Armored Core
Armored Core is a
mecha-based
video game series for the
PlayStation Portable,
PlayStation,
PlayStation 2,
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360 and
Mobile Phone platforms. An
OVA entitled
Armored Core: Fort Tower Song is also in production scheduled for release in 2007.
PlayStation
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Armored Core*
Armored Core: Project Phantasma*
Armored Core: Master of ArenaPlayStation 2
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Armored Core 2*
Armored Core 2: Another Age*
Armored Core 3*
Silent Line: Armored Core*
Armored Core: Nexus*
Armored Core: Nine Breaker*
Armored Core: Formula Front (only available for PS2 in Japan)
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Armored Core: Last RavenPlayStation 3
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Armored Core 4 (In development,
2006)
Xbox 360
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Armored Core 4 (In development,
2006)
PlayStation Portable
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Armored Core: Formula Front *
Armored Core: Formula Front Extreme Battle (U.S. only)
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Armored Core: Formula Front International (Japan only)
Mobile Phone
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Armored Core: Mobile Mission (Japan only)
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Armored Core: Mobile 2 (Japan only)
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Armored Core: Mobile Online (Japan only)
OVA
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Armored Core: Fort Tower Song [
1]
Armored Core games are
third-person shooters, in which the player pilots a large mecha called an
Armored Core, or
AC for short. The player builds their AC from parts which can be bought from a shop.
Typically, in each game, the player is a 'Raven', a member of a
mercenary organization, and is hired by corporations to do various missions.
The
Muscle Tracer (MT) is the precursor to the Armored Core. MTs are the most frequent enemies in the series, aside from other ACs. They come in various varieties, such as mobile gun turrets, powered suits, tank-like quadrupeds, and much more. Some MTs even resemble Armored Cores. Certain variations of MTs are transformable, such as the
Scimitar MT from
Armored Core: Project Phantasma. They are always
NPCs, though in some games MTs accompany the player's AC as friendly support. MTs are mainly used by the corporations to resolve disputes without dealing with the Ravens or their "dispute resolution" organizations (Raven's Nest, Nerves Concord, Global Cortex, Raven's Ark), although MTs have been seen being used by artificial intelligences as well.
The full name for a
Muscle Tracer that is not mass-produced as a single unit in bulk,
Cored MT Units are much more powerful than their counterparts and are built differently. Instead of a single set of parts being used, and different models of the MT being built, an
Armored Core is built from several different interchangeable parts, to allow maximum customization by their pilots. Some Armored Cores have also been custom made, and the corporations have not reproduced their parts (with the exception of
Stinger, whose AC,
Vixen, received special treatment; its parts were released to the public for Ravens to purchase).
The structure of an AC is standardized and modular, consisting of a number of parts which are fitted together in the AC Garage. Radiators, inside parts, extension parts, and hovering legs are found only in
Armored Core 2 and subsequent games.
Required Parts
An AC
must have all of these parts in order to function, or it will be declared incomplete.
Head
Contains visual sensors. May also contain radar and computing equipment. Some heads are better armoured than others, but at the cost of lacking extra sensor equipment. The radar and sensor equipment is broken down into several categories including Bio-Sensor, Noise Canceller, Night Vision, Missile Sensor and Auto-Map.
In
Armored Core: Nexus onward, the stability of the head is now factored in when determining the stability of an AC, whereas traditionally it had only been affected by the legs and optional parts. Light ACs and others with weak stability generally tend to stick to the few heads with high stability, while heavier ACs can use heavier heads with weaker stability stats.
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Auto-Map: allows a player to check the map screen of the game and see the whole area map of a mission. Heads without the Auto-Map function can only see a limited portion of the area.
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Bio-Sensor: allows an AC to detect and target biological organisms, which appear in many of the games.
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Missile Sensor: detects incoming missiles on the radar screen so that a player has the chance to dodge them before they hit. If a head has a radar but no Missile Sensor, the ability can be supplemented by an Optional Part providing this ability or a radar unit equipped with the sensor.
