An Unbiased Review: Armored Core 4: For Answer - Story remains solid, but game leaves you wanting more.
A disclaimer should be stated that I am well aware that NOT EVERYONE appreciates my reviews, however as some people do I should state that I make these reviews FOR THEM as a GAMER FIRST and journalist second, in addition these reviews will continue to be done in a lax manner and with a primary focus on those that play games for single player experiences, and have no real interest in multiplayer.
--------------------------- Armored Core 4: For Answer--------------------------
This game is the largely unknown sequel to Armored Core 4, as well as the continuation of the well known series "Armored Core" which spans Sony's consoles and was a premier title for their purchasing and game-staying power. Armored Core has always revolved around creating and customizing intricately designed and balanced mechanical assault units that advance over time and are pitted against equally advanced "Armored Cores". The story, capabilities, and repetitious nature of Armored Core has always been high if not top-bar and thus Armored Core 4: For Answer is assumed to be as such as well... unfortunately while it has a good story and game play basis; too many issues exist to give it any true merit.
Difficulty:
This game, intended to be a continuation to the prestigious Armored Core 4, has many problems and the first is that while it appealingly doesn't play as if you are expected to die every other minute or even as if you are expected to die, many issues in regards to balance and difficulty still exist, the most prominent being that the game is ridiculously hard many points throughout the game, particularly when you fight the "Arms Forts" massive units of destruction that are fitted with multiple batteries and series of armaments all intended to destroy you and any thing else that approaches, from strafing lasers to Motherwill's 20+ missile launchers. But that's not the only points, despite the Arms Forts getting harder and harder as time goes by, with the exception of a few easy to destroy ones, you'll also encounter an Arena full of "Nexts" that will require you to constantly change up your strategies and configurations (which takes some time) anytime you want to progress past another tier of the 45 enemies within the Arena. Worse, is the fact that while the Arena is totally optional though the money may be required at certain points and so you may be forced to compete in it, the game itself has a series of enemy Next missions that will become harder and harder as time goes by, especially if you decide to choose the "Hard" mission difficulty after completing a mission.
Of course things need to remain unbiased and so it should be stated that in many missions you'll be able to choose from a top class - middle class arena Next's as your ally throughout a mission making S-ranking that much easier, and you'll appreciate these Next's a lot of the time, but with so many missions offering them you'll wish they had offered more on the harder missions, as you'll quickly find yourself defeated time and time again with no idea why you died aside from the fact giant cannons hurt.
The final issue with difficulty is that the game is unforgiving on several of the more harder levels, even on normal difficulty. These mainly being the final chapters selection of missions including such notable missions such as "The Occupation of Arteria Carpal", and anything else with the word "Arteria", which you'll soon come to hate. Expect a myriad amount of stress and agitation in regards to the repetition that will occur from constantly trying to beat 4, 2, or 3 Next's on your own, indeed this game is unforgiving a large amount of the time, and many balance issues exist, but overall the difficulty remains solid, allowing for the games main play through to be quite enjoyable.
Weaponry:
Armored Core 4 is packed full of exotic, extreme, and explosive weapons from dangerous radiation expansive rifles known as "Kojima Rifles" to massive series of missiles from "AS" and "Reaction" launchers, this game will never disappoint you in regards to the weapon selection and what you can do with it, and while some weapons are just copies or upgrades of another weapon, some of them are quite unique, of course there are few if any new weapons in regards to the original Armored Core 4, which still tops this games selection of capabilities and weaponry, but regardless this game has enough to compliment the full destruction of all forces opposing you, and then some.
Essentially, the weapons will never bother you, only the customization allowed to have such weapons, which can be unforgiving or pleasant at times, mainly mixed between how good at customizations you truly are, and the weight that your destructive force (better legs means more possible weight, but slower speeds) can take.
