Yeah, so if you were thinking big chunks of pixels, you were right.

Sound - 6/10
About the only sounds in this game you may care for are the ones your AC makes. Boosting, shooting weapons, running and all that hoo ha. It kind of gives you the feel of really engaging in combat. I think the voice over for most missions is CRAP and occasionally in a mission you'll get some creepy deep voice warning you about a ranked Raven on its way to end your life.

Overall - 6/10
A fun game to play. In a sense, Armored Core could be seen as a FPS kind of game, because really you have the same controls to use that an FPS does. Just no analog to use it with. Which is the reason this game can be down right a ***** to advance in sometimes, because the controls are friggin hard to master. I hate L&R, I honestly do. I need to borrow my friends Katz to use analog. I haven't touched the sequels to AC in months because it is so damn hard to play. But don't let my hatred for the lack of analog steer you away. You may find L&R a bit less tedious as I. Maybe it is because I am not a heavy Sony gamer. Who knows. Fun game, go rent it at least, you'll enjoy the carnage that will ensue.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/07, Updated 09/01/08

Game Release: Armored Core (US, 10/31/97)