Armored Core

OCisbestungulate

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Are there any AC fans out there? What kind of rig did you like to use? Which of the games did you like best?

I was always find of the big clunkers. Not so much the full-on tank rigs, but heavy legs and big guns. As for which game, Ilike AC3 the most, with 5 coming in behind it (even if there was no flying).
I played it a lot as a kid, and I have many happy, and frustrating memories of that series (I'm looking at you, long freaking mission that drained my AP and ammo with a 2-3 AC ambush at the end).
 

Shadow of Death

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I generally went with heavy builds myself. I did try to have some maneuverability, but definitely more focus on firepower.

Which is contrary to what I usually prefer to go with in games. Mind, I haven't played an Armored Core game in like, a decade or something? Really wish they'd bring that back (and on PC to boot).

Ah, the old days when someone could abbr. to AC and think "Armored Core", not "Assassin's Creed".
 

OCisbestungulate

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I generally went with heavy builds myself. I did try to have some maneuverability, but definitely more focus on firepower.

Which is contrary to what I usually prefer to go with in games. Mind, I haven't played an Armored Core game in like, a decade or something? Really wish they'd bring that back (and on PC to boot).

Ah, the old days when someone could abbr. to AC and think "Armored Core", not "Assassin's Creed".
Well, there's always AC 5 and Verdict day. Those came out 2012 and 2013 respectably. A little old, but not grossly so.
 

Shadow of Death

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Well, there's always AC 5 and Verdict day. Those came out 2012 and 2013 respectably. A little old, but not grossly so.
Seems they got solid enough reviews, but I'm really, really primarily a PC gamer. I can't find it in myself to muster up the effort to set up my PS4 to play games generally, let alone getting my PS3 or X-box 360 set up to play a game that got lukewarm reception.

I've heard of some AC substitutes on PC, but I haven't actually tried them yet I admit.
 

OCisbestungulate

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Seems they got solid enough reviews, but I'm really, really primarily a PC gamer. I can't find it in myself to muster up the effort to set up my PS4 to play games generally, let alone getting my PS3 or X-box 360 set up to play a game that got lukewarm reception.

I've heard of some AC substitutes on PC, but I haven't actually tried them yet I admit.
Fair point. That said, AC 5 felt like a proper AC game. I spent as much time tinkering and assembling my AC as doing missions. The only real draw-back imo, is that they took away the ability to actually fly around.
 

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No matter how I started the game by the end of it I always ended up with a mech that ran on tank treads and quadruple wielded as many grenade launchers as it could fit - seemed by the end of the game playing light setups just didn't really work as well considering how quickly late game enemies would decimate you and how lighter weapons would run out of ammo before they killed anything

Normally how I wanted to play though was either go a mid ranged 4 legged energy fighting setup, or go for a light airborne reverse legs setup. I always tried to play the game a different way though, those just tended to be the most fun - I always thought the quad leg designs looked the coolest but they tended to be the most difficult to find a good balance between weight and firepower since they had such huge energy requirements to make lighter energy weapons less viable but couldn't hold the heavy duty firepower that 2 legged or tank tread designs could hold. I never did play the game with a completely light reverse leg design myself, I probably should try it sometime it seems like it'd be a challenge since it limits your firepower so much to play that light but the bonus to manueverability could be a huge advantage. Also floaty leg designs are fun to but the fact that you have to stop moving to shoot any heavy weapons was always a big drawback to me, 4 legged designs let you pop out the machine guns and grenade launchers if you could fit them on them without stopping moving so they always seemed to have the advantage for the speed to me.

I could see Armored Core boasting a big online competitive scene if they made a game that really takes advantage of it, with how much customization there is in it that could lead to some really cool individualized playstyles - unfortunately it's boom during the PS2 days kinda prevented that from really happening and it seems like it lost it's steam after that sadly.... I didn't know they made a 5th one but I heard the 4th one was kinda not amazing. Like if they made something with the in depth customization and world building that like Armored Core 3 and 2 did I'd have so much fun with that. Haven't found a good mech game with that sort of in depth customization and gameplay since, I wish the mech genre was still as big as it was. Also metal wolf chaos looks super fun but we never got that in the US ='D


If anyone remembers the series very well my first introduction to the series was a version of Armored Core 2 I've never been able to find since. I've tried searching online and plenty of things but I can't seem to find it at all? Like Armored Core 2 is easy to find, but not whatever this version was... I don't remember the name either. The series I know did put out a bunch of alternative versions to games (like how Silent Line was to Armored Core 3) but I can't find the one for AC2 anywhere. Towards the end of the game where I had gotten it started getting into wierd themes of like bioweapons gone wrong and that sort of thing, I particularly vividly remember one mission I was too afraid to go through with as a kid where you had to search an abandoned mine for an unknown threat but the ambiance spooked me. It had a lot of more sprawling complicated missions which I liked in comparison to a lot of the shorter missions AC games tend to have, I only had it as a kid though borrowed from a friend so I've neve rbeen able to find it since - anyone remember this one?
 
