With FromSoftware focusing more on the development of its Souls series in recent years, the company’s long-running mech action game series Armor Core meanwhile has had to wait a long time for its return. It’s been over a decade since the last mainline entry in the series. Fortunately, the mecha was not rusted.
The sixth armored core takes players to the surface of a planet called Rubicon 3 on a mercenary mission. Coral – a very important source of energy – already thought to be lost, has been found on the Earth’s surface. Several different parties rush to the Rubicon with Coral, but the lone player characters soon realize they are just pawns in the middle of a larger plan.
The structure of the game is very simple. Missions are chosen from a menu, and you get money for completing them. The money is then used to buy new weapons and armor for your robot. Hits and mistakes on missions are deducted directly from the salary pack, so the better you perform, the more money you get. In the previous Armored Core, unsuccessful missions also resulted in a loss of money, but this time, luckily, that’s not the case, and you can try missions as many times as you want without losing any currency.
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At first glance, the game is strikingly similar to games in the Souls series. The action is surprisingly fluid and fast-paced, considering the mech does weigh tons. Weapons placed on the mech’s shoulders and hands are fired from the shoulder buttons, while the other buttons are dedicated to jumping and dodging. Lost energy is also restored, just like when you use the Estus Flask.
However, by playing it a little further, the action acquires its own unique tactical dimension. Finding your way and shelter is an important part of completing a mission successfully, as is choosing the right type of weapon. Aiming for melee combat is a good option, especially against stronger enemies, while basic enemies are easier to destroy from a distance with missiles. Some enemies have shields and special attacks that can also be stunned for a while by intercepting them. You shouldn’t forget the ancient ambush either.
Different tactics also need to be used, as each mission requires a unique approach. Thanks to this, the game is always fresh and never gets boring. On the other hand, frustration may strike.
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While Armored Core VI is obviously more player-friendly than the Souls games, every once in a while you’ll hit a big difficulty spike. In the first area, in order to learn the game, the level of the boss that sits at the end is so high that more impatient players may have quit it. You’re only about five minutes into the game before the first nerve-wracking difficulty spike hits. When the boss enemy finally collapses after twenty to thirty tries, the next few missions are much easier. After speaking, it stopped suddenly. Tossing the difficulty level left and right is really annoying.
So, the game encourages grinding. Already completed missions can be played again for extra money, and later arena missions are practically mandatory as well. Since the easier tasks are usually over in a few minutes, the grind is luckily not so bad, but still mandatory.
Audiovisually, Armored Core VI is a treat. Impressive robots and big explosions combined with good sound design keep the atmosphere going throughout. The areas are also carefully planned, and often if a mission goes downhill, it falls on you and requires a slightly different approach than before. Maybe there’s a suitable shelter or an alternate route you haven’t noticed before?
Multiplayer is also promised in the game, but it was not possible to test multiplayer or other online features as the game’s servers were still not up during the evaluation phase. Maybe we’ll talk about these later after publication.
Armored Core VI is handsome and fun mech action that will definitely be ordered. Those familiar with FromSoftware know what to expect from difficulty levels, but the unbalanced difficulty curve is still the worst part of the game. It’s hard to resist the allure of big robots, if you can stand it.
