Armored Core/Mechas

Story elements vary widely throughout the series but gameplay is generally focused on the Player's character as a Silent protagonist, acting as a mercenary, completing missions assigned by various in-game corporations and individuals. The Player's character pilots their mecha (armored core) to perform duties such as destroying enemy units/facilities or protecting a designated element from the attack by the opposing

armored core units

Armored Core design

forces.The game places a heavy emphasis on customization; the structure of the mecha the player uses in combat is standardized and modular, consisting of a number of interchangeable parts. The player composes their mecha from parts they obtain by finding them in missions, fulfilling certain requirements, or by buying them from an in-game shop. Money is earned by finishing missions; typically each mission has a set reward for its completion from which deductions are made based on damage taken, amount of ammunition used, and completion time. Certain missions also offer bonuses for completing optional objectives.Certain games in the series offer additional part categories but the following are shared among all games: 

Head (different heads feature different cameras that work in conjunction with the FCS)
Arms (used to hold various weapons, though full weapon-types exist as well)
Legs (five types exist: Quad legs, reverse-joint bipedal legs, hover types, tank types, and standard bipedal types)
Core (the mecha's 'torso' where the generator, radiator and cockpit are situated)
Generator (the unit's power supply) Boosters (increases mecha speed and enables flight when engaged) 

FCS (Fire Control System; controls weapon targeting)
Arm and back weapons/units (ultimate weapon added in only Armored Core V acted as a back unit) Arm

Ombudsman Creator of billion light years away

shields/swords   Among all the choices in the list, the fifth position this may be the most confusing choices, as well as the most common among the others. Why? Because it is almost impossible to separate from Armored Core mecha feature modification and build according to our own version. Consequently, there is no mecha that appear fixed and is not unique. Despite facing some enemies have good design, nothing can beat the robots we build itself. Armored Core provides a rare opportunity to apply the addictive part details, make your imagination channeled.Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System is an abbreviation of the name of one of the best characters ever created in the world game, GLaDOS. Although most of it comes in the form of sound with a unique intonation, a robot whose mission is to kill your main character in Portal is indeed interesting. His personality is a complex and annoying at the same time the primary value why gamers love this one robot. Because it was also he deserved to get into this list.ZOE born from the hands of Hideo Kojima does bring a number of outstanding mecha designs slick. One of the best is the main character, Jehuty. With a humanoid shape, mecha is equipped with various weapons of which has a

Armored Core mecha

Armored Core mecha

remarkable effect. The lasers are flying from his body and speed of movement to start laser melee attacks into a well respected Jehuty identity. Hau] rus recognized that Kojima's ability to draw on the cinematic scene also makes Jehuty appear more attractive.Actually there is a little confusion to choose between Ray or REX as standings this list. However, after thinking about variety, REX finally come out as a champion. The main reason is that REX is a concept that could be presented in the real world and have a stronger impression militaristic. Vehicle that stands on two legs, mobile, and capable of carrying a nuclear weapon and shoot from anywhere become a real threat to humans. Kojima once again proved his strength by making Metal Gear REX as the focus of a story that can not be separated from the game series. Make this robot as iconic mecha gaming world.Armored Core: Verdict Day looks to right the wrongs of its previous nightmare, and until the title hits retailers, that’ll be determined by the diehard fans who have bought every edition of the series. Sure, the graphics are stellar and this mech game has the potential to stand up against the Gundam Wing’s and the Front Mission’s, but this franchise gets power from its community. With the game making it slightly easier for veterans and newcomers to come together, it’ll be interesting to see how much the Armored Core fanbase will grow with the release of this next installment.It’s a bit puzzling how the anime scene is riddled with adventures that feature giant and destructive mecha bots running amuck, but are seldom found within the realm of video games. Wwith the twelfth installment Armored Core featuring a collaborative effort from Namco Bandai and From Software, however, Armored Core: Verdict Day is looking to reestablish their grounds after having a flaky change of pace their last few releases.

Some fans of the series were disappointed in the latest entry, Armored Core V, a game of literally the same

Armored Core

Armored Core4

structure as Verdict Day that lacked any real online experience. Courtesy of the new UNAC system, this new rendition of Armored Core has now switched focus entirely on competitive online play, as they use three separate factions for pilots and their AC’s to engage in the battlefield.I've had a couple slight encounters with Armored Core before, but never played one from beginning to end. Being my first full-fledged Armored Core experience, it’s inevitable that I will get some things wrong in my assessment of Armored Core V. However, this is as much the game’s fault as it is my own for not attending the AC Master Class at Harvard like the best of you. It also doesn't help that the game's tutorial and manual tell you fuck-all. Again, Harvard.