Graphics:
The graphics in this game will blow you away most the time, be it from the abundance of explosions or the sheer detail and size of some of the more memorable Arms Forts such as the "Answerer", and "Motherwill", or from the Arteria levels or other such areas, however many stages as other reviews have stated are quite bland due to the massive amount of times you'll play through it, and so while it's pretty and nice to look at, a sense of repetition and "I've done this before..." will permeate through the game to a degree, but this is largely ignorable when you focus on the story and the sheer action and fun you'll be having.
As for the detail of the Next's and other such units, its quite extreme, with light joints and armature being filled out and designed almost perfectly, you'll have little to complain about in terms of mechanical animation and structuring.
Campaign:
Armored Core 4 is the prequel to For Answer's story, following the lines of Rayleonard and their exploits and attempt to get into space. Now things have changed, as massive cradles to escape the wide-spread land pollution of Kojima (the energy source which allows Next's and most advanced weapons to function) have been created in the air, allowing for half the entire race (hundreds of millions) to escape and live in relatively clean air under the protection of the "League of Rule Companies" a group that controls all the companies and organizations that war with each other for resources on the land so as to keep the Cradles and other such technologies safe... unfortunately these resources are what is poisoning the world and it may not stop just on the ground if the League has its way.
Throughout the story your character will have 2-3 paths he/she can choose, along with a few extra missions that if chosen won't necessarily change the story but allow for those achievements and completionists to get their way, as well as an experience of a new mission. The story is not necessarily top-notch but it does maintain interest and keep you playing through, though cinematics are far apart, you'll be treated to mission briefings via an elaborate scenario preview that will help you throughout the mission as well as give you an insight into what is really going on.
The main reason people like this game and its story is that it doesn't give you all the pieces but instead "allows" you to find them out yourself, or put together the pieces of the puzzle as best you can and debate from there, nothing is assured and everything can change, and you're just a Lynx (the name for the Next pilots) not a massive leader who knows what's really going on... the case will always fall on if you truly do know what you're doing and if what seems evil truly is, or if it is the right way or vice versa... this is what has made Armored Core and its corporation focus so interesting, and this new volume of the series does not fail in this regard.
The End:
This game can end in 2 of 3 ways, either in the Occupation of Arteria Carpal, a mission in which you'll fight 4 other mechanized units that unless you're very cheap will quickly kill your one ally, or via the attack or defense of another Arteria which will have 2 - 3 Next's there and can get quite hard if you're alone. Unfortunately all three of these missions are quite imbalanced, and poorly designed in terms of space and level, as well as closed-in areas which is not what the Next's are meant to be used with, in any case the mission will end and you'll realize what you've done throughout the game truly did make an impact, and perhaps you've made things worse or better, that's for you to find out though.
The game's final missions do run fluently and the story behind and after them is quite innovative and interesting, bringing the climax to an end, but not without a few more unraised questions, and this is why Armored Core remains one of the top corporation based story-lines.
The Verdict:
Armored Core 4 was a masterpiece in regards to the series, but For Answer is missing quite a bit, and the game's difficulty and imbalance can at some points make the game less interesting and perhaps even get you to lose complete interest in it, but whatever the case it is not a BAD game.
I wouldn't recommend this game to someone new into the franchise, that part is for Armored Core 2 or 4, but if someone really was interested in the story and wanted to see the next step for the "Assault Cells", then this is the game for you, as you'll enjoy yourself and also learn a bit more about what is next for the franchise and the inevitable, Armored Core 5.
The verdict towards For Answer, is that while it brings a few innovative and interesting features of concepts, such as Arms Forts, into the game, it doesn't bring enough to truly warrant the price tag, and so while the story is worth it, the game itself isn't always up to par, and so fans should buy the game, but anyone else, should stay away from it until they've become fans (preferably by playing AC 4). The story remains intricate, and developed, and of course the game play remains solid... but aside from that there's not much more to grasp at, unless you just like giant mechs and robot games.
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- Cere.