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Noise Canceller (
Armored Core -
Silent Line: Armored Core): appeared in previous games and was a prelude to
Nexus 's 'vs ECM'. It helps an AC recover from electronic interference.
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Night Vision (
Armored Core: Nexus onward): Night Vision initiates automatically and lights up an area that would otherwise be too dark to see anything. It is akin to modern
night vision goggles and cameras.
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Vs. ECM (
Armored Core: Nexus onward): reflects the ability of the AC to counter high levels of electronic interference. These may be the result of ECM pods used by an arena opponent or of mission-specific environmental hazards. Back radars, FCS systems, and optional parts can boost this level higher.
Core
The 'torso' of the mech. It is the 'armored core' from which the mech and the game series take their name. The human pilot sits inside the core.
Cores come in different weights to suit different styles of robot; the lighter ones are less well protected but more suitable for more mobile ACs. Similarly, there are highly defensive heavyweight cores.
Cores contain a number of slots into which Optional Parts can be placed to improve its operation. Also, some cores have built-in anti-missile systems.
As the series has progressed, new features for cores have appeared:
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Overboost (
Armored Core 2 onward): a high powered booster system that operates in combination with the external or leg based booster of an AC. When activated, it allows the player's AC to move at amazingly high speeds, but can only be used to move forward, left, right, or diagonally left or right at a forward angle, backward movement is impossible. While it offers a tremendous amount of extra speed, Overboosting both drains energy very quickly and causes a massive increase in the core's heat level when initially used. These two factors heavily limit the amount of time an Overboost function can be used.
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Exceed Orbit (
Armored Core 3 onward): Exceed Orbit (EO) cores contain one or more orbital pods that can be deployed to hover above the AC and retracted at will. They automatically target and shoot enemies. The rate of fire, power, and field of vision for EO pods varies from model to model. For EO pods with energy weapons, the ammunition supply gradually regenerates when not in use. Two important factors that limit Exceed Orbit usage are the small amounts of added heat that occur whenever an EO pod is deployed, as well as the energy drain from the pod firing. EO Cores with solid ammo do not suffer from an energy drain while firing but their ammo cannot be replenished once depleted.
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Hanger Unit (
Armored Core: Nexus onward): any core with this unit can hold one spare piece of equipment for each hand. Only small devices can be stored inside this unit, for example, a hand gun or an energy shield generator. Some cores are equipped with both Overboost and Hanger functions but there are no Exceed Orbit cores with Hangers.
Arms
There are two types of arms; normal arms capable of holding weapons, and weapon arms that
are weapons:
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Normal arms have various differing attributes; the most important are the weight and defensive qualities, which are usually related - heavier arms are better armored. Other attributes are recoil control, which keeps the arm steady while firing, and reaction speed, which determines how quickly the robot can swing a laserblade.
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Weapon arms sometimes possess two different firing modes, and are more powerful than ordinary weapons because they can be fired from two arms at once. However, they are greatly lacking in defense compared to normal arms. Weapon arms can be useful in keeping the weight of an AC down, as they are lighter than having separate arms and weapons but now are generally outclassed by Normal arms with weapons. Unlike Normal arms , Weapon arms cannot be tuned.
Legs
The legs support the AC on the ground and determine how it moves, and are usually the part by which an AC is classified. There are several different kinds of legs:
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Humanoid â€" classic bipedal humanoid-style. Comes in many different weights, speeds and strengths. Humanoid ACs are limited in that they must kneel down to use many of the back-unit weapons (except for missiles and rockets). This takes time and also leaves them unable to move while firing.
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Heavy Legs are well armoured and can support heavy weights but very slow.
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Light Legs are very fast but have very low AP and weight limits.
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Standard Legs are a balance between the other two types, with average AP, speed and weight limit. These legs are always equipped on the default AC that the player is provided at the start of each game.