If you are also new to the series, prepare to have some distant observations reaffirmed through play: ACV is one of the most archaic, obtuse, and frustrating games of this generation. It’s also one of the most ambitious. As if releasing a hardcore mech game in 2012 isn't enough, ACV introduces some rather interesting online features.Like previous entries, the main draw of ACV is the incredibly in-depth customization options. Fans call it the Forza of mech games for good reason: There are so many possible combinations that it can be daunting to choose one. Everything from the legs to your booster can be altered to accommodate a subtly different playstyle. The game is at its best when you go online with a motley mech crew. One may jump across buildings with a sword in (mech) hand, while another might slowly walk toward a vantage point for its sniper rifle.with a specific build after a couple rounds. Weapons, however, will continue to be swapped, if only out of necessity. A key feature of combat is the three different weapon damage types

Armored Core diagram

Armored Core schematic

— having the right kind of weapon available can be crucial to a mission. There were times where a fight went from near impossible to stupid easy because I didn’t have the right weapon attached. Coming to grips with this can be both massively rewarding and frustrating at times. It’s the love it or hate it calling card of the series and ACV absolutely nails this aspect. For those keeping count, that's one thing the game gets right.Despite the title, ACV isn’t a direct sequel. Actually, it’s a reboot of sorts in a series that goes well beyond five entries (more like 14). I know: how very Japanese of them! In an effort to stay contemporary — the graphics and audio sure as hell aren’t pulling their weight here — developer From Software (Dark Souls) designed the game around a persistent online world. The game is closer to Monster Hunter than an MMORPG, however. Like that beloved Japanese series, playing offline is an option but much of the game’s appeal is lost in the process.One of the first things you'll do upon booting up ACV is starting or joining a team. Teams can include up to 20 players who can claim/defend territory (the game's persistent world, as mentioned above), take on missions together, and trade items. Every victory a team member achieves will help level up the member and team, gaining access to more missions in time. It’s a cool concept that doesn’t amount to much due to clunky design.

I imagine every player’s experience with ACV’s menu and systems will vary. For me, it was a very poor one. For starters, the team aspect felt utterly pointless. I changed my team a couple times, during my play sessions, and came across the same problems. No one was ever online on my team, and when they were

Triana schematic

Armored Core

there was no way to play with them. Thankfully, you can hire mercenaries that take the role of team members on missions. These mercenaries are just other players in the same boat as you who want somebody to play with. You will have to share the mission income with these players, but it’s often worth it. Well, sometimes.

Getting one of these guys into your game can be a painful process in itself. For whatever reason, the game would frequently deny my requests, forcing me to exit out of the mission and start another. Magically, it would suddenly work after repeating this process. There are a lot of strange issues like this in the game’s design. "Polished" is one thing that no one can call ACV.

Once you get into a story mission (which there are ten of), you’ll run into a whole new host of problems. One of which relates to the co-op aspect. If your co-op buddy leaves the game, you are forced out as well. This would be fine if you could keep your checkpoint or if these missions weren’t 30+ minutes long. This, however, is not the case. I found myself getting so frustrated with losing progress (we are talking at least three hours), I played most missions solo. Neither player even gets anything if they forfeit, which makes it even worse.Here is the absolute worst part of all of ACV: After a match, the game forces you to send a message to the other players. I'm all for ridiculing these jerks, except all the messages are positive! "SUPERB JORB!!!" It's like that scene where your mom walks in on your older brother beating you up and then she tells you to apologize for getting beat up. Except it happens repeatedly and you can't hit them back when mom leaves.

The missions themselves are pretty shoddy, feeling like a 360/PS3 launch title in their presentation and design. You go from point A to B with very little variety in enemy type or objectives. You can look forward to such thrilling things as a sewer that loops three times for no good reason (this actually appears in two missions, since the game has only eight maps), a turret that can kill you in one shot, and some horribly cheap boss fights. You’d be wrong in thinking ACV is hard. It’s not. It’s just terribly imbalanced and unfair.

