Armored Core

"Suddenly, I like mech games"

OPENING STATEMENT
When I rented Armored Core, I had myself braced for an average game that would keep me interested for about two hours. Three days later, I sleepily went to the rental store, and paid for another rental.

GAMEPLAY--10
Armored Core is the definitive mech game. Everything about it screams “Perfect!” The wide variety of everything makes it one of the greatest games ever.

The missions are the greatest thing about Armored Core. There are a wide variety of objectives for you to fulfill. There are fun duels that happen with mechs ahead of you in the rankings list. Those duels are among the greatest things about Armored Core. The ranking list is a list that ranks all of the mechs in Armored Core. Mechs are removed from the list when they are destroyed. Mechs also can move up the list if they do very well on the missions. If you can rank first overall in the list, you will have accomplished a great feat.

The very, very best thing about Armored Core is the amount of ways that you can customize your mech. There are dozens of parts that you can choose from, be it for your body, arms, or legs. This assures you that each mission will be different, and that you can change your mech whenever you wish to throughout the game.

GRAPHICS--7
While the graphics are not all that impressive, they certainly are not horrible. The biggest problem with the graphics is the graininess. But, this is a typical problem among PlayStation games of this time period, so I will not hold too much of a grudge against them. The textures are not all that hot either. Perhaps the worst thing about the graphics, though, is the fact that everything is so foggy. And what is really odd, is that the developers made the fog be jet black to try to confuse us into thinking it is not fog.

MUSIC--7
SOUND--10
The music is nothing all that special. It is just your basic, futuristic mech game music, complete with over use of all percussion instruments that are made of metal. Some of the songs, especially as you go later in Armored Core, get more creative, which raised the rating substantially.

The sound effects, however, are still among the best that I have ever heard on the PlayStation. The sound of the metallic feet of a mech clanking on the concrete floors of a tunnel still echoes in my head. The gun firing sound is more realistic than the noise in Perfect Dark. The noises when you are turning your mech around kind of sound like a crane turning, and they completely give the aura of a giant mech shifting direction.

CONTROL--9
The controlling of your mechs is almost perfect. My one problem, albeit slight, is that turning your mech around is a bit too complicated. I wish it was simplified more. The rest of the button combinations are right on, and they make using the wealth of weaponry second nature. Most importantly, there is a turbo button that allows your slow mech to go faster.

FUN--10
Armored Core would have scored a perfect ten here, even without its Multiplayer Death match Mode, a feat that few games not inside the RPG genre can claim. The multiplayer capabilities are great fun, and they play just like the duels in the single player game. But, the single player mode is by far fun enough to warrant a purchase, even if you only have one controller.

CHALLENGE--MEDIUM
The challenge in the missions really do vary, which just adds to the fun. You never will know if you are picking a next to impossible mission, or the easiest mission in Armored Core, unless you have played the missions before. Plus, after you play through the missions again, you can always skip the hard ones.

REPLAY VALUE--HIGH
Armored Core would score a perfect score here as well, even without the multiplayer capabilities, which really just add to its legacy. The fact that you can customize your mech in so many ways makes me almost want to create a new, very high rating for Armored Core. Plus, when you play through Armored Core again, you can complete some of the missions that you missed. And, of course, you still will use the multiplayer modes.

PROS
*Even better than Microsoft’s Mechwarrior series.
*Gritty graphics ooze futurism, even though they’re a bit too gritty.
*Ranking system provides visible success.

CONS
*Robots are occasionally a bit slow.
*No multiplayer capabilities.
*Music is fairly repetitive.

CLOSING STATEMENT
Even though Armored Core scored fairly low in the superficial scores, which are graphics and music, I feel that the gameplay is deep enough, and Armored Core fun enough, to warrant a perfect ten for the best mech game ever.

OVERALL--10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/14/00, Updated 07/18/01