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Reverse-Joint â€" also bipedal, these legs resemble those of a bird. Reverse-jointed ACs tend to be faster than standard humanoid models while still having a reasonable carrying capacity; they can also jump higher. However, they have the same problem with back weapons as standard bipeds. They are not as well-armoured as bipeds, have less cooling, and low defensive stability. However, reverse-joint legs drain less energy from the generator than other leg types.
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Four Leg â€" quadrupedal, similar to a
spider. Four-legged ACs tend to be fast and have the ability to fire back weapons while moving. However most quads, as they are known in fan circles, cannot support heavy weights, are less well-armored than bipeds, and use high amounts of energy. In the earlier games ACs equipped with quad legs appeared to hover or roll, in the more recent
Armored Core games they physically walk.
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Tank Legs â€" slow and heavy, but very well armored and can support massive loads. Tank ACs can fire any weapon even if moving or airborne. As these kind of legs don't have any joints, they cannot jump, instead using built-in boosters to thrust upward. A disadvantage of this is that if the generator has been emptied and is recharging, the AC cannot leave the ground, unlike legged ACs which can jump.
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Tank tracks - uses a caterpillar track to move.
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Hover tank - uses hovering technology to improve speed, while sacrificing some of the armour and load carrying ability of the tank track legs.
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Hover Legs â€" floating platforms that do not touch the ground. Hover ACs are the fastest and most maneuverable of all ACs and can travel over water; a huge advantage on aquatic missions. They are, however, the least armored of all the leg types and can only support very light loads. They suffer the same limitations as bipeds with regards to back-unit weapons. Like Tank ACs, Hover ACs cannot jump and have built-in boosters instead, and suffer the same problem of being unable to leave the ground if the generator is recharging.
FCS
The FCS or Fire Control System is the targeting computer, and controls weapon targeting and missile lock-ons. There are several different kinds, which vary on several attributes such as lock-on speed, maximum lock-on range, maximum lock-on number, or shape and size of lock-on area, suitable for different styles of weapons.
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Missile FCS â€" FCS designed for use with missiles normally have a long vertical lock box, lock on very quickly with missiles and have a long detection range.
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Sniper FCS â€" FCS designed for sniper rifle or cannons normally have a small square lock box, lock on very slowly with missiles and have an extremely long detection range.
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Rifle FCS â€" FCS designed for rifle, pistol or shotgun weapons normally have a wide horizontal lock box, lock on rather slow with missiles and have a fairly short detection range.
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Standard FCS â€" Standard FCS don't show any particular preference when it comes to lock time, have an even square lock box and a balanced lock on distance.
Booster
Boosters enable an AC to move quickly, and to fly. They come in different strengths and efficiencies. Boosters cannot be equipped on Tank and Hover ACs, as these have built-in boosters.
In
Armored Core: Nexus, players have to be cautious when equipping and using boosters because they now not only drain energy but produce heat too, which can hamper the performance of the player's AC if it overheats. The amount of heat produced from an AC's boosters is tied to the Generator's
calorific value, so hotter boosters should be used with cooler running Generators with low calorific values.
Generator
Supplies power to the AC. Power is an important consideration in the
Armored Core games - the generator can only generate energy at a certain rate, and if the AC uses energy at a faster rate, the charge held by the generator is depleted. If the energy produced by the generator is depleted past the generator's red zone it immediately shuts off all other high-energy dependent functions and recharges, leaving the AC very vulnerable. Recharging ACs cannot use their boosters or energy weaponry until the generator has completely recharged, and in battle up to a minute without weapons or mobility can end up costing a heavy price. The time it takes to recharge varies from generator to generator; also, the generator is still supporting the AC's necessary functions while charging, and these (particularly the radiator) slow the recharge rate. The quickest way to recharge, therefore, is to stand completely still and do nothing.