I went from one of the most grueling enemy encounters in one mission, to the next being an absolute cakewalk. The game is baffling in its difficulty spikes. Most of the challenge will come from the disadvantages of your particular build. You may come across a section that requires you to dodge fast, but you are built for slow, direct combat. I wouldn’t say this is a pro or con; it’s just the nature of this type of game. However, I’d like to think there are ways to offer alternative routes for alternative playstyles. Regardless, ACV is decidedly not progressive in its design despite the forward-thinking online wrapper surrounding the game.If you are in need of extra in-game income, ACV offers a couple options. At any time you can jump into different non-story missions. Order missions are simple in presentation and last about a minute to complete, most of the time. You just take down ridiculously underpowered enemies and move on to the next mission. Invasion missions let you and your team claim territory in the game’s persistent world. In execution, however, they play out just like an Order mission. The only difference is that you can have three team members with you and an Operator who can direct your team by setting waypoints and marking enemies.The main draw of ACV is Conquest, which is its 5-on-5 multiplayer mode. Once you learn the nuances of the game’s combat, you can have some really exciting matches in Conquest. It’s a shame then that this mode is tied to some bizarre concepts. You aren’t just playing team deathmatch; you are fighting over the game’s persistent territory. As a result, you need to spend team points to even play this mode. Team points are a form of currency you acquire upon winning a match in any other mode. So, even if you are a serious AC player, you’ll be just as frustrated that the game sends computer-controlled mechs to defend your territory if a real player isn’t around. If all this sounds confusing and dumb, it’s probably because it is.

Even when I look past all of ACV’s hit-and-miss ambitious concepts, it is a very poorly designed game at its core. On a technical level, it is full of glitches and weird little quirks. Presentation-wise, its graphics, audio,

AC schematic

AC schematic

art direction, and story are terrible and not in that charming dated way of other From Software games (here’s looking at you, Ninja Blade).Command a squadron of fully customized Armored Core Units in a dystopian future ravaged by war and stripped of its natural resources; The last remaining resources needed for the survival of your faction are scavenged and bitterly fought for in the No Man’s Land, a bleak landscape that offers little hope for survival. Enlist into one of the various in-game factions and strategically adapt your weapon systems to wrestle control of territories away from other players and establish a much needed peace. A heavy trigger finger, innovative customization and tactical teamwork will be all that stand between survival and total annihilation in ARMORED CORE: VERDICT DAY.The earth is heavily contaminated with Kojima Particles after the Linx War (AC4). The major companies rebuilt themselves and formed the League of Ruling Companies, creating the Collared Organisation to control the remaining Linxes, so they wouldn't begin to act independently and start another war. An uneasy peace is maintained. The companies still fight among themselves, and they create Arms Forts to increase their war-fighting capabilities. You are part of these small skirmishes as the companies continue to jostle for power behind the unified façade of the League.The companies launch unmanned Assault Cell satellites (orbital cannons) into low Earth orbit to prevent any one breakaway faction/company from going into space (because they don't trust one another), thus effectively preventing the human race from leaving Earth. In this way the League maintains control of the planet.

Most of the world's population now lives in Cradles, huge jets that cruise in the stratosphere, just below the orbital guns. Each one holds 20 million people in extremely cramped and overcrowded conditions. They are powered and controlled remotely from the ground by Carpals, the most important one being the Arteria Carpals, a seawater fusion reactor that is controlled by Rosenthal. Power is transmitted to the Cradles by machines that look like large cannons. In the event that the Cradles lose all power from the ground transmitters, they are designed to be able to glide on reserve power back to the Earth for an emergency landing.When you begin the game, you fight various battles for the individual companies, but occasionally

Armored Core

White Glint AC

the League will give you a mission to wipe out small bands of rebels. One of these rebel groups is Line Ark, a small independent protectorate comprising the remnants of the Aspina and Anatolia colonies. The mysterious White Glint is the sole AC of Line Ark, and the pilot is the main character from AC4. Fiona Jardenfeldt is his operator. The first mission you are assigned requires you to attack Line Ark, and you destroy a few of Line Ark's MTs and Normals. A short time afterward, Line Ark forces hijack Cradle 21, and you are sent by the League to recapture it.

Eventually, after various contracts for the companies, you are asked to go with the top Collared ace Otsdarva (piloting Stasis) to destroy White Glint. During this battle, Otsdarva encounters engine trouble and his Next falls into the sea. You finish off White Glint, and Line Ark is no longer a threat to the League.<In an alternate story branch, you are hired by Line Ark to protect the Megalis, their sole power installation, from an attack by Omer. In this branch, you will later fight alongside White Glint against Otsdarva and Cube. White Glint is disabled during this battle, and Line Ark ceases to be a viable military force.>You continue to fight various battles for the companies, until the Arteria Carpals comes under attack from a previously unknown group of rebels, the Orca Brigade. You are sent with Noblesse Oblige to aid in the defense of Arteria. <THIS IS THE CRUCIAL POINT WHERE THE STORY BRANCHES>.

