Armored Core 6 looks ready to make mech sickos of us all

destructoid.com:

It’s been quite a while since the last Armored Core. FromSoftware has been steadily working on successful Souls and Souls-like games, but the first Armored Core is one of its oldest titles. And now, years later, FromSoftware is returning to mech action with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. And the series is certainly back.

We were invited to view a hands-off demo of a stage in Armored Core VI, where the player’s mercenary needs to infiltrate and take command of a catapult held by a hostile faction. This means flying in and doing a whole lot of blasting. The progression still looks to be very Armored Core: it opens with a briefing, with lots of intel and screens, and then you’re into the thick of it.

It’s going to be very easy to draw comparisons between Armored Core and Souls. As I noted above, it’s been a long time since the last Armored Core game—a decade, to be exact—and the Souls series has reached astronomical heights in its absence. While there are plenty of AC fanatics familiar with the form factor of this series, I imagine there will also be people coming into Armored Core VI with a different set of expectations.

The reassuring thing is, even with that split in mind, Armored Core VI looks like it could bridge the gap. Sure, you’re piloting a mech rather than guiding a wandering swordsman or robed mage. But the weight and heft, the ballet of movement, is still here.

It was driven home when I saw just how Armored Core‘s mechs move. Boost options have been retained, including a blazing forward boost that feels like a charge maneuver. Small jets lining the mech can fire to create omnidirectional movement options, something the studio emphasized in our briefing. But when those rockets fire, there’s a moment of