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OCisbestungulate

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If anyone remembers the series very well my first introduction to the series was a version of Armored Core 2 I've never been able to find since. I've tried searching online and plenty of things but I can't seem to find it at all? Like Armored Core 2 is easy to find, but not whatever this version was... I don't remember the name either. The series I know did put out a bunch of alternative versions to games (like how Silent Line was to Armored Core 3) but I can't find the one for AC2 anywhere. Towards the end of the game where I had gotten it started getting into wierd themes of like bioweapons gone wrong and that sort of thing, I particularly vividly remember one mission I was too afraid to go through with as a kid where you had to search an abandoned mine for an unknown threat but the ambiance spooked me. It had a lot of more sprawling complicated missions which I liked in comparison to a lot of the shorter missions AC games tend to have, I only had it as a kid though borrowed from a friend so I've neve rbeen able to find it since - anyone remember this one?
I think it's Armored Core 2: Another Age. Unless you played one of the sequels to the original Armored Core. That said, I loved those long and windy missions. Nothing said Armored Core like a 30 min or longer mission that drained all of your resources to get to the end, only to be ambushed by 1-3 ACs (I know I already mentioned it, but I never forgot that lovable nonsense).

Normally how I wanted to play though was either go a mid ranged 4 legged energy fighting setup, or go for a light airborne reverse legs setup. I always tried to play the game a different way though, those just tended to be the most fun - I always thought the quad leg designs looked the coolest but they tended to be the most difficult to find a good balance between weight and firepower since they had such huge energy requirements to make lighter energy weapons less viable but couldn't hold the heavy duty firepower that 2 legged or tank tread designs could hold. I never did play the game with a completely light reverse leg design myself, I probably should try it sometime it seems like it'd be a challenge since it limits your firepower so much to play that light but the bonus to manueverability could be a huge advantage. Also floaty leg designs are fun to but the fact that you have to stop moving to shoot any heavy weapons was always a big drawback to me, 4 legged designs let you pop out the machine guns and grenade launchers if you could fit them on them without stopping moving so they always seemed to have the advantage for the speed to me.
I rather liked the 4-legged ones. One of my favorite riggs (in AC3) was a quad that used the blade that shot, used a mid-grade laser rifle, and had that giant freaking laser cannon on its back. All of its weapons were energy, but strangely enough, if I was wise, it had enough energy to do everything I needed it to do. Another rig I liked was one where I maxed out Shell Resistance. Needless to say it was a clunker, so to counter act the fast ones I gave it a machine gun (which by that point had been nerfed to be fairly inaccurate), and either High Accuracy Missiles, or missiles that exploded near the target. It worked well enough, but sadly, the thing had terrible heat problems so all it took was a simple flamethrower and that was that. Though, for missions, I too tended to go a bit heavy. Most of the time it was a jack-of-all trades kinda deal. Med-heavy bipedal legs, laser rifle, perhaps another rife in the other hand for x2 damage, and usually a large gun or two (or hoards of missiles) on the back. I'm rather fond of laser rifles. Their ammo is free :p


I could see Armored Core boasting a big online competitive scene if they made a game that really takes advantage of it, with how much customization there is in it that could lead to some really cool individualized playstyles - unfortunately it's boom during the PS2 days kinda prevented that from really happening and it seems like it lost it's steam after that sadly.... I didn't know they made a 5th one but I heard the 4th one was kinda not amazing. Like if they made something with the in depth customization and world building that like Armored Core 3 and 2 did I'd have so much fun with that. Haven't found a good mech game with that sort of in depth customization and gameplay since, I wish the mech genre was still as big as it was. Also metal wolf chaos looks super fun but we never got that in the US ='D
AC 5 actually had an online mode where players could join/create factions and they battled for dominance of different parts of the world map. Players could also sell and buy parts from each other. Sadly, the official servers are shut down now. I don't know if Verdict Day has the same feature of not. And sadly, by the time I found out it was a thing, it was already all but dead anyway.