Radiator
ACs can get very hot, and when overheated their combat effectiveness is reduced. Radiators attempt to release this heat, with varying efficiency. Heat is produced by taking hits from various types of weaponry, by the external environment, and in
Armored Core: Nexus by the AC's boosters.
From
Armored Core to
Silent Line: Armored Core, an overheated AC would incur damage until the temperature was lowered.
In
Armored Core: Nexus the heat system was completely reworked. Now heat does not do instant damage to an AC, but when an AC becomes overheated the radiator begins sucking massive amounts of energy from the AC's generator to cool down the core. This can quickly deplete its energy supply and leave it vulnerable if the radiator is not very efficient. If the heat level cannot be brought down quick enough or goes too high too quickly, the AC will still take damage.
Non-Essential Parts
These parts can be left off if the player desires; however, an AC will have difficulty progressing far into the game without a weapon of some kind.
Inside(Armored Core 2 onward)
An internal compartment from which a variety of devices can be released, including bombs, mines, decoys and radar-jammers. In
Armored Core 3 small rockets and napalm rockets were added to the selection. These rockets have no aiming trejectory in the HUD and needed to be fired blindly. These parts were located in the top rear of the core facing backwards in the Armored Core 2 series and in the shoulders facing forwards from Armored Core 3 onward.
Extension(Armored Core 2 onward)
Extensions come in pairs and are mounted on the sides of the shoulders. They are miscellaneous, usually non-offensive devices, and can be anything from extra boosters to stealth devices.
* Extra boosters (with various functions)
* Anti-missile systems
* Relation missiles (extra missiles that fire simultaneously with missile launchers)
* Shoulder energy shields
* Emergency heat sinks (rapidly cools an AC)
* Emergency energy units (rapidly recharges energy)
In
Armored Core 3, several emergency energy units were sold - these were usually 3 uses, and would quickly refill the energy of an AC in about 5 seconds. Emergency
heat sinks were also introduced that allowed a quick cooling burst to bleed off potentially damaging heat if an AC got too hot.
In Armored Core 2, additional booster and relation missiles become available but in "Armored Core: Nexus" the radar jamming equipment was removed along with the radiator and ECM equipment.
Back Unit
There are two points on the back where weapons or devices may be mounted. These include:
* Missile launchers
* Rocket launchers
* Guns (chain guns, slug guns, rail guns, pulse guns, etc)
* Cannons (grenade launchers, laser cannons)
* Orbit cannons (floating guns)
* Radars
* Extra ammunition supplies
Some weapons and devices take up both Back Unit slots.
Cannon-type weapons must be fired over the shoulder, so there is usually a delay in activating the weapon for it to unfold or align itself. Bipedal and Hovering ACs have insufficient stability to use a cannon-type weapon whilst standing or moving, so it is more common to see missile and rocket launchers on these ACs.
In earlier games AC pilots who unlocked the Human PLUS modifications or gained the black market Optional Part OP-INTENSIFY were able to deploy cannons while moving but such features have been removed from more recent games like
Armored Core: Nexus,
Nine Breaker and
Last Raven, although in some of these the AI players appear to still have access to OP-INTENSIFY.
Arm Unit R
This is the right arm weapon, and for most ACs it is their primary offense. There are a large number of different weapons, including rifles, machine guns, handguns, bazookas, shotguns, grenade rifles, laser guns and various energy weapons.
In
Armored Core 3, parrying blades are available - these are short-range blades used to counter a laserblade strike and deal heavy damage, however there is a significant lag time between when the trigger is pulled and when the blade activates.
The most powerful weapons in the games (with the possible exception of the WA-FINGER in
Project Phantasma,
Master of Arena and its later incarnations in
Nexus,
Nine Breaker,
Formula Front and
Last Raven) are the
Karasawa series, named for one of the series' producers.
