Some of us still remember the old robot cartoons like Robotech and the original Transformers. Those of us who grew up on them always wanted to know what it would be like to command one of these massive machines of mayhem, and now we can finally experience toe-to-toe combat with lasers and rockets blazing.
Armored Core: Master of Arena is a 'giant mecha' game which puts you in the role of the owner of an 'AC', the name this game gives to the machines. Unlike other games which give you a mech which you can add weapons or armor to, MoA lets you build your bad boy up from the ground, then go whoop some metallic butt.
When building your AC, you choose from several different body parts and weapons/accessories. There are 4 styles of legs which allow unique styles of movement; body cores; generators; arms; heads; etc etc. Once you put your framework together, you can add weapons on each arm and 'back weapons', which include some pretty devastating equipment. You can also choose to carry things like radar and extra ammo instead, if you desire, to further customize your ride. Building an AC is an art, because you must achieve the desired performance in terms of mobility and firepower while at the same time providing enough energy from your generator and staying within the weight restrictions of your legs and body. There are literally hundreds of parts, making for an endless variety of possible combinations ranging from quick and light to slow with the combined arms power of a small nation.
Once you've built your monster machine, you can choose to undertake special missions or to battle in the arena. Because this game focuses on the arena, there is much more of that style of combat than missions, though the missions are still entertaining.
Missions are all generally the same: Either take out a key objective or protect a key objective from attack. When doing a strike, you are usually fighting another AC at the end, which can be interesting after taking some battle damage. Usually the missions boil down to figuring out how you're supposed to complete them, then buying the proper equipment to do it. It's almost impossible to successfully complete a mission the first time, as a specific weapon or setup is usually most effective. Once you do complete it, you are awarded bonus money, and must pay for damage to your AC and for ammo used.
In the arena, you work your way through the ranks, fighting enemy AC's in chosen battlefields. Winning gives you prize money and lets you fight the next in line, and sometimes you can earn a new AC part as well. This rendition of the game expands upon the arena combat, and in fact one of the two discs is devoted to the higher levels of the arena. each AC you fight has a different customization and different fighting style, so each is a new challenge... sometimes.
One of my main beefs with this game is the amazing AI. Sometimes it's amazingly good, and sometimes amazingly stupid. As in older games that needed it to be challenging, the AI can do things no human could ever do, such as fly in the air and track and shoot you with a weapon that's extremely hard to aim. Other times, it unloads a full clip of ammo into a wall that you're hiding behind, and then runs around defenseless until you annhilate it. While I understand that AI is hard to program, it seems like this game takes a shortcut approach thats not totally neccessary; the game could have been challenging enough with better AI, not cheating AI.
Also, my main detraction from this game are the difficult controls. The main controls of movement, weapon selection, and firing are well done, but trying to aim anywhere but directly in front of you is a chore. The shoulder buttons on the playstation controller are used for looking side to side and up and down, and they are neither intuitive nor accurate. It's virtually impossible to aim at and shoot a target that's moving in the air, for example. This doesn't make much of a difference in the beginning of the game, but against harder arena opponents, it becomes frustrating. The ability to use an analog stick for aiming purposes would have been a godsend.
Graphics are good for the playstation. There is no slowdown or typical 3-D problems of clipping or blending, but the graphics aren't amazing either. They do the job, with no major defects. Sounds too are well done. Explosions sound good, and there are plenty of audio warnings to things like excessive damage and leaving an area; things you don't want to have to focus on visually.
The idea behind this game is nothing new, but because it does what it does so well, it scores bonus concept points. AC's are fully customizable, and the arena combat is really fun (no really, it is!).
Overall, a great game if you want some shooting fun without it being totally mindless. Especially with the addition of a friend who plays, you can plot out new strategies and enjoy some two-player mayhem. MoA is one of the few later playstation games to support the link cable for two-players as well. Good fun, at a now reasonable price.
Climb into a deadly giant robot and get ready for some intense combat. Don't like your weapons? No problem, just outfit your robot differently. You ca...More at GameQuest Direct. com
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