At what point does a human dissolve into becoming just a mere resource? In the world of Armored Core, humans essentially have become nothing but a resource to the rich and powerful. The average human has been knocked down on the social standing as the capitalist fiends behind the scenes begin prioritizing robots and cybernetics. Armored Core is a game about humanity being replaced and how just a few powerful people can cause the demise of billions.
It's no surprise that Armored Core is a mecha game, compared to most other popular mecha series, Armored Core seems to take advantage of its genre more than any other mecha series. Gone are named characters of most series, as in the world of Armored Core, they have become completely irrelevant. Most structures have to accommodate the size of the armored core units, which creates this barren and dystopian atmosphere. The lack of music during levels creates more of a focus on the mechs themselves since most of the noises you'll be hearing come from combat. It creates a contrast between what you hear in battle, vs the groovy music heard in the menus.
When outside of battles, the player will have to pay close attention to their stats. Creating a mech in Armored Core is one of the biggest selling points with plenty of options making it seem like the combinations are endless. The game provides the player with stats that are essentially designed to overwhelm and complicate the player playing further into the idea that the human is insignificant. Having to deal with conflicting stats such as whether having a heavy part is worth it, and having to consider the cost of ammo for a specific weapon. However, considering this is From Softwares first dip into the mecha genre, it's not perfect. There seems to be a large array of items that just don't seem necessary. While the game seems to encourage having a custom and unique mech, it almost seems like by the halfway point of the game, I had myself a perfect mech that nobody would possibly be able to match. While there were some things that I could imagine changing, the only thing that cemented the idea that I did in fact have a perfect mech, was when I went online and saw most people were using an almost identical build to me. Mech building in Armored Core certainly isn't bad, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
One of the most obnoxious complaints I see about Armored Core is people complaining about the controls which has always baffled me because I always considered AC to have one of the greatest control schemes ever put in a game. The game will always make sure to remind you that you are controlling a mech and that the mech is more important than the human inside. You will feel the weight, and you will make every slight movement count. The actual controls themselves feel complicated similar to what is being felt inside the mech. No mech real mech would give the pilot a controller with two analog sticks and easy to learn controls. Armored Core doesn't care about the pilot. If the pilot dies, they will be replaced, meanwhile, if an AC Unit gets destroyed, It's gonna cost a lot.
Armored Core truly is a capitalist nightmare. A story about a few guys who got so rich that they feel like they're at the top of the world, and even then the ending cutscenes for each corporation show how their lack of respect for the human race caused them to get betrayed by the same robots they valued over humans. When technology goes too far, who will be there to stop it? When humans become irrelevant, we will become the machine and the machine will power over humanity until it is met with the next largest obstacle. Capitalism and greed creates an existential nightmare and will fuel the demise of humanity.
Side note: fuck the platforming segment in the final level.
It's no surprise that Armored Core is a mecha game, compared to most other popular mecha series, Armored Core seems to take advantage of its genre more than any other mecha series. Gone are named characters of most series, as in the world of Armored Core, they have become completely irrelevant. Most structures have to accommodate the size of the armored core units, which creates this barren and dystopian atmosphere. The lack of music during levels creates more of a focus on the mechs themselves since most of the noises you'll be hearing come from combat. It creates a contrast between what you hear in battle, vs the groovy music heard in the menus.
When outside of battles, the player will have to pay close attention to their stats. Creating a mech in Armored Core is one of the biggest selling points with plenty of options making it seem like the combinations are endless. The game provides the player with stats that are essentially designed to overwhelm and complicate the player playing further into the idea that the human is insignificant. Having to deal with conflicting stats such as whether having a heavy part is worth it, and having to consider the cost of ammo for a specific weapon. However, considering this is From Softwares first dip into the mecha genre, it's not perfect. There seems to be a large array of items that just don't seem necessary. While the game seems to encourage having a custom and unique mech, it almost seems like by the halfway point of the game, I had myself a perfect mech that nobody would possibly be able to match. While there were some things that I could imagine changing, the only thing that cemented the idea that I did in fact have a perfect mech, was when I went online and saw most people were using an almost identical build to me. Mech building in Armored Core certainly isn't bad, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
One of the most obnoxious complaints I see about Armored Core is people complaining about the controls which has always baffled me because I always considered AC to have one of the greatest control schemes ever put in a game. The game will always make sure to remind you that you are controlling a mech and that the mech is more important than the human inside. You will feel the weight, and you will make every slight movement count. The actual controls themselves feel complicated similar to what is being felt inside the mech. No mech real mech would give the pilot a controller with two analog sticks and easy to learn controls. Armored Core doesn't care about the pilot. If the pilot dies, they will be replaced, meanwhile, if an AC Unit gets destroyed, It's gonna cost a lot.
Armored Core truly is a capitalist nightmare. A story about a few guys who got so rich that they feel like they're at the top of the world, and even then the ending cutscenes for each corporation show how their lack of respect for the human race caused them to get betrayed by the same robots they valued over humans. When technology goes too far, who will be there to stop it? When humans become irrelevant, we will become the machine and the machine will power over humanity until it is met with the next largest obstacle. Capitalism and greed creates an existential nightmare and will fuel the demise of humanity.
Side note: fuck the platforming segment in the final level.