Armored Core: For Answer (get it 4 answer) is Armored Core 4 fully realized. If you haven’t played the previous title, then don’t worry, you don’t have to. AC4A is an extremely fast-paced third person mecha shooter. Some time is required to get used to the controls, but after that, the feeling of controlling a mech that can go the Mach 1 in an instant is unmatched. Compared to the AC4, AC4A is an improvement in every way. I would highly recommend this game, if you’ve enjoyed the previous one, or just want a fast-paced mecha game.
Story
In a world with no nations, corporations’ rule. The surface of Earth is too polluted to be lived on, so most of humanity lives in the atmosphere in massive spaceships. You however don’t have that luxury, instead you are a mercenary who pilots a NEXT (an extremely powerful mech) and are hired by the companies to do their fighting. Often you will be fighting against a company in one mission, then fighting for them in the next. There is one common enemy, however, the anti-corporation Line Ark.
There are 3 ending. You are locked into the first ending on your first playthrough, the others are unlocked with subsequent playthroughs.
Overall, the story isn’t a masterpiece, but I did enjoy my time with it.
Mechanics and gameplay
Movement is the same as AC4, but faster. Walking is useless. The step above – boosting is your main way of getting around and flying. Quick boosting is instantaneous speed in one direction. Lastly, there is overed boosting, which is like quick boosting, but for sustained periods of time at the cost of your PA (basically armor). All of these take up different amounts of energy.
Combat is very hectic, especially against enemy mechs. To help you, there is automatic lock and tracking, as long as they are in your field of vision. A task harder, then, might be expected. There is also melee, which while hard to hit, can deal a lot of damage.
Build variety is at the core of AC4A. You can change anything in your mech and instead of listing all of them I will give you some of my build as an example. A mech designed to get a lot of airtime quickly and fire off a gigantic barrage of missiles, a heavy mech that holds two miniguns and once they run out, switches to two bigger miniguns strapped to its back. You get the idea, if you want to make, you probably can.
Mission variety is massively improved compared to AC4. They can range from anything as simple as infiltrate an enemy base to, hey go take down that skyscraper sized walking armored fort, also no support. There is also an arena where you fight mechs 1v1.
Overall, the gameplay is probably the best part of AC4A and a definite 10/10 for me.
Graphics and artstyle
As a PS3 game the graphics are a bit outdated, but honestly, I was going too fast to notice anyway.
You will notice quite quickly how little color this game has. This is intentional, as it correlate to the atmosphere.
Atmosphere
An endless cycle of war, fought for no reason. A planet too destroyed to house any life. The only thing left on the surface are warmachines, fighting until their destruction.
Soundtrack and sound effects
Sound effects are okay, nothing caught my attention.
The OST is great as always. This time it's heavier and more depressing, leaning more into the atmosphere. My favourite part is “Remember”.
Final Thoughts
I wonder how many White Glints there will be once AC6 releases.
Story
In a world with no nations, corporations’ rule. The surface of Earth is too polluted to be lived on, so most of humanity lives in the atmosphere in massive spaceships. You however don’t have that luxury, instead you are a mercenary who pilots a NEXT (an extremely powerful mech) and are hired by the companies to do their fighting. Often you will be fighting against a company in one mission, then fighting for them in the next. There is one common enemy, however, the anti-corporation Line Ark.
There are 3 ending. You are locked into the first ending on your first playthrough, the others are unlocked with subsequent playthroughs.
Overall, the story isn’t a masterpiece, but I did enjoy my time with it.
Mechanics and gameplay
Movement is the same as AC4, but faster. Walking is useless. The step above – boosting is your main way of getting around and flying. Quick boosting is instantaneous speed in one direction. Lastly, there is overed boosting, which is like quick boosting, but for sustained periods of time at the cost of your PA (basically armor). All of these take up different amounts of energy.
Combat is very hectic, especially against enemy mechs. To help you, there is automatic lock and tracking, as long as they are in your field of vision. A task harder, then, might be expected. There is also melee, which while hard to hit, can deal a lot of damage.
Build variety is at the core of AC4A. You can change anything in your mech and instead of listing all of them I will give you some of my build as an example. A mech designed to get a lot of airtime quickly and fire off a gigantic barrage of missiles, a heavy mech that holds two miniguns and once they run out, switches to two bigger miniguns strapped to its back. You get the idea, if you want to make, you probably can.
Mission variety is massively improved compared to AC4. They can range from anything as simple as infiltrate an enemy base to, hey go take down that skyscraper sized walking armored fort, also no support. There is also an arena where you fight mechs 1v1.
Overall, the gameplay is probably the best part of AC4A and a definite 10/10 for me.
Graphics and artstyle
As a PS3 game the graphics are a bit outdated, but honestly, I was going too fast to notice anyway.
You will notice quite quickly how little color this game has. This is intentional, as it correlate to the atmosphere.
Atmosphere
An endless cycle of war, fought for no reason. A planet too destroyed to house any life. The only thing left on the surface are warmachines, fighting until their destruction.
Soundtrack and sound effects
Sound effects are okay, nothing caught my attention.
The OST is great as always. This time it's heavier and more depressing, leaning more into the atmosphere. My favourite part is “Remember”.
Final Thoughts
I wonder how many White Glints there will be once AC6 releases.