Armored Core 4 is a fun game that lacks the customization of the old Armored Cores and has a non-existent storyline.
The reason Armored Core 4 fits is because it lacks customization and gameplay two important functions in a game. Although the game does have customization in fact more than some games but half of the Armored Core games were customization and with the limited amount that 4 provides it dampers the fun that customizing your core and fighting your friends and enemies provides. Most Armored Cores have a very large library of parts, weapons, and other items to pick from when building and advancing through the game to customize your core to your specific play style from reverse-joint legs and dual swords to tank treads and a million missiles. This one however had a limited amount of weapons and a very limited amount of parts I literally used almost all of my original parts that I started with throughout the entire game. Also the gameplay of this game was lacking for the most part although the gameplay was fun and it was entertaining it didn’t hold you like more good games do the lack of storyline and the short amount of time it takes to complete the game takes a large amount of fun out of the game it is rather depressing. No matter how fun a game is if you only play it for 10-15 hours there isn’t all that much that you can do to save it.
The other reason it fits so well to my cookie cutter next-gen game build is that the graphics although barely using any of the Playstation 3’s capabilities it looks fantastic and beautiful. The visual effects in Armored Core 4 were nothing less than great from the explosions to shadows to your cores everything looked great and was well deserving of the title of “next-gen”. Although amazing graphics cannot make a game excel it requires a lot more than that to accomplish a great game in the video game industry these days. The graphics and sound quality of the game make it great to watch and play but it isn’t enough to turn this story-less game to greatness. Big fans of the Armored Core series might still think it to be a great game but in reality it was an upset and it proved that it had the potential to be a lot better even though it didn’t achieve the potential.
Although I hate to rate an Armored Core game so low especially one with such amazing graphics but it fell quite short of expectations. I would rate the first next-gen Armored Core, Armored Core 4 a 7.2 out of 10 for the lackluster customization, short gameplay, and it’s non-existent storyline although it had the graphics and potential to be a great game it fell short of expectations or the average gamer and the hardcore Armored Core fans.
This review will show up as a 7.0 due to Gamespot unfortunately not allowing a 7.2 to be selected.