Armored Core: For Answer Review (Xbox 360)

Graphics - 8

Sound - 6

Gameplay - 7

 Story - 6

Overall - 6.75









     Alright, now that I'm back to reviewing, I feel kind of sad to have chosen this game as the first to review. It wasn't the greatest in my eyes, but I'll write what I can.

     Armored Core is just one of those games you have to love in order to enjoy. I mean you had to have loved it when the series began. This is the first Armored Core game I've played, and it will most likely be the last. I can see how fans of the series will enjoy it, but I don't see where it has much drawing power for those of us who are new to the game.

     The graphics are kind of nice, not great. Even on an HDTV it looks kind of choppy at some points. I noticed while customizing my mech that the body seems a little...off. The edges aren't quite smooth. The ability to customize color on every part of your mech is a plus though. There is also a fair selection of patterns to choose from, either with preset or custom colors. This allows you to create a unique paint job for every mech you build. There are several types of camouflage patterns, as well as a couple ''fun'' patterns. You can also design decals and emblems to paint on to your mech, although you'll be hard pressed to find a place where you can actually apply your decals. Some parts of the body will not display your emblem, while others will only show parts of it, despite the angle you apply it from.

     The gameplay is hard to get used to. Controls get kind of confusing. The default control scheme is pretty bad. IF you customize them, you can make gameplay a little easier. You can have several weapons in a battle, but can use only two at any given time. This means you have two buttons devoted to firing, and two devoted to switching. There's also a button to control your 'extra' weapon that fires simultaneously with certain shoulder weapons. Once again, more confusion. Only certain shoulder weapons trigger your 'extra' weapon, so if you equip yourself with an extra weapon and then use shoulder weapons that don't fire it, your carrying extra weight for no reason. Movement in the game is also just horrifying. No matter how much you play, you can never maneuver your mech the way your opponent does. When it comes to mobility, you will always find yourself at a disadvantage.

     The sound in the game really disturbed me. Gunshots, explosions, etc seemed to be out of sync with what was actually happening. Voice actors, few as there are, seemed to be speaking out of a can. I only started to enjoy the sound once I muted in-game audio and played my own music in the background. At least at that point I was allowed to envision the game as a bad anime instead of a bad video game. The sound was bad. There's nothing else to say here.

     The storyline is there. Kind of. It's hidden beneath vague cutscenes and scarce dialogue. Basically, there are two powers battling for control over what's left of the planet. When you begin the game, you choose a 'sponsor,' which in all actuality just determines your starting mech and parts. Realistically, depending on which missions you choose, you take a particular side to the war. If you play through the game more than once (not likely) you'll find yourself battling certain enemies one time, and then the next time around they may very well be your allies. The ending wasn't exactly climactic for me. I thought it was just another mission until the credits started playing. I must say, it was somewhat of a let down. If ever I play another Armored Core game, I pray it's much better than this one.