Ironic that a game who’s plot is about breaking your programming and going against what would be expected of you ends up with a reputation that takes what it presents at face value and twists what it actually is so it could fit the mold of what people expect 7th gen games to be, and this game faces no critical re-evaluation to this day, simply look at that disgrace of a description, in-fact there’s only one other person who appreciates it for what it is and he is the one who recommended this to me in the first place, it seems everyone else is still stuck up on taking the first 45 minutes of this game as gospel for representing everything else it has, failing to recognize that the game acknowledges the doubts a person could have about sci-fi military shooters of that gen because it begins with a section that can’t be anything other than a parody to GoW. Shed away all of that and you have a fantastic shooter underneath with a heartfelt sci-fi story, the variety of weapons on display here are nice and fit whatever playstyle you’d want to go for, there’s also the fact that you can combo with your partner to unleash some devastating attacks, it all flows into one, fluid gameplay system.

TL;DR, it’s not a fucking GoW clone or a cover shooter.

Let’s not pretend as if we can’t put aside shitty story for sick gameplay when RE4 who’s script was written in a matter of weeks is one of the highest rated games on this site. The physics based puzzles shit all over your typical “get object for locked door” survival horror puzzles that are shamelessly spammed all over the place and don’t receive half as much flack, even figuring out fighting the enemies is more puzzle-like as you have to create makeshift weaponry either with actual crafting or grabbing furniture and putting the enemies to sleep with them, it’s all about on the spot improvisation and it’s sick.

I already had a high opinion on the 7th-gen but this game cemented it as one of my favorites, the more I delve into it’s library the more I notice how many elements it shares with the 6th and yet the contrast between their receptions couldn’t be any wider, I am asking this genuinely, where did all the people who enjoyed the 6th-gen go? I feel like if some of the more praised titles from that gen were to release during the 7th they’d face just as harsh of a reception. The most common complaint you hear about the state of gaming now is how everything plays the same and there’s a distinct lack of creativity, well, what the fuck did any of you expect would happen when the moment any game experimented and didn’t go with the design trends of the time, it was met with lackluster reception, one dogged on title after another mixed in with the sharp increase of development costs pretty much killed creativity in this medium for good unless some miracle happens.

—Recently replayed all 4 campaigns on Professional—

This Is home to perhaps the tightest, most well thought-out combat system for a third person shooter ever to be conceived, this game’s level of creativity and approach to game design Is not so different from something like TEW1, whereas that game builds It’s Identity off beating and kicking the shit out of you through limiting a lot of what you can do and forcing you to play around that, RE6 Injects your veins with superhuman serum and tells you to literally kick and beat the shit out of the enemies with godlike movement and a system that’s focused on stuns and CQC. You’re not supposed to treat It as a generic shooter, much less a fucking cover shooter like I’ve seen people here claim, and go gung-ho mode wasting all your resources every encounter because not only Is It a lame as shit way of confronting the game’s challenges, It’s also a piss-poor one at that and will only have you string yourself dry out of resources. Instead you have to rely on and use Its deliberate stun to CQC system, that’s why the game even has a move to quick stun enemies at the cost of a single stamina block, that’s why you’re given extensive, slick movement and dodging options, this game Isn’t “RE4/5 but without tank controls”, It’s an expansion and Improvement on the controls RE4 had while employing that game’s same design philosophy. The same way 4 Is designed around limited tank control movement, 6 too Is designed around It’s more free modern controls and provides you with a new set of adrenaline Inducing challenges Instead of the same shit again.

The campaigns have some of the best set-pieces In the entire series’s history, shit like fighting a boss Inside a church full of people and having the boss transform them Into zombies to attack you, crashing down Into a severe snow storm, any of the multiple times the campaigns Intertwine, It’s genuinely so cool and exhilarating, there’s never a time where levels get lame or repetitive thanks to the game’s globe-trotting narrative. Speaking of that, It’s well written and fun, I don’t get what people are complaining about there at all, each story Is largely It’s own thing with one big connecting narrative that you slowly fill In the pieces of the more you play, for example there’s an Instance where a fucking chainsaw enemy gets flung right at a signpost and Is a boss for you to fight, you find out In one of the other campaigns that one of the characters Is responsible for that happening, It’s nothing confusing, unless you have the media literacy of a 4th grader.

It’s about time people hopped off Internet bandwagons and gave this game the fair shake It rightfully deserves.

surprising amount of heart
the combat is very reactive with a heavy emphasis on the two types of parries over combos while mixing in third person shooter gameplay. It can be a challenge to get the hang of at first, but use the built-in combat practice to get the hang of it. The story is almost hitting on some legit themes about dehumanizing ourselves to corporations for money though it's not quite at the forefront enough to fully land but I'm surprised it was aiming that high. it does feel like it could have used one or two more levels before the endgame though

You’re part of Raven’s Nest, a ruthless mercenary group that will do anyone’s bidding so long as they’re willing to pay up, which tends to mostly be doing the dirty work for ever-sprawling soulless corporations that happen to rule over everyone else, the workers are unionizing due to shitty conditions? Send a Raven to squash their heads. A rival corporation is working on brand new technology? Send a Raven to infiltrate their base using any means necessary and destroy it or retrieve information regarding it. Citizens are protesting your area redevelopments by squatting? Send a Raven to kill them all. This is how the cold world of Armored Core operates, there is no right or wrong, there’s only people with money or people to stomp over in your never-ending quest for capital. And all of this lore serves the game perfectly. Thanks to the player being part of a mercenary group, the game ends up having a great deal of mission variety, you’ll hardly ever find yourself getting tired on that front, from missions where you ride flying airships to protect them, or race against corrosive gas that chips away at your AC’a health, to many more missions I won’t spoil. They were all a joy to go through and helped emphasize using different builds for different missions, especially since your sell rate is at 100% so you lose nothing by buying and selling the same parts. And the customizability itself is quite good too as there are multiple builds for multiple play-styles so you’re not boxed into anything specific. The gameplay Itself revolves a bit around management, you have to manage your energy bar, ammo for both weapons, damage received (because fixing your AC takes from your pay) but don’t worry because it’s ultimately not very difficult or tasking to deal with. It’s also worth to note that the game possesses decent enemy variety, from mecha bugs to weak worker MT’s to the other stronger enemies, they do their job well. And last but not least the game is so aesthetically pleasing thanks to the incredible art direction, I was engrossed In all the levels and appreciated how well some of It’s levels captured the sheer lack of soul found In corporate architecture.