Reviewed by TL on 9/11/2004
Gameplay:
At first, and I'm sure anybody having played an Armored Core game can attest to this, the controls are terrible. On the first mission, your virtual instructor will state, "Go forward and destroy all the targets." After two seconds, you may find yourself yelling back, "How do I move forward?!" Trying to run forward, backwards, side to side, while flying up and down, and also being able to look in all directions, under fire, and trying to deliver fire back, whilst maintaining a footing upon some very difficult terrain and fumbling to operate the boosters can be a bit overwhelming.
It passes quickly enough, however, and the difficulty builds at a reasonable rate for the beginner's learning curve. By the time things get truly frenetic, the gamer ought be well prepared.
That said, after becoming acclimated to the controls, it's actually a very fun game indeed! There is little more satisfactory than landing salvo after salvo into a computer-controlled opponent and watching as their mech get peeled like a ripe orange.
Which is also to say nothing of the satisfaction divulged from tearing apart an inexperienced sibling. >=) But I digress.
Expansion and customization of the mech leaves little to be desired, with each part well thought out to maintain a balanced design. Sadly for some, there isn't really a combination of pieces that can create a god-like mech, as the strengths of any design come with weaknesses as well. Play, then, is very balanced, and mechs ought be customized and chosen carefully according to the mission parameters. More than once, a leg or weapon choice may spell the difference between sinking into a lake or running out of ammo... and success.
Arena battles, however, can be incredibly frustrating. Although nothing is really lost, besides time, absolutely nothing is gained from being blasted by a computer opponent with superior equipment (and yes, it does cheat, so even with an identical mech, the fight is still not fair), reflexes, aiming, and awareness. Did I mention that it can happen over and over and over again?
The only godsend is that there is a glitch which works all the way through this section of the game, but that's cheating. =)
All in all, the gameplay is highly customizable, and piloting the AC really feels like trying to control a large mech. It is also a highly rewarding sensation to know that making the thing move gracefully across the field is not something a person just picking up the controller for the first time can accomplish.
Graphics:
Schnaztastic! The mechs are highly detailed, and every part has a very distinct flavor and look to it. They are, simply put, a joy to look at, no matter what combination of parts are thrown together.
The color palette of the game is wide and varied in the environments, enemies, and weapon effects, leaving the eyes almost constantly stimulated.
Rockets and missiles leave behind smoke trails very similar to the Macross series and are wonderfully fun to use. When they hit, that is. Meanwhile, shotguns discharge glowing bursts, machine guns leave a stream of bullets, and the energy weapons provide splashes of bright colors. Damage and hit effects, explosions and bursts of flames, are convincing and seem alive.
However, while it is all very bright and colorful, a number of the effects seem to be a bit off.
Grenades, for instance, don't really explode in a large growing orb of fire, they are much more percussive. Machine guns tracers usually appear more as a streak than an orb, and many of the rifles fire flaming cannonballs.
The end result is that many of the weapon effects really don't seem like the weapons being portrayed (not, of course, that any of them really exist...) and seem more misplaced, for lack of a better word.
In some of the outdoor maps, too, and this is a very minor detail, it can become apparent that the textures making up the ground are tiled. While this only becomes visible when flying at relatively high altitudes, it was enough to warrant mention.
Audio:
Strangely enough, I don't remember the soundtrack at all. Whether this is a good thing, that it was ambient enough to be an effect and was not poor enough to be remembered as such, or a bad thing, in that I've blocked it from memory, I cannot say.
For the sound effects however, walking and flying the mech was dead on. All the audio during flight, boosting, and running really sound like a large machine clanking and screaming along.
Once the guns open up, however, problems arise.
First, I'd just like to say that the missile and rocket effects are nicely done.
Moving right along, the rifles sound like peashooters. They make a "Pew!" sound, like something out of Star Wars, not even a pop, much less the booming report one might expect.
A large addition to the bass might have helped to alleviate this, but as is, the sound effects take a lot of fun out of firing, making it a ho-hum-hold-down-that-X-button event. Ditto goes for actually shooting something. Damage reports are not highly audible, and lack any sort of "oomph!"
Overall, the audio effects were pretty much standard, certainly not fantastic, and certainly not horrible, but respectable.
Presentation:
There is very little wrong with the presentation of this game.
Heads Up Displays are crisp, precise, and well designed. Menus are more than just menus, but practically works of art. Extra features abound, like the ability to make a custom insignia and a high degree of adaptability to the paintjob. There were, as far as I could tell, no glitches.
Except two.
One, already detailed, concerned the enemy AI in the arena. It was either impossibly difficult (and I do mean impossible) or ridiculously easy (because of how incredibly dumb the computer could be).
The second also revolved around arena fights. However, this one had to do with the replay function.
Sadly, there is little to no freedom with the camera during replays. To compound this, the camera didn't even function properly when the opponents were far from one another. On these long zoom out shots, it was not uncommon for both combatants to vanish from the screen on either end, and only see their projectiles traversing the great distances between.
The camera, simply put, could have used a lot more work.
But as an extra feature goes, it was better than not having it there at all. =)
Replayability:
Almost none, it seemed. While all the missions open up for an unlimited number of tries after the end of the game, there's really nothing to make a gamer play through again.
This may be due to the fact that starting from the beginning would put you in a terrible mech with cruddy equipment (it's like withdrawal...), or that the storyline doesn't change no matter what you do, but all in all, I really had no desire to start over.
Simply replaying the opened missions doesn't help much either, as every mission remains the same, and the only difference would be in the upper level equipment that can be brought to bear on relatively weak enemies.
But that tires after a short bit.
Thus, we buy Armored Core 3. =)
Overall:
A fantastic, and well-executed game! It's got polish, it's got shine, and it provides hours of entertainment to boot! =D
This title is well worth the current price of admission. Gamers looking for an intuitive control scheme should proceed with caution, adventurous gamers should give this title a shot, and mech fans, well... you probably already own it. =)
