Armored Core 4: Top 5 past-AC features

The Armored Core series has almost 10 years under it belt, fellow ravens. And as we’re still waiting for its release this ’07, let’s take another look at the decade that’s followed all 15 franchises (All consoles included) from day one….and it won’t be another traileror screenshots for those asking.

What we’ll be doing here is remembering the days of of AC before four. A sort of quiet time to remember the nerfings innovations that Agetech’s prepared for their mecha FPS title. We start the list with naming the who’s-who of the series: The game icons:

1. The Karasawa
Named after a member of Agetec‘s design crew. From raven to raven, this plasma rifle was the game’s flagship (alongside the Moonlight), and even while it’s gotten some serious downgradings in the past installments, many a raven proudly carry the gun like a Jedi faithfully carries their light sabre.

2. Recurring characters
What’s a good game without a couple of interesting characters joining the fray? From Project Phantasma’s schizophrenic Stinger to Last Raven’s enigmatic Jack-O, we’ve been treated to one fruitcake after another. Then there’s Zinaida, the series’ first truly dangerous femme fatale (no sexist remarks intended). We’d include Nine Ball, but given he’s not even human…

We now jump to the to meat of this topic – the game’s ever-changing mechanics.

Buy: [Armored Core 4 (PS3)]
Buy: [Armored Core 4 (X360)]

The Armored Core series has almost 10 years under it belt, fellow ravens. And as we’re still waiting for its release this ’07, let’s take another look at the decade that’s followed all 15 franchises (All consoles included) from day one….and it won’t be another trailer or screenshots for those asking.

What we’ll be doing here is remembering the days of of AC before four. A sort of quiet time to remember the  nerfings innovations that Agetech’s prepared for their mecha FPS title. We start the list with naming the who’s-who of the series: The game icons:

1. The Karasawa
Named after a member of Agetech’s design crew. From raven to raven, this plasma rifle was the game’s flagship (alongside the Moonlight), and even while it’s gotten some serious downgradings in the past installments, many a raven proudly carry the gun like a Jedi faithfully carries their light sabre.

2. Recurring characters
What’s a good game without a couple of interesting characters joining the fray? From Project Phantasma’s schizophrenic Stinger to Last Raven’s enigmatic Jack-O, we’ve been treated to one fruitcake after another. Then there’s Zinaida, the series’ first truly dangerous femme fatale (no sexist remarks intended). We’d include Nine Ball, but given he’s not even human…

We now move on the to meat of this topic – the game’s ever-changing mechanics.

3. Core Functions: Armored Core admittedly wasn’t that fast-paced. What it did offer was customizability…until Armored Core #@%!19

6#@%!. The inside part function among other things, it was then that pilots discovered (probably by accident) the joys of the Over-Boost core function.

Sure, it was an energy-guzzler, and the new cooling function meant spamming it toasted your AC. But admittedly – having the chance to fly our own personalized Gundam was worth the risk.

Come Armored Core 3, Agetech added in another surprise: Exceed orbits. Basically floating sentry guns, the EOs were a welcome innovation to the game’s design pool, going hand-in-hand with the revised OB physics. And while we’ll be welcoming these two back in AC4, we’ll also wait up for the new shield function that’s been featured in the new game. What this does for the combat, we’ll have to wait and see.

4. Dual-weapon wields

It all began with a blade, until AC2 added the shield functions. And by AC3, we experienced our first off-hand gun in the howitzer.

It was by Armored Core 3: Silent Line that we finally began to see a complete compendium of left and right-hand guns, ranging from machine guns to plasma cannons.

It was this function, along with the core functions that shaped the face of the AC world, and saw an upsurge in the competitions we’ve seen to date – the Master of California (MoC) matches just one of several large-scale bouts.

5. Cooling:
It may be gone by AC4 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), but this function was easily one of the primary factors in an arena design. And by Armored Core: Nexus’ notorious temperature spikes, radiators weren’t just an afterthought – they were as essential as armor. On one hand, we’re sad to see this reality-inducing feature gone. On the other, we’re waiting to see what what potentials the cool-running AC’s in 4 will have. The sky’s the limit.

There’s more to come as we wait for the other new features that have already been reported for AC4. Other mentionables include: The hanger system, weapons physics, and A/B controls. And of course – the kick-ass intros!

Buy: [Armored Core 4 (PS3)]
Buy: [Armored Core 4 (X360)]