Armored Core 4

I first started playing AC back when the first came out on Playstation and feel in love with the game. I played the first three damn near every day and when AC4 was announced i felt a surge of of happiness and anticipation swell up. But when i FINALLY buy it, im slapped in the face with a confuseing Garage, a schematics system that takes a bit to figure out and numerous other aspects i didnt like. The game isnt bad, but its not something i would pay 60 bucks on, or 20 bucks for that matter. Like most of the user reviews here say, some missons can take up to 2 hours just to get past, which is a total turnoff personally. All n all, id suggest renting it first prior to buying, it may save you some money. I just hope the next one follows the previous AC installments and not AC4's layout and design.

The Armored Core series has long suffered gripes and complaints from most American reviewers for pretty much as long as the franchise has existed. It is, however, not a bad title. The thing about Armored Core is that it involves a lot of thinking. A large part of the game revolves around testing parts out, as you literally build a war robot out of hundreds of different parts to choose from, all of which offer varying stats, that leave it up to the pilot to figure out what suits his play style best, and what will help him out the most in missions.

Many people get turned off by the level of depth this game has, which often leads to confusion. Its not a bad title, you just have to be prepared to expect alot of trial and error. Satisfaction comes from completing the often infuriatingly difficult missions [which often turn out you were using the wrong mech setup the whole time] as well as making a very successful robot that trounces competition [other players] Despite poor reviews by those that misunderstand this game, I'll leave it to the fact that this franchise has survived 13 iterations and is still pulling strong, that this is a good franchise, just not for everyone.

Now onto Armored Core in and of itself. It is the most recent game released in America, and for those unsure about this series, this is probably the best one to get into, as by now they have addressed plenty faults from the earlier iterations. The earlier ones did indeed have troubling control layouts, but thankfully it fits just fine on the xbox controller. Anyone who has played Halo or Gears of War will have no trouble grasping the controls, just remember to map the boosting and firing controls to the triggers and not the buttons! The graphics in this game are the best so far, but are no where near as good as something like Mass Effect or Halo, suffering that typical muddy texture feel that most Japanese games seem to have. Music is rather nice in this game, it feels more epic than the techno beats of older games. Sound Effects aren't great but you'll forget them under huge amount of concentration you'll have during fights. The UI is a bit funny, but with some tinkering you'll understand it fine. As far as difficulty, this game can be maddeningly hard for newcomers, but overcome it and you can definitely say you've played a game.

In the end, this game is not for everyone, but don't bash it. Its good, you just have to have some patience and work that brain a little and have some fun, its giant robots with guns.

It's everything you'd want from Armored Core. I certainly loved it. Parts, missions, online, and not to mention it's graphically awesome.

My one complaint is the lack of content. The game is short, though entertaining through it. However, the sequel, which is already on the way, will fix that.

I bought this game a while ago, about a year or so ago. I started it but never got around to finishing it, until now, and I have to say this is the worst game I own for the PS3. Aiming is frustratingly near impossible, vehicle customization is frustratingly unintuitive, and the only reason why I'm attempting to finish this thing is because I spent $50 on it but I am seriously considering cutting my loses and selling it to a local game shop. I know this review isn't very technical but I felt compelled to write one out of sheer frustration with the game's poor interface and game play. I had less frustration with playing Lair. My conclusion, Save Your Money.

This is an infuriating game, just buy it if you want to spend 3 hours trying to finish one mission. Otherwise dont waste your money. Seems like the FCS in this version likes to break alot. I dont know about you but I like to play games for fun, not to be frustrated. 20 tries on the 1st chapter mission baldora was enough for me.

Also, why would they remove the most fun part of the game, the arena combat from this one? That was extremely disappointing.

Basically this game absolutely sucks compared to the ealier versions on other platforms. Don't waste your money like I did, buy it used, it is not worth the 50 or 60 dollars you'll spend on a new one.