Armored Core has the Karasawa, the Karasawa Mk. II in
Armored Core 2, and
Armored Core 3 saw the MWG Karasawa. In
Armored Core: Nexus through
Armored Core: Last Raven, this weapon is called the WH04HL-KRSW, but has been knocked off its pedestal by other more powerful weapons added in to the later games. In an attempt to make up for this fact, one is allowed to use two Karasawas from
Nexus onward.
Arm Unit L
The left arm was traditionally used for melee weapons, typically the laserblade, which is a short-range blade of energy which can cause great damage to an opponent. One can also equip hand-held energy shields which can absorb damage from weapons and laserblades. Armored Core 3 introduces solid shields which used no energy. They could simply be activated at the beginning of a battle and would greatly reduce all frontal damage taken until they broke. They are banned from many tournaments.
As the series has progressed, a greater variety of weapons has appeared for the left arm.
Armored Core 3 introduced a few ranged weapons, such as howitzers.
Armored Core: Nexus produced a much larger selection of left arm weapons, including copies of various right arm weapons, although the reaction time to fire these is far slower when compared to weapons held by the right arm.
Optional Parts
These are parts which can be plugged into slots in the core to enhance the AC's performance. They have a variety of effects, such as increasing damage resistance to certain weapons, or increasing the generator capacity.
Different cores have different numbers of slots for optional parts, and generally more powerful optional parts cost more slots, while those only applied to certain situations are less slot-costly.
In
Armored Core 3 and
Silent Line: Armored Core a special unlockable Optional Part exists known as OP-INTENSIFY, or OP-I for short. This part, awarded to you upon your completion of
Armored Core 3 's storyline, allows you to use new features on your AC like the Human PLUS enhancements of the previous AC games. The part automatically takes up every single Optional Part slot provided in your equipped Core so no other Optional Parts can be used while the OP-I is equipped. Replaying past missions and completing specific tasks unlocks new abilities and powers up your AC. These abilities are:
*"Blade wave" projection
*Enhanced energy blade range
*Enhanced radar abilities
*All radar abilities added regardless of equipment
*Able to fire back cannons while moving on leg bases other then tanks and quadrupeds.
*Enhanced normal cooling (No effect on Forced Cooling Stats)
*Enhanced boosters
*Enhanced missile interception
*Enhanced turning abilities
*Enhanced targeting abilities
The OP-INTENSIFY and Human PLUS were removed from later AC games like
Nexus,
Nine Breaker and
Last Raven, yet enemies like
Nexus' #1 Arena Raven Genobee still exhibited PLUS-like performance levels and abilities in combat.
The OP-INTENSIFY and Human PLUS caused a lot of controversy over its usage, as some will dispute the quality of a player(s) who might use it. The part was looked down upon by some in the community, citing that it was 'unfair' or 'cheating', though some veterans used PLUS and OP-INTENSIFY as well, and many believed that it was possible to use it without being cheap. The conflict and debate over these two functions raged until they were finally removed in
Nexus.
In fan circles the term "PLOW" is often used to descibe ACs operating with PLUS or PLUS-like atributes. The term is a compound of "PLUS" and "Over Weight". The term dates back to the original
Armored Core, where PLUS and the "Overweight" features originated.
Veteran AC players have devised special categories and terminology when in reference to highly specialized ACs. Often these reflect the players preference in combat or missions.
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Juggernaut - This term refers to extremely heavyweight humanoid-leg ACs laden with high powered weaponry, heavy armor, and are noted for having extremely limited ammo. Commonly the first type of AC for many players to develop, it is looked upon as being a bit of a starter AC. One of the most notable combination of weapons is the Karasawa and Moonlight combo, a highly powerful energy gun and laserblade respectively. With the redevelopment of these weapons in later installments, it continues to be a popular Juggernaut design.
