Metascore

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 27 Ratings

  • Summary: In the distant future, massive urban development and pollution have critically damaged the planet. There is widespread fear that the end of the world is approaching. The League corporations, a military superpower, control the planet's infrastructure and have forced most of the world's population to live in huge aerial communities, called Cradles, to avoid the contamination. The ORCA, a rebel resistance still residing on the surface of the polluted planet, have amassed a formidable arsenal and are mobilizing to attack The League's bases to put an end to their iron grip on the planet. As a mercenary armed with cutting-edge military robot technology, choose your side and defeat the other factions by harnessing the power of the deadliest and most gigantic weapons ever created by mankind. For the first time in the series, cut your way inside colossal mobile battle stations and destroy them from their very core. Identify and exploit the weaknesses of 10 uniquely designed GIANT mobile battle stations to defeat them. Cooperate online with a friend in more than 30 missions or face up to 7 other players online in more than 80 different battlefields. Find the right combination of weapons and armor that will help you take down colossal enemies. With more than 130 new parts and 400 parts total, enhance your mech to take on increasingly deadlier mobile battle stations. Create the perfect mech design to defeat a powerful enemy and share it with your friends online. [Ubisoft] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 22
  2. Negative: 3 out of 22
  1. The bare-bones presentation and limited versus matches leave some definite room for improvement. With a greater focus on co-op and story, the next Armored Core could be the first must-own mech title.
  2. Armored Core for Answer fixes a lot of the problems that existed in Armored Core 4. Significantly more fun missions, graphical improvements, a fantastic sense of scale, and an enormous amount of customization really help the title. However, the impossible-to-understand story detracts value from the single-player experience, so the only reason for you to return is to build your mech, which is something that's going to overwhelm most players.
  3. For players who have dismissed the mech genre in general and Armored Core in particular as requiring too much effort for too little reward, For Answer could offer a compelling reason to dabble. [Jan 2009, p.94]
  4. What's so strange about For Answer is its trading of extensive customization for actual gameplay. Sure, you can build the ultimate mech, customizing it to your heart's content, yet when you actually play the game, you realize its shortcomings.

See all 22 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 2 out of 13
  1. AshRaul
    10
    this game is FUN. i understand the story is extreamly hard to grasp, but the story is made for fanatics, everything past that is fun for almost everyone, the flying the customization, the co-op. there are difficult parts in the game, but heck, if the game was too easy that would be a downside too. Expand
  2. samtanklin
    10
    If you like mech games with an emphasis on customization AND action, this is the title to buy. From has implemented a Regulations system that will allow them to further balance the game in the future (they're working on a future regulation now), and the title has Online, LAN, and Split-screen co-op, team battle, deathmatch and duel modes. If you're an Armored Core fan, you've probably already bought this, if you're a fan of the mech action genre, you should definitely pick it up. It's actually easier to get into by newcomers to the series as well, but with more customization for the mech geeks among us. Expand
  3. 8
    62 score? What?!? This just goes to show that people have become accustomed to bending-over, and accepting all the dumbed-down crap that game studios put out these days. If a game doesn't hold your hand, and display a giant red Y BUTTON on-screen, then it's too hard for the nancy-boy critics.
    Either that, or maybe Square-Enix refuses to pay them their "positive review tax." But you didn't hear it from me.
    Easily in the top-5 best mech-combat simulation games out there. Honestly, In my personal opinion, it's gameplay is way too fast. This is coming from an Armored Core veteran, who's owned/played every AC game since PSOne. I prefer the heavy feel of the mechs from the early Armored Core games, and Chromehounds.

    Armored Core 5 is going to bring this series back to the spotlight by slowing down the mechs, making the environments and mission more detailed amd immersive, introducing super "Over" weapons, and a ton of other additions.

    Why do people waste their money on games like Galo, where they spend countless hours repeating the same thing to customize their character with a new helmet.... woohoo... when they can have a hard drive full of dozens of custom, unique giant robots to pit against each other in combat?? Hopefully, Square Enix will get the recipe right this time around, and bring Armored Core to the forefront of gaming.
    Expand
  4. ConradKreyling
    3
    Controls, controls, controls. I spent most of the game being unable to turn my mech and shoot at the same time due to a bad selection at the beginning of the game (X+A to shoot). You are unable to rectify this, however, as once you have started the game all of the "Auto" options as well as the control palette are now hidden from view.

    The AI is also unforgiving, and is able to do many things the player cannot, such as landing hits by "reading" the controller, and moving the mech's torso while shooting. As has been started, the camera is sluggish and does not keep up with your often speed-of-sound NEXT battles. I truly wonder if any play-testing was done by Ubisoft, or if the title was simply pressed and shipped.

    The game delivers on heavy customization through a series of unlocks, won by fighting ranked matches. These ranked matches are the worst kind of grind: 30 maps of "die-reconfigure-die-reconfigure" until you find the one perfect combination to defeat your current opponent (remember the AI complaints?) at which point you're presented with a new opponent and the cycle begins anew.

    All in all this game is unfulfilling to all but the most hardcore of Armored Core fans. Most will simply get frustrated, bored, or a combination of the two.
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See all 13 User Reviews