That said: ACs 3&5 were my favorate. AC4 was rubbish. Well, okay, that's a little harsh. It had okay things to it, but From Software didn't do it, Sega did. And they changed a lot of things. For example: if you built right, you had energy forever. I made a 100% energy weapon AC and I could spend almost an entire mission airborne. The missions were also like 5-10 min a pop. Granted, they were a bit longer, but it sure didn't feel like. Also: you didn't have to kneel for the big guns. Thus, there were really only like 3 or 4 kinds of legs. No hover or quad iirc. The story also made no sense. In short, I think they decided that AC needed to be faster, more streamlined. I didn't much care for it, but then again, it was like drinking purple Gatorade when one is used to red. So I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it try...

5 is legit though.
 

OCisbestungulate

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Oh yeah, my cousins had the game.
I was kinda young, all I remember was GUNZ ARE COOL, HOVER ON THE WATER PLZ and...

Iunno. All i knows it was cool!
Whatever happened? Did the series die or live onward?
Ever get Online?
The last game came out in 2013, but I have no idea if another is cooking or not. And it kinda went online with AC 5, though that's dead now from what I can tell. Then again, for all I know, AC5: Verdict Day could have a thriving online community, or also be dead.
 

Whitetail

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I think it's Armored Core 2: Another Age.
There we go, I don't know why I could never find this game.....
I really need to play it again sometime, especially since it's been so long since I've played it - though at this point playing even the original Armored Core 2 could be fun. Last one I played was Silent Line and I lost my copy of Armored Core 3 unfortunately.



It felt a bit more in depth than the original Armored Core 2 imo, it had more interesting weapons and the like in it
The spinoffs tend to have more interesting stuff thrown in


I always tried to use as much of the third corperation weapons as possible since they were normally the most interesting. I don't remember what the one that's not Crest or the other big one in AC2 was but I remember in AC3 it was Kisaragi. I liked that each of the corperations had their own unique personality in their products
 

OCisbestungulate

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It felt a bit more in depth than the original Armored Core 2 imo, it had more interesting weapons and the like in it
The spinoffs tend to have more interesting stuff thrown in


I always tried to use as much of the third corperation weapons as possible since they were normally the most interesting. I don't remember what the one that's not Crest or the other big one in AC2 was but I remember in AC3 it was Kisaragi. I liked that each of the corperations had their own unique personality in their products
Another Age was all about having over 100 missions to play. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I don't think it has a proper arena in it. Sadly, I never really got into that one, but given that its focus is on missions, I'd suspect that it has a much more developed story then most AC games. Not to mention added content. Which was kinda cool about the AC games. For the most part, each AC series (1, 2, 3, etc...) had a slightly different take on the core mechanic of the game (save 4, but 4 is a special fish), with the expansions offering mechanical tweeks and loads of extra goodies to make it even better.

And each one (again, save 4) used the three corporation approach (not counting rouge factions or whatever stood for the government). And I too always wanted to work for the little high-tech guy. They had the most wonky parts.
 

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Since the series is kinda dead has anyone found something that feels similar to play? I've never quite found something like it that I enjoyed as much, idk why but the giant robot genre of games in general seems to be kinda dry these days

Xenoblade X has some of the robot customization stuff but it's a real time RPG with psuedo turns so it's not necessarily the same sort of tense action that you'd get from AC (plus you need to get like halfway through the game to get into the giant robot stuff)

Custom Robo for the gamecube as great and I believe it's the first in a series of games that were popular in Japan but never localized outside, dissapointed we never got any more games from that series here. Also that's about just as old as AC is at this point
 

OCisbestungulate

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Since the series is kinda dead has anyone found something that feels similar to play? I've never quite found something like it that I enjoyed as much, idk why but the giant robot genre of games in general seems to be kinda dry these days

Xenoblade X has some of the robot customization stuff but it's a real time RPG with psuedo turns so it's not necessarily the same sort of tense action that you'd get from AC (plus you need to get like halfway through the game to get into the giant robot stuff)

Custom Robo for the gamecube as great and I believe it's the first in a series of games that were popular in Japan but never localized outside, dissapointed we never got any more games from that series here. Also that's about just as old as AC is at this point
I man, I wish I had a good AC or AC-like game. Give it time I'd say. That, or find a bunch of professional programmers and start a kickstarter ;)
 

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Yeah the AC games are fun. I have a friend who really loves them.

From Software needs to stop making Dark Souls games and make an AC game for PC.
 
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snowyblitz

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Armored Core 4 was my personal favorite... Although it was also my first exposure to the series >.< (I grew up with Nintendo consoles.) I loved the game, it's story and universe really intrigued me. AC: For Answers was also really good, although extremely difficult.

I usually built my mechs to zip around the battlefields and deliver brutal attacks in quick succession with high yield grenade launchers. Or shoulder mounted homing missiles!

I tried AC5 and absolutely hated it. It was much less a mech game and more a bullet hell shooter with mechs.
 
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