Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Developer: FromSoftware
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platforms: Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC (Reviewed)
Release Date: 25 August 2023
Price: $59.99 USD – Available Here $109.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to certain genres, mech games are in a peculiar spot. If we would round them all up, there’s a big number of them, but only a few rise to the top. There’s no middle ground, either they’re instantly forgettable after a few days of release or they make quite a name for themselves.
As for the Armored Core series, the “most recent” release was Armored Core: Verdict Day in 2013, and after that, we were left with a big gap. So far, there have been 15 games in the series, including spin-offs, and reboots, but there are a few specific things that can wrap this series around. One of them is the steep difficulty curve as well as high difficulty in general and Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is no stranger to that.
Story
On the frontier planet of Rubicon 3, a substance called Coral was discovered that could be used as both an energy source and a data conduit. Coral was hailed as the key to humanity’s technological advancement, but instead, it caused a cataclysmic event known as the Fires of Ibis, which engulfed the planet and the surrounding star system in flames and left behind a lethal contaminant. All Coral in existence was thought to have been consumed by the disaster.
Fifty years later, however, signs of Coral are once again detected on Rubicon 3. Corporations flock to exploit the planet and control the Coral and mercenaries follow to profit from the conflict. You are an augmented human labeled as “C4-621” and you work as an Armored Core pilot on the promise of earning a new life by taking on mercenary jobs. After illegally landing on Rubicon 3, you steal the license of a deceased mercenary and assume their callsign: “Raven”.
Gameplay
After a first mission disguised as a bare-bones tutorial and a boss (that I like to call “The Great Filter™”), you’re thrown into the rest of the following missions on your own. There are some levels where you are helped by an AI partner here or there, but don’t get used to it. After the first few levels, a part shop and arena are opened and that’s where the real fun starts. One of the staples of the Armored Core series is the insane customization for your mech when it comes to parts and weapons. Whenever you’re stuck on a certain boss the solution is often to try a different build.
The mission will often have standard objectives such as protect x, eliminate all enemies, investigate such and such, and there are some where your only goal is to kill a certain boss. The combat is hectic (as you might expect) and consists of high stakes dance made out of dodging, flying, missile spamming, and close combat with energy swords. And if you like to explore every nook and cranny, this game has got you covered. Some levels will contain secret weapons that you cannot buy anywhere and they’re often unique such as a chainsaw or a flamethrower and some will contain unique mech parts.
There is also something called a “loghunt” which opens up later in the game. In almost every level there will be a hidden or not-so-well-hidden enemy that you have to take down in order to progress on the loghunt. Every loghunt level will reward you with either a new mech part or a weapon.
Visuals
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon uses the same engine as Elden Ring but here it is pushed to its absolute limits. It’s way more polished, smoother, responsive, and optimized to heaven and back. Understandably, a lot of the detailing went into mechs and not so much on the background objects but that’s perfectly fine, it’s not like you often have the time to stop and look at the buildings as you’re missile blasted from every possible angle. Notable mention goes to some bosses’ designs that are equally intimidating in the intro cutscenes and even more once they start blasting at you.
Audio
Considering that you’ll be stuck on some bosses more than you’d like, the developers put a lot more care when it comes to the soundtrack. For the most part, the music is pretty tame and predictable until you get to the boss(es). It’s just a matter of time until some tracks will stick with you such as Balteus’ theme or “Rough and Decent” – also known as Cinder Carla’s theme. Another remarkable thing is the refined sound design when it comes to weapons, which is pretty impressive once you realize just how big the arsenal of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is. After a while, you’ll learn to recognize from afar just by sound alone if the enemy is using plasma or explosive weapons.
Overall
To sum it up, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is almost a perfect game and it’s not without its flaws. There is one puzzling stealth where it feels like it doesn’t belong in the game at all and until you memorize the placement and path of every enemy (so you can effectively sneak by) it’s nothing but an infuriating slog to get through. Another thing is that certain bosses are near impossible unless you have a very specific build for them and the game never hints or tells you that – it’s up to you to experiment blindly. For example, one late-game boss is extremely fast and does nothing else but spam missiles at you but it’s highly susceptible to stagger + melee. Any other approach to fight it will simply not work.
Regardless of that, when it comes to the atmosphere, weapon arsenal, combat, and fluidity, I have a feeling that Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will sit on the throne for quite some time. Or at least until the next game in the series is out (just don’t make us wait a decade for the sequel again).
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
