Don't mess with my Mecha

The Armored Core franchise has finally brought out a new title. It's been many years since a game was released, and the last one was released in 2012, but finally, FromSofware has given us this new Armored Core, and I can say that it was worth the wait. The game doesn't go too much into the context of lore; you understand that you're a mercenary who controls your mecha and carries out missions on behalf of a corporation, where your objective can vary from neutralizing a specific enemy to destroying a ship, or things like that. 

And when you carry out these missions, you receive a cash reward so that you can improve your robot. This part is one of the most loyal points of the game because there is an absurd amount of things that can be changed in the mecha, not only in terms of the variety of weapons and upgrades you can give it by buying items in the store but also in terms of the visual customization of these items, which has a very wide range of options. 



On the weapons side, you have a wide variety, each with its own damage stats, fire rate, and recharge time, but the most important thing is that each one is suited to different situations; for example, the energy sword is better for facing enemies who have a shield, or in another situation, a rifle is more suitable for facing enemies at greater distances. This is something that makes the game much more strategic and interesting because the player can adapt to each situation. 

This is reflected very strongly in the game's combat because, as I said earlier, the weapons can be very situational, but that doesn't mean that you are obliged to use the right weapon in the specific situation. The player can very well play with the weapons they want, but the situation will become more difficult, and perhaps you will suffer more to get through a mission.



As for the visual part, there is also a lot of customization available. You can choose how you want to customize each part of the robot— head, arms, legs, torso, back, weapons, everything, and each one separately and in the way the player wants, being able to choose the colors, if there will be some kind of camouflage, and each part of the camouflage can also be painted in different ways. You can also choose the type of wear of each part, if it is scratched, worn, or rusty, in short, an infinity of options. 

This customization can end up generating some very cool results and some very funny ones because one of the options you have to customize your robot is to put stickers on it, where You have those from the game itself, or assemble your image from geometric shapes, something that seems innocent at first, but for those who are already familiar with the potential for creativity of players in other games that have the same function, you already know that you can expect all kinds of creative and crazy designs on the mecha. 

Hard as steel 

Well, what you expect most from this type of game is the gameplay, and I'm happy to say that, my friends, this game is cool and fun. The combat is always very frantic, and you're always surrounded by enemies, whether from the sides, on top of structures or even flying around you. 

The control functions of the mecha make the game very interesting; the movements are very fluid, which makes the game very enjoyable to just walk around and fly around. If there was a mecha racing game with this fluidity of movement, I would certainly love to play it. These controls go very well with the combat of the game because the movement, together with the camera, makes everything much more cinematic and visually attractive. 



The diversity of the missions is also impressive, because in some you just have to exterminate the enemies in an area, while in others you have to neutralize a cargo or ship, and sometimes you also have to face a boss, a single enemy much more powerful than the normal enemies. 

And in this case, they also vary a lot; it can be a very well-armed and protected ship, another enemy in a mecha similar to yours, or many other possibilities. This variety makes the game a little more unpredictable and captivating, as it makes the player want to play more and more to find out what new features still await them. 

Another very interesting detail is that in these missions, the map can be very important in combat, as you can dodge projectiles and guided missiles using the map, hiding behind some structure, or you can also better visualize your objective and the enemies by climbing to the top of a building, for example, a detail that makes all the difference. 



One of the main points of this game, which is already a very strong feature of the games that FromSoftware has been releasing in recent years, is its difficulty. Armored Core VI, as in other FromSoftware titles such as Dark Souls, Sekiro, and Bloodborne, has very challenging gameplay. 

It's not uncommon for you to fail missions; eventually, you'll die, either because you don't know the map properly, you take damage you shouldn't have taken, or you end up in the middle of several enemies, which is common and encourages trial and error on the part of the player, something that, in my opinion, is a lot of fun because I feel challenged to try until I succeed. 

The machines' beauty

Well, so far I've only talked about the good things about the game, and now I'm going to talk about even more. At first, I thought the game wouldn't be so beautiful because I played with the graphics on low and still got absurd graphics potential without suffering from crashes and low fps. 

The wealth of detail is impressive, as is the construction of the settings, whether you're inside a dark facility with lots of objects that can be destroyed and tiny details in the environment or an open environment with huge, beautiful backdrops. 

But the open environments are more impressive; they are always abstract and immense. They give the impression that you are tiny compared to the immensity of that place, full of gigantic structures and a diversity of elements such as other destroyed robots or twisted metal that make you realize that a lot has already happened in these places.



The quality of the models and effects is very impressive; the explosions, even in the lowest graphics, are extremely well done and crafted. Another detail that I found sensational was when I was in a boss battle in which he fired guided missiles, and while I was moving to escape these missiles, I could see them perfectly trying to hit me, very close to my mecha, and all this without reducing the fps. At that moment, I realized the capacity that Armored Core VI has to surprise me. 

Another point they got very right was the soundtrack. Although the game doesn't have much of a soundtrack, the effects are sensational; you can see all the explosions, gunfire, and destruction perfectly and very realistically. All the combat is very frenetic, and with this sound quality, it makes the player think that they are controlling a mecha and battling the enemies. 



That's why I believe Armored Core VI is a fantastic game, because combining FromSoftware's traditionally challenging gameplay, now in a game of a different genre to the soul-like one we're used to seeing, with complete customization and impressive graphics and sound quality, we can see that it's a recipe for success that has created a highly entertaining game that's recommended for anyone who likes challenges and battle robots. 

The game was tested at PC via Steam platform, and a especial thanks to Bandai Namco Entertainment for making this content possible.