Armored Core: Nexus
I dig giant robots. You dig giant robots. We dig giant robots. Chicks dig giant robots. Let’s face it, if there are things that people can agree on, it’s that ninjas, pirates, and giant robots just plain kick ass, and that brings us to the review in question, Armored Core: Nexus.
The Armored Core series has been around almost since the launch of the PSOne. It’s spawned six “sequels,” and Nexus is the seventh sequal, and eighth overall in the series. Three were on the PSOne (Armored Core, AC: Project Phantasma, AC: Master of the Arena), and the other four are on the PS2 (Armored Core 2, AC: Another Age, Armored Core 3, and Silent Line: AC).
Before I go any further, I must admit that I am a bit of an Armored Core Fanboy. I have all but one of the games (Masters of the Arena is the one I’m missing). However, being a big fan of something and absolutely loving what I feel it does right doesn’t make me blind to the faults of the game.
The game starts out with your and a basic bargain bin Armored Core (from here on referred to as AC) as part of the group known as Ravens. All the missions that you do are provided to you by warring corporations intent of destroying the others, or from terrorist groups that are fighting all the corporations. The missions are fairly simplistic in nature and allow you to get a feel for the game itself, and allow you to build up some cash to get better parts for your AC since your going to need them for the other missions. As you progress, there is also an arena portion of the game, where you take on computer controlled ACs for fast cash and to raise your rank among the other Ravens. The bottom of the computer controlled ACs start out like you- crappy Cores with little or no intelligence about what they’re doing, so they can be killed easily, but it does get harder the farther up you go.
The building of your AC is where a vast amount of the meat is in the game. You can choose almost everything for your AC, from heads to cores to arms, all the way to generators to radiators. The proper balance of parts will either make your AC a force to be reckoned with, or a walking bullseye unable to defend itself. Also accompanied with the various parts are the insane amount of weapons that you have to choose from: machine guns, rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers, laser guns, and plasma cannons of different types and makes. Hell, you can even pick the colors for your AC, and even your weapons. Believe me, there’s nothing like mowing down your enemies with pink rocket launchers and machine guns; almost like Hello Kitty meets Gundam or something.
Nexus brings along something that the series has never done before, and it adds a bit of nostalgia to the game. There are two discs that come with the game- the first disc being Evolution, which the main game, and the second disc being Revolution (OFMG rhyme time~!). Revolution features missions from previous games, mainly from the PSOne games, redone in the look of the PS2 series. There are also attached missions that extend the story of each mission. Upon completing the missions, you are given bonus items such as cinematics from the previous games, poster pictures, soundtracks, and even bonus parts for your AC. Don’t worry though, since it’s two disc, you can use a save from Evolution to play on Revolution so you don’t have to start over again with the Bargain Bin AC.
Seems odd that I haven’t said anything about the game yet, doesn’t it? Well, now is the time where I get to bash the Holy Hell out of it. You wouldn’t be able to tell what Armored Core game I was talking about when I was mentioning the story for the game if I didn’t say it was Nexus because it’s the same story for every goddamn game. Seven games in the series, and they can’t think of anything better than you being a mercenary for feuding corporations in a post apocalyptic future? Hell, some of the same corporation names that were in the first one are still here. That aside, the missions have played the exact same since the first game: go here, shoot that, kill him, run away from that, blah blah blah etc. In the first game, one of the corporations developed some new type of life form to use as a weapon, and guess what; virtually the same thing has happened in every other game! The only real differences in the missions from this game and the other games is that they are slightly different, but they all boil done to the same few things:
1) Go kill crazy and blast everything
2) Protect some random thing from attackers
3) Kill another Raven who is working for a different corporation
4) Infiltrate some place and destroy some item, all the while going Kill Crazy.
That’s it. There might be a few other things, but for the most part, there are only four types of missions that have ever been done in all seven games, and they keep doing them over and over red rover red rover. Doesn’t seem like enough to sustain a franchise, does it? I know I don’t think so, but why then do I keep getting the games, and why do I like them so much? Well, I’ll get to that towards the end.
Nothing new of any real regard has been added to this series since the arena feature was added, and that was in the second game. The graphics, sound, and controls from the PS2 games have been almost identical throughout, except maybe with some more polish in the newer games, but that should be expected anyway, and it hasn’t been done very much to begin with.
