Seeing more Armored Core footage always gets the mecha fans up in a tizzy, and the latest dose is more of that same level of excitement. As previews suggest, much more intimate combat experience along with some slickened up classic features are combined to make Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon the slickest mecha action game around.
Fighting opponents in groups and one versus one is a massive change. No longer is it just a circle-strafing waltz. Jumping, stunning, and even a swift kick are part of the repertoire of maneuvers you can do now. There’s still a classic lock-on style where a reticle floats around the HUD picking off targets within range rather than a single opponent at a time. However, there is also a new “hard lock” feature reminiscent of any previous Souls game where a player could concentrate on a single target at a time. This is a massive shift in the combat dynamic, but allows players to engage any target either as multi-target fodder, or as a frontline threat that goes in for the aggressive encounter.
The new staggering system makes a fight incredibly visceral, with tons of impact against enemies bigger than you. Targets can even be knocked down or away with a swift kick when they’re stunned; Some leg parts behave differently with their tackle attack than others. Combined with charged weapons and new combo attacks from melee weapons, there is a good bit of Sekiro influence showing through. Aggression is rewarded with the ability to do a lot more than just execute a target, and the Stagger system gives players tons of ways to stun an opponent than just hails of bullets. Along with just inducing a staggered state, stagger damage can extend the duration of a stun to give players a huge opportunity to quickly finish off even minibosses.
Now, this isn’t new for an Armored Core game to have a “kick” button. Armored Core V and Verdict Day on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 actually had the ability to kick an opponent if you were using a bipedal leg build, both reverse-joint and regular bipeds had this ability. While it was incredibly clunky, at times a well-placed kick was what won you fights. It was the first time there was some truly deep involvement in combat. Legs even had attack stats that determined how powerful the kick was.
Armored Core 6 takes it into a new dimension of combat where not only does the kick do damage, but there’s even physics involved. Sending opponents flying off ledges or into walls to deal more damage is a recipe for an incredibly fun time. It takes a lot of inspiration from Sekiro, maintaining staggers and overpowering opponents into submission. And this is not even mentioning functions of other leg types. Tank types are still a huge unknown with how they will function, as one previous trailer hints at something like a “tackle” attack where your AC gains a burst of acceleration and rams into a target.
There’s still some unknowns about Armored Core 6 left to answer, but this most recent round of information has been the most eye-opening about the returning franchise that seeks to both hold onto what made Armored Core the best, but also take the series in a much more dynamic direction.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon will be out on August 24, 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X & S.
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