Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: From Software
System: PS3
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: James Dolbeare

Ubisoft and From Software have had a giant robotic brainchild and named it Armored Core: For Answer. As it follows the previous game in the series, Armored Core 4, you might be tempted to call it Armored Core 5, but it’s actually the 13th game in the series. This newest addition returns you to the violent yet elegant world of mech-based combat.

For those of you new to the series, in the distant future the world has become so polluted that people have been forced to move into floating colonies far above the Earth’s surface, the only place where the air is fit to breathe. In the chaos caused by diminishing resources, the economic gap has widened and corporations have become all-powerful. They have turned their prosperity into military might and toppled all of the world’s governments. Their primary weapon is Armored Core technology, gargantuan robotic suits of armor, the most elite of which are called NEXTs. But the corporations have begun to fear the power of the NEXTs, so they have abandoned them on the poisonous surface, where the weapons have been salvaged by mercenaries of an organization called Collared.

You won’t be quizzed on this later on during the game. In fact, the game’s plot is so incidental, you might forget it has one. You’re a mercenary, and you take missions as they’re issued by various corporations. Completing them improves your relationship with your employers, earning you access to their technology. The assignments are introduced by marketing pitches, with each company having a unique style. The missions you choose alter the course of the game and give you a unique perspective of the conflict.

I watch the entire opening sequence of this game every time I boot it up, as the visuals are gritty and realistic, and the perspective highlights the unfathomable size of the NEXTs. For a fleeting moment I thought, “my God, From Software finally did it. They made every fan boy’s wildest dreams come true.” I was as happy as I could ever be outside of a giant robot. It was a perfect gaming moment.