Orca is a large, well-equipped rebel force led by the enigmatic Maximillian Thermidor, and they aim to bring the Cradles to the ground and destroy the Assault Cells so the population can expand into space, and the League's iron grip over the Earth can be disrupted.
They seize control of the Ehrenburg Satellite Cannon installation and GA's headquarters (Big Box), and eventually retake Arteria. You have to defeat Orca at all 3 sites and destroy the Orca Arms Forts to finish the first story thread, where you preserve the existing hegemony and allow the League to remain in power. The first thread ends with the Answerer firing its main cannon as all the Orca rebels are crushed, and the population stays in the Cradles, living as refugees in miserable conditions high above the earth. Boo Hoo.Story Thread 2

After the Battle at Line Ark (White Glint battle), you receive a transmission from Orca. It is Thermidor, and he convinces you to switch sides and attack the Ulna Carpals, a wind power installation controlled by GA. Upon completion of this mission, you become an operative of the Orca Brigade. The Arteria Carpals are now the sole source of power for the Cradles. You are sent on a solo mission to capture Arteria, where you defeat Noblesse Oblige and another Collared AC. Orca simultaneously take the Big Box and the Ehrenburg guns. You repulse 2 counterattacks by the League to destroy the Ehrenburg and retake the Arteria Cranium, which controls the Cradles. You also destroy the Answerer, the League's primary Arms Fort that uses a new type of Kojima technology.

Thread 2 ends with the Cradles being brought down to Earth to liberate the population, and the firing of the Ehrenburgs to destroy all the Assault Cells orbiting the globe. Mankind ascends to the stars, escaping the decaying and polluted Earth.

Story Thread 3

After switching sides to work for Orca, a hardline extremist member of the Brigade approaches you:

Armored Core Robot mechas

UCR-10C

AC Mirage C02-Uranus

"Greetings, Collared Man. My name is Old King. I'm planning an attack on the Cradles.....are you with me? The Orca Brigade's revolution isn't enough to change things, and they will all die trying, wouldn't you say? I say we take down as many Cradles as we can. If we're all going to die, we're not going to go quietly."

You carry out Old King's orders. You shoot down Cradle 3 and the 4 Cradles flying alongside it. 100 million people die by your hand.Not long afterward, you receive a transmission from Interior Union, one of the companies that comprise the League. They want you to proceed to the Arteria Carpals to secure the facility against an attack by Orca. It's a trap, they set you up. You go with Old King to the Carpals for the final confrontation. The League sends the top 4 Collared Linx to fight you: Roadie (GA), Wynne D. Fanchon (GA), Lilium Wolcott (BFF), and Otsdarva/Thermidor, who is actually a double agent for the League. He faked his own death during the battle with White Glint, emerging as Thermidor to lead Orca, whose members had been waiting for him. Your operator, Kasumi Sumika from AC4, who abandoned you after you massacred 100 million people, also appears in her AC to fight you. But first, let's talk about the arms forts. These rolling instruments of destruction are new to the series and easily the biggest draw in For Answer. Doing battle with them is intense and satisfying, particularly in the more challenging encounters, such as that with the Spirit of Motherwill. In this battle, you and your mech take down a series of cannons while avoiding the wrath of missiles and other bots, and generally wreak havoc. It's rough, mind you: Depending on the arsenal you equip your bot with, you could find yourself out of ammo if you don't conserve properly, and dodging the constant barrage of cannon fire isn't easy. But destroying the fort is immensely rewarding, and while not all of these battles are as exciting as this one, they're all fun and (usually) challenging without being cheap. Even better, you can ramp up the thrills by adding a buddy to the mix. That assumes, of course, that you can find an interested participant among the tiny population of online players. A few weeks after release, fewer than a dozen individuals are playing via Xbox Live, and we found only a single opponent while testing the PlayStation 3 version. This could have been mitigated by offline co-op, but alas, the game doesn't feature such an option.Standard missions play out with considerably less excitement, though they're amusing enough on their own terms. Unfortunately, most are still relatively short, some of them clocking in at under a minute if you're particularly agile with a controller. They may involve taking down a series of mechs, escorting a train from one side of a map to the other, or destroying a couple of generators and then escaping from the facility before it explodes. These missions are fine, but most are pretty easy and end just

AC laser strafe

as they're getting interesting. It makes the single-player campaign feel fragmented, and it's hard to feel involved with a scenario when it's over in two minutes. However, the bite-size chunks make this a game you can turn to for a quick, steel-infused rush—a rush further enhanced by terrifically destructible environments. Cover opportunities in abandoned cities and among crumbling overpasses turn into explosions of smoke and particles, and the ensuing visual chaos adds a nice sense of urgency to battles. The quick, arcade feel of the action is augmented by your bolstered boosters, and the quick enemy mechs that whip about with alarming velocity.