Scoring Breakdown
Graphics and Sound
For an early PS2 game, the graphics are very well done. However, this isn’t an early PS2 game. You would almost think that it is though, because it looks and sounds exactly like Armored Core 2 did when it came out as a launch game for the PS2. Okay, well maybe exactly is a bit of a lie, but other than a tweak here and there, it’s a friggin copy.
2…out of 5.
Gameplay and Controls
There aren’t too many giant robot games out there that play as well as the Armored Core series. Well, other than the AC series, there aren’t a whole of games like this out there. Sure, there’s Mechwarrior and all it’s various spawns, but that’s about it. Don’t tell me anything about Custom Robo either. That game is the red headed step-child of this series. Add to that it’s extremely kiddy, but that’s expected from Nintendo. Kiddy and Nintendo go together like Red Bull and Yaegermeister. Trust me on that one.
The controls don’t break any new barriers either. They have been the same since the very beginning of the game, and don’t really cramp the style of the game. This is one of the few things that I’m glad they kept since the start.
3…out of 5.
Story
Like I said earlier, this story for these games has been used more than a single needle at a heroin party. Of course, the story doesn’t matter much in a game where you just get to shoot and stomp in giant robots. Although, just because you don’t need something doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be provided for you anyway, like an appendix or wisdom teeth. The sad part is that this type of story isn’t just relegated to this game; it’s in so many other games it’s absurd. It would be nice if someone actually tried something original, but that’s not what this game series has been about past the first game, and this one is no exception.
1…out of 5.
Overall
I know what you’re thinking. You probably think that since I’m a huge fanboy of the series, it’s going to get a 5. Well, you would be wrong. There’s no way I could give it that score, even though I personally love the game. Plus, that score would justify the $50 price tag for the game, when it should have been only $40. Sure, throwing in the bonus missions disc was nice, but that still shouldn’t bring the price up that much. However, even with my adoration for the game, I know that this game is not going to be for everyone and it’s been done so many times that I can’t justify anything above an average at best score, so…
2.5…out of 5.
What works / What it needs to be better
I figured that I may as well start something new with my reviews, and here it is. There are some things that this game did very well, and some things that it for some reason did not include for whatever reason. The thing that this game, and the series for that matter, has done well is the complete customization power that you have over your AC. I said earlier that this is the meat of the game, and I will continue to say that. The replay value of the series has been immense because of all the different combinations of parts that you can go through and try the missions over and over again for a different playing experience. This is what has kept me coming back, and will continue to keep me coming back.
However, the one thing that is missing from this game is something that should have been included in the last game, and should be included in a multitude of games right now, and that’s Online play. This game type was practically made for online play, and the people that play it now have been begging for it to no avail. Sure, they let you play against computer opponents, and provide a lot of them, but there is something about it that’s completely different when you are playing against another person. I mean, it’s fun to gloat to someone else, but pointless to do it when against the AI of the game. When this game was first announced, it was going to have online capabilities, but that was one of the first things that the designers pulled off of it. I’ll go out on a limb and say that if this series were on the X-Box, it would be online. So why not with PS2? I don’t know, but they better do it with the next game if it either comes out on PS2 or possibly the PS3, because if they don’t then some fans of the game will say screw it and move on. Chances are I’m in that party, but I’ll have to see.
One more thing that would have made this game more enjoyable- ragdoll physics, or at least any hit detection physics. When you blast something with a missile, it just sits there. When you get hit by something, your upper body rocks back, but only slightly. I want to see things get knocked down. I want to see things go flying when they get hit. I want some realism to it. I want to get knocked on my shiny metal ass when I get hit by a grenade launcher, and I want someone knocked on theirs when I hit them with my plasma cannon. Plus, in the opening game cinematics, they show ACs getting their arms and legs blown off- why not do some of that in the game? In the earlier games for the PSOne, they used to show paint flakes getting blasted off of the ACs, but they choose not to do that in the newer games. Wuzzupwidat?!
Bottom Line
Like every other game out there, this is not for everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I think a lot of people would enjoy this, but on the same hand I know that there are some that won’t. I would definitely give it a rental at least if I didn’t already buy it. If you’re interested in the game, you could probably go out and get the last two games for about $15-$30 respectively. You won’t be missing much if you start out with those two other than a couple of weapons and missions, but like I said, inherently the missions are all the same in every game.
Okay. That’s it.
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