The first thing you’re going to need to get used to is controlling your mech. It’s a slow, lumbering machine with very deliberate movements – nothing like the machines in Gundam which zip around the screen. Menus are functional although feature a distinct lack of information on screen (more on that later) while sound fluctuates hugely – in-mission voice acting is loud and a bit irritating, which menu and battle themes run the gambit from soothing to tense.įeaturing a complex array of systems that are frustrating to figure out, Armored Core is a classic example of an early FromSoftware title – obtuse, but rewarding if you’re willing to put the time in.
It’s all basic 3D stuff that just hasn’t aged particularly well. Probably the most impressive thing the game does is to give you a fully customisable mech that changes on screen based on what you have equipped – if you swap out bipedal legs for quad spider legs, your mech will be a big lumbering beast that slowly stomps around a level. Enemies don’t receive quite as much detail and while the armored cores look good, things like flying drones and mechanical creatures are more simple 3D models.Įnvironments on the other hand look pretty bad – they’ll either be enclosed indoor corridors which at least manage to capture the feel of a winding car park or claustrophobic laboratory, or sprawling outdoor spaces which are less impressive. Draw distances are poor, urban areas feature a drab colour palette and things like deserts are covered in pixelated sandstorms which make visibility a nightmare. Things look okay, but blocky models and pixel-ed visual elements hold things back. Held back by the hardware it’s running on, Armored Core feels like it’s part of a grander vision that couldn’t be realised on the PS1. Whether you’ll stay engaged is another question, as it can be dull simply reading through reels of text. The actual plot here takes its time to get going, but once it hits its stride there’s enough here to keep you hooked – the fact Raven is peripheral to events gives things and interesting perspective and matters unfold in a methodical and interesting manner. This was a common feature of early, low-budget Japanese games so I can’t criticise it too much, but it was disappointing not to be given more cut-scenes to push things forward.
#ARMORED CORE PSP BEST SERIES#
The problem stems from how it is delivered – raven’s nest (your home base) is just a series of menus and mission briefs are delivered via words and static images which give a very sterile, hands-off feel. Everything feels very compartmentalised and although there’s a bigger picture at play here, it’s difficult to see it from behind the text-heavy focus. Even though levels are simplistic you’ll really get a sense of dread from this universe which is a testament to the world-building skills of FromSoftware, that they’re able to create a great atmosphere from very little. There’s a fairly interesting world established here – a dark, mechanical future ruled by companies who commit corporate espionage and experiments on humans to forward their nefarious goals. In Armored Core, you play as an unnamed pilot in the near future who is a member of Raven, an elite mercenary corporation who take for-hire jobs from mega corporations. You’ll quickly discover that things are more complicated than they seem and there’s a war brewing between Chrome Inc and Murakumo Millennium, during which you’ll have to take a side on at the behest of your faceless boss known only as ‘R’.
0 kommentar(er)
