In nearly two complete console generations since the last mainline entry, From Software's mecha freelancer series felt like it was largely forgotten in pursuit of the growing Souls series and genre. Players last piloted their AC nearly a full decade to the day and that wait will soon be rewarded. From Software's increased budget and engine expertise is on the frontline with the latest in the series, Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon.
As the eponymous 621, Raven, or whatever moniker your mission handler drops on you, the player’s role is that of a mercenary whose skills serve the highest bidder. Rubicon is a planet rich with a mysterious substance known as Coral that every faction in the area is competing to get their hands on. Following a fairly linear mission path, players will explore Rubicon’s diverse biomes through a variety of mission types. At key points, players will be given a Decision point where they can pick one of two available missions and lock themselves out from the other path in that playthrough. Allying with one faction over the other, say the Rubicon Liberation Front, will tilt the conflict in their favor while putting other corporations or planetary colonization firms on the defensive. Regardless of where Raven pledges allegiances to, the story will shift toward one of three endings. For my first twenty-five-hour playthrough, I pledged to support the Rubicon Liberation Front and defend the planet from outside forces, ultimately leading to a showdown that will be known in the history books as rekindling the (bon)fires of warfare.
A subsequent playthrough yielded new paths, including one early story mission where the same RLF requested that I take out my two ally comrades in exchange for a bigger payday while the Arena opened up to an entirely new tier of unmanned AC encounters. While players will replay the same missions again in a second path, they’ll have the option to replay any previous mission to hunt down secret equipment pieces or aim for an ‘S’ rank score. Making the decision to require every mission to obtain an ‘S’ rank might make this one of From Software’s hardest platinum trophies to date and I have concerns about how players can only aim to achieve those scores during mission replays and not the first run through, rendering a perfect showdown against the ‘Death Roomba’ in their first encounter a wasted opportunity.
Only rarely will players have missions that exist solely as one-on-one AC pilot duels (the rest take place in the Arena). The majority involve getting from one section of the map to the other and culminating in a boss fight of some sort, while other mission types require destroying a number of key installations or protecting a point of essential installation or defensive structure. Each boss fight is varied from the next with memorable set pieces while AC boss fights frequently change up the rules of engagement by offering up a second party to assist either the player or boss depending on the mission situation. Main missions rarely retread common ground and there is a diverse range of biomes and battlegrounds to explore both on the surface and below ground on Rubicon. Such spectacle and flourish were rarely seen in brief glimpses of greatness in prior Armored Core titles.
Some of my favorite fights were the AC duels, where juggling two foes at once successfully makes the player AC feel like an invulnerable war hero, just before an offscreen railgun shot or charged melee breaks the player’s stability. From Software has made no concessions in scaling the scale and speed of AC combat far above and beyond even the most energetic of Sekiro encounters. Juggling four different weapons, 360 degrees of mobility, and monitoring the stagger gauges of both enemy and player is a lot to manage and may overwhelm the Armored Core novice, but they’ll be graciously rewarded with some of the freshest gameplay in a mecha action title in years.
Armored Core (particularly the fourth-gen) has been about maintaining a high-speed playstyle and boosting laterally in style. Fires of Rubicon builds upon that initial framework and using the versatility of the engine they utilized for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, From Software has introduced new Assault Boost mechanics that permit players to finally achieve a full 360-degree range of movement. Many missions feature expansive valleys or vertical setpieces that require additional mobility and verticality to traverse. The occasionally launch pad-style elevator helps in key moments but it’s ultimately up to the player to have the freedom to fly about as they see fit, up to the strength of their AC’s generator output and chosen legs. Armored Core 6 doesn’t redesign how the various leg types operate but instead lets their individual purposes stand out more than ever before. Reverse joints provide that additional boost height for launching over an enemy AC’s melee strike while the standard bipedal types can support a sturdier equipment load. My personal favorite, the quad legs, can hover around in the air nearly limitlessly while players rain down barrage after barrage of homing missiles if that’s your chosen playstyle (don’t expect to not get hunted down first if you try to pull that in PVP matches).
Staggering and stability remain a core focus of From Software’s recent design philosophy of the ongoing Souls series and remain true in Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. The majority of damage to both player and enemy alike comes from staggering the other party. Anything that moves has its own impact bar that fills up with rapid, sustained attacks. In many instances, this will stun the AC temporarily and leave it open to incoming attacks. Sadly, a number of boss-type Armored Cores can shrug off that damage if the player isn’t careful about when to pull back after pressing the advantage. However, staggering has its perks by allowing direct damage to be dealt to that target. Every weapon has its own multiplier for dealing direct damage and they can easily achieve a two-hundred percent damage multiplier when passive AC chips and a particular weapon are factored in, such as the various bazookas available to the player.
The deliberate precision of From Software’s combat in a Souls title hasn’t quite made a perfect transition into the futuristic setting. At times, there’s a lack of responsive impact when striking an enemy with heavier weapons, resulting in an ineffective attempt to stagger the foe and instead being unable to interrupt their attack. This is multiplied during endgame boss fights where enemies can clear their stagger gauge at a moment’s notice and install an energy shield to block your attacks. This is most heinous during the final boss fight where I counted no fewer than four instances of the enemy recovering and striking my AC even in the middle of a rocket barrage.
Nigh any weapon can be effective throughout Fires of Rubicon from the first sortie until the last. Rather than upgrading individual pieces of equipment for greater effectiveness, players will instead purchase new gear for their AC. While some pieces will be more effective than their base models as far as rockets and assault rifles go, there’s always a tradeoff where there isn’t a clear winner for every situation. Take Generators, for example. This key component provides energy output for your AC, powering the suit itself and the energy weapons it wields. Some generators might have a limited output but a fast recharge when drained, while another might have an excessive overhead to power those energy weapons while not being as effective for powering boosts.
Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon largely features a balanced set of equipment to encourage playstyle over raw damage themselves, although there is the occasional notable exception. One late-game AC headpiece boats the best-in-class scanning capability and recharge rate, making scanning for hidden combat logs and equipment far more efficient, although lamentably, there isn’t a way to track if you had gotten the equipment and lore logs in a given level, only those of the combat logs earned by besting rival AC’s.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a title where experimentation and not taking a sledgehammer to every encounter is key. A staple of the series, players can purchase and sell back any AC parts for the same price and the only cost to respec is in resetting the AC chips purchased through Arena victories for passive perks or AC armor extensions. Given how often players may have to replay missions for those elusive ‘S’ ranks or see all three endings, players will be millionaires long before they give up the mantle of Raven and leave the mercenary life behind.
From Software has created its pinnacle mech-fighting opus with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. The faster pace of combat and higher difficulty may deter newcomers from strapping in for the first time but there’s truly something special at play here. If the pace of Elden Ring leaves you wanting more or you simply want to blow up anything that moves, Armored Core VI’s got a job for you.
Reviewed on PlayStation 5 (code provided by the publisher).
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