Armored Core Screens and Movie

Perhaps best described as the happy medium between Sony's too-complex Carnage Heart and Sega's too-simple Virtual On, From Software's Armored Core was released in Japan for the PlayStation late last week.

The title is a polygonal, mission-based mech game where the player acts as a mercenary who takes jobs ranging from hunting down renegade robots and exterminating alien bugs to protecting convoys - and the player's performance in the mission affects the overall story of the game.

Once the mercenaries have been paid, they can buy newer, faster, or more destructive parts for their mechs, opening up higher paying and more dangerous jobs. Game environments range from underground bunkers, desert encampments, and cityscapes to space stations and helicarriers high up in the clouds. A two-player battle option where gamers can load up beefed-up saved mechs is available as well, in either a split-screen or link cable mode.

Armored Core will be released in the US by Sony Computer Entertainment America in October.

Expect a full review of the game on VGS soon. In the meantime, feel free to flip through the following screenshots and view the movie.