"Armored Core V" PS3 version Closed Beta end, premonition of innovative Robogie

Since its introduction in 1997, it continues to boast of a strong popularity due to the concept of "fighting by manipulating robots assembled by myself" and its uncompromising creation."Armored Core"Closed beta test of the new series of "Armored Core V" was done.

In this Armored Core, multiplayer elements such as multiple people teaming up online, competing with other teams for the territory are added, and the game character is greatly expanded. So, based on the content of the game I could experience in closed beta, I will tell you what kind of game the new Armored Core is.

◆ What is Armored Core?


Armored Core