Back in 1997, my brother introduced me to a game for my Playstation…Armored Core. I loved it. Giant Mecha…excuse me Cores…that were completely customizable. Everything about this game was great (including the code to allow for playing it FPS). Sure, it was a niche title…but it deserved more attention then it got. The sequels, while not as well received, introduced something that would become a vital part of the game…the Arena.

Fast-forward to the PS2 era. Graphically the games were better, and the missions more involved, but there was definitely a feeling of “more of the same” when it came to the game-play.

Now we’re in the Next-Gen (or is it the current gen? Who knows?). I heard that were major changes involved for the newest round, Armored Core 4 (most noticeably it being on the 360), and I was curious. I should have known better…

Let’s start with the graphics. They’re brilliant. This game really works well in High Def. A lot of attention was paid to the details of the mechs (or as they call them this time: Nexts). The environments are a little lacking, but overall…I’d have to say well done.

It’s too bad that, with as pretty as this game looks, more attention couldn’t have been given to the game-play and controls. I don’t know what they were thinking, but there are some things you shouldn’t mess with. The new controller scheme is horrid, requiring you to either re-map all of the controls, or perform ligament tearing maneuvers just to circle strafe. Seriously, it’s one of the most vital maneuvers in the game, and they took it away, only to give you multiple ways to boost. Not the smartest of moves.

Now for the game-play: Arena is gone. It’s nowhere to be found. This is an unforgivable sin in my book.

I’ve yet to find a mission that takes more than 3 minutes to complete…seriously. I expect the tutorial, and first couple of missions to be easy, but this is ridiculous. For example, the second mission has you fighting multiple waves of bombs, fired by an off-shore submarine. You are told, literally, that you are to just stand-by and prevent them from hitting their target. YOU DON’T HAVE TO MOVE AT ALL!!! I’m all for the suspension of disbelief, but seriously…you want me to buy that a government installation paid good money for me to STAND STILL?!?! Wouldn’t that money be better spent on…oh I don’t know…a turret? The missions where you move aren’t that much more challenging…really.

Something else that irks me to no end: one of the shoulder weapons is a sniper rifle. When you arm the weapon, the camera…doesn’t change. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the likes of 007 Nightfire, and Halo, but a sniper rifle should allow you to snipe…cross-hairs and all.

I’ve got other complaints about this game, but the biggest has to be the customization area. This used to be a blast. Go to the garage, look around, build a mech, and test it out in the Arena. Now you can customize the mech (and test it), but if you can’t afford the parts, you have to jump through 5 kinds of hoops to get back out to the menu screen.

Do you want to make your own emblem for your ‘Next’? Good luck. The editor has more layers to muck with than Photoshop. It would have been nice to allow you to import a picture, either from your hard-drive, or a network connection.

The menus are a complete nightmare, with absolutely nothing resembling an intuitive interface. God help you if you forget to save the game, because there is nothing even close to an auto-save feature. You’d think that with all of the various versions of the game, they would have found a way to prompt you to save when you successfully complete a mission…sigh…

It’s a shame really. This game could have been one of those ‘must-have’ niche titles, rather than a below-average shooter that happens to look like Armored Core.

Armored Core 4 (X-box 360) grade: D-