This age-old franchise comes with age-old frustrations, though—ones that fans have learned to live with but newcomers will struggle with. The autotargeting is still occasionally touchy, and the camera never seems to be able to catch up when things are moving quickly, so expect to fumble a bit when you lose your lock-on or deal with camera lag during freefalls and other speedy moments. The controls are relatively up to the task, however. The default scheme is easy to get used to, though connoisseurs will be happy to know that a few other control schemes are available, and you can customize it to your liking. This is just as well, since there are a lot of control issues for newcomers to drink in, from purging and switching weapons to assault armor

AC Robot Mecha

AC White Glint

AC Lineark White-Glint

Armored Core AC

and thrusting.As with previous games, how you outfit your mech before these battles means either sure victory or crushing defeat, depending on your own play style and the strengths and weaknesses of your AI opponents. This is where mech customization comes in, and it's as involving as fans would expect without being so dense as to alienate newcomers. As always, you can switch out everything from weaponry to thrusters to heads, which in turn lets you tailor your mech to be a bazooka-laden tank, a nimble sniping machine, or a melee-focused berserker. As you complete single-player missions and take part in arena battles against other bots, you unlock new parts you can purchase and then slap on. The retooled interface makes it easier to buy and equip parts, so while the menus may take some getting used to, they're easy to navigate, considering the great number of possibilities at your disposal. The customization possibilities aren't as deep as some previous Armored Core games (you don't need to worry about cooling, for example), but there's still a lot of room to tweak. And if you're really a mech-head, you can mess with balancing, fire control system parts, and plenty more.

If you're looking for a visual tour de force, For Answer won't give you one. Environments are bland, with very little to look at. Cluttered environments wouldn't make a lot of sense in missions and mech-vs.-mech arenas, but in too many cases, there is an awful lot of sand and perhaps a scattering of poorly textured gray buildings—and absolutely nothing else but you, your opponent, and blocky, canned explosion effects. On the other hand, arms forts are nicely detailed, and the destructible pieces and constant barrage of missiles produce vibrant displays of light and color. Additionally, while there aren't a lot of them, the in-game cutscenes look excellent. The Xbox 360 seems a little more capable of rendering the game; while frame rate hitches were relatively uncommon on that platform, the PlayStation 3 version seemed more prone to slowdown, though this problem wasn't blatant enough to interfere with the gameplay. Sound effects are terrific across the board—familiar, certainly, but there's a lot of mechanized noise, all the time, and the effects are always appropriately bombastic without being overwhelming. On top of it all, the voice acting is quite good, and the music, like its predecessor's, is easy on the ears. Not that there is much context for the visuals and sound; the story plays out mostly in mission briefings, which is usual for the series, but misses an opportunity to flesh out its characters and theme. Multiple play-throughs uncover some of the story's mysteries, but the neat concept—humanity has fled to airborne habitats to escape oppressive pollution—

AC Nineball

could have benefitted from some cinematic flair.On top of missions, you can work your way through a series of bots in the arena, though it would have been nice to have more maps to choose from. You can also take the fight online, and while there are more maps to play on in a multiplayer environment, there are very few people to compete with. Regardless, Armored Core: For Answer is a worthwhile addition to the series, and while the franchise could certainly use a face-lift, this strip-mall makeover covers up the main blemishes.During this battle, Old King is killed, but you manage to wipe out all 5 enemy ACs, becoming THE LAST LINX. YOU ARE A BADASS!! 

http://zarco-macross.wikidot.com/ http://armoredcore.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Mecha http://forums.bandainamcogames.com/archive/index.php/t-34.html http://www.egmnow.com/armored-core-v/ https://www.fanfiction.net/game/Armored-Core/ http://armoredcoreuniverse.net/forum/ http://mechatastrophe.blogspot.ca/2005_10_01_archive.html

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