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Missile Boat - As the name suggests, this particular AC type is laden with missile exclusive weaponry. As well as the back unit missile launchers, the right arm may also use a missile launcher, or the arms may be replaced with missile weapon arms. In the original
Armored Core, it was common for the Missile Boat to be constructed over a Four-leg base, but with the addition of the hover legs, the
nom de plume has been extended over this category also.
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Orbit Platform - Seen most commonly used with the hover legs, this AC utilizes only orbit cannon based weaponry. Of the fan categorized cores, this type is the newest in its inception.
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Samurai - A type of AC used only by expert players and hardcore veterans. The Samurai type ACs are equipped exclusively with blade based weaponry. They often have high mobility and since the inclusion of the dual blade weapon arms this variety has seen more action. Rarely this type of AC can be equipped with a combination of the solid blade right arm weapon and the laser blade left arm part.
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Sniper - Sometimes being looked down upon as a "coward's AC", it is a design that literally focuses on long range attacks. Being a sniper, it designed for speed, stamina, and long-ranged combat. Even with the introduction of the Over Boost function, the Sniper may still be formidable. It serves as an extremely dangerous, and annoying, foe, for the traditionally close-ranged designs. The Sniper also goes by the name "Archer" for designs that use weapons with an "arched" line of fire, or "Bomber" for designs using bomb dispensers.
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Ninja - A kind of "shadowy" AC, it is designed to defeat the enemy though stealth. It is often colored black (sometimes uses camouflage colors for a particular environment). These designs tend to catch the enemy player by surprise. Often it is equipped with stealth equipment such as ECM to jam radar and lock-on. Ninjas are also very quick and use a blade. To avoid further attention, they also use a hover platform, which tends to be very silent during movement. However, ever since the discovery of the PoD (poke of doom) players have switched to a quad-leg platform (very noisy) or a tank (very slow). Now, with the addition of the parrying blade (a substitute PoD), the player can achieve mobility without sacrificing speed, stealth, or offence. However, it comes at the price of accuracy and range. This is why Ninja cores are reserved for the very best.
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Bullet-Sponge - Probably the most bizarre is the Bullet-Sponge design, which is also known as the "armored armored core". This core is designed to literally absorb large amounts of damage. With AC battles becoming more of a damage race, the so-called AAC has arisen, and has also given rise to an arms race in the Armored Core universe. Typically they are equipped with a tank platform and are given heavily armored parts and are also tuned to withstand heavy damage. Now, they are mostly equipped with solid weapons. This is because an AC can't use energy weapons on low power. Second, in Nexus and so forth, the AC will quickly heat up, making energy weapons ever more useless unless the AC has a good radiator (which won't be enough to defeat the heat.) This is why a tank platform works best with the design, not only for defence, but to load more weight as well as use cannons. These are quite popular among the beginner players as well as the higher up. Of course, being ridiculously slow, they don't do so well on trying to cover their backs, the most vulnerable part of an AC. Another weakness is their defence on a particular element. Usually armor with high solid resistance can't defend well against energy weapons. To make up for both weaknesses, a player may use high-heat weapons (such as a railgun) to drain energy from an enemy's generator, preventing them from using anything that uses or shoots energy. The heavy, solid resistant armor will protect the AC from damage from a solid projectile.
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DeFAC (Death From Above Core)- A type of core seen used mostly by the computer players, it is only suggested for absolute experts at energy conservation and aiming. Usually equipped with a high powered generator with excellent energy production values and a low heat and low power booster, they execute the maneuver known as "boost hopping" until they are slightly above their target and then move in to incredibly close range and blitz their enemy. Common armaments vary widely depending on the player but it is not unusual to see a combination of rifles and rockets being used; missiles take too long to achieve a lock and any sort of energy weapon would drain too quickly from their generators. Since the inception of the "hover booster" extension parts, the frequency of the DeFAC has increased.
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Armored Core series official website*
FROM SOFTWARE's official Armored Core website*
Moby Game's entry on the Armored Core series*
Armored Core Online*
The Garage: Armored Core Series Fan Site
