Yes, the fire rises...
Armored Core’s achievements within gaming have determined the franchise as the quintessential mech-shooter, that has taken on the unconventional genre and led many other titles of its ilk, whether it be third-person, RPG, RTS and a rich line-up of others. Thanks to Bandai Namco, we got a hands-off look into the next instalment to the series that serves as a reboot to Armored Core, with its sixth iteration taking on the next generation of gaming, since its last mainline release over a decade ago. It’s an excellent return to FromSoftware’s roots, excitingly detouring from the studio’s modern standing throughout the industry as the flag bearers of soulslike titles. There’s no qualms the developer’s establishment to purposely arduous gameplay-by-design, that it could leave the series to rest and capitalise on Elden Ring’s commercial success, which it is albeit wanting to return to a series that laid foundations and shaped FromSoftware to the team it is today.
Yasunori Ogura, Lead Producer.
Presented by Lead Producer, Yasunori Ogura (Translated by Producer of ACVI Atsuo Yoshimura), Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is touted to revitalise the series from new beginnings, extrapolating on core – no pun intended – fundamentals of entries that came before it, and building a renewed overall experience for players that adored the third-person mech-action game. Our very brief look into the upcoming campaign lead us through the dank depths of an industrial-like high-rise building known as Grid 086, a facility that camps the nefarious RaD.
We’re shown a little more of Grid 086’s level structure and overall map design for the title that will coincide with its open world-like gameplay loop, allowing players to forge their own path through each section. Multiple groups congregate in different sections to which you can evade or take advantage with head stealthy or head-on attacks. An important touted during the presentation was ‘Boost’, which gives you the chance to evade, escape, or move closer at a distinctly rapid pace as opposed to your mech’s normal navigation. There aren’t any intended routes, but paths are available for players to follow nonetheless.
Atsuo Yoshimura, Producer.
Depending on your mech’s loadout, which can be customised in “Assembly”, multiple playstyles are available including ranged and melee attacks allowing you to utilise attached assault rifles or a litany of carriables to swing at your opponents. Boost also allows the player to jump higher than normal, however there are certain leaps that your mech will not make, this will mandate the use of a catapult. The launcher will fling your mech into an orbit like jump, without the need to use your Boost, emphatically masking the initiation of a new biome, or blindly binding you to a boss battle. While exploring the dank interior of Grid 086, it shows the mech in altercation while dealing with the structures tight spaces to which players will have to confront and conform, however each space is given enough leg room for gratuitous combat without seeming to be obscured by the environment.
Speaking of stealth, the option to scan the surrounding circumference while hiding from enemies gives the player an exceptional advantage to flank in and surprise with a flurry of blows to any singular RaD militant, or an entire swarm. If there are more than one attacking you at once, the option to quick turn can be handy, diverting your attention at expeditious pace between one opponent to the other. A boss battle was also demonstrated, with a mammoth mech soaking led like a bullet sponge, all while delivering its own bullet storm on our protag-mech. The demo had the mech succumb to defeat, all to show off your available load-out to which can contain numerous upgrades to your artillery, and their range in favourable execution and also a detriment to your mech in the long run. Showcasing the upgraded mech defeating the boss with bolstered blasts, not before cutting off the battle itself without spoiling the end, that was the full gameplay presentation.
Other highlights from the demonstration was the fact that upgrades can lead to your mech to stagger and slow down temporarily, essentially an ‘overheating’ feature that balances battles before making your mech a metal god. Assembly details this with each spare part that’s attached to your mech, and allows great distinction on where each part is placed on your metal marine’s body. Specs are greatly detailed in each part, right down to weight and stability. Supply points are drops that reward players with replenishment to repair kits, collectable upgrades, and their AP.
The in-game UI was clean and unintrusive to the action on-screen, detailing numerous gauges and other notables with simplicity. In terms of the aesthetic given, a bleak, dank and industrial scene delivers a hopeless aura, destined for eternal war – perfect for this title. Not a distant departure from its predecessor, but one that shows disparity from its earlier entries. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon looks to be a promising entry into the long-running mech-action franchise, and possibly a display in progression from a series that has not been seen in the limelight for quite sometime. An inspiring classic that’s a return to form for FromSoftware, and will unequivocally be sought by gamers, and its niche audience upon its release this August.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon releases on August 25, 2023 for Windows PC, XBOX Series, and PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and XBOX One.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
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