Armored Core V

Armored Core V Review

It's been a long, long time since we've seen a great mech game. Chromehounds was almost six years ago; MechWarrior was even further back. Armored Core, meanwhile, is a series that hasn't been at peak fitness for over a decade. I haven't played one of these games since the PS2, and so I came to Armored Core V with muted expectations. Happily, it has comprehensively exceeded them. I've seen two predominant reactions to Armored Core V. Some people spend an hour trying to figure out what's going on before dismissing it as boring, convoluted and incredibly difficult, and others sense that there's something interesting behind its unwelcoming metal exterior and commit themselves to scaling the entry barrier. In this way, and in this way alone, it has something in common with Dark Souls: you have to commit before Armored Core will show you what it's made of. Armored Core V is essentially an MMOG, structured around a giant battle for territory between mech teams of up to 20 people each. The first thing you're prompted to do is either join an existing team or create one of your own. From then on your every action contributes to the group's overall standing, improving the team's overall level and earning points that can be spent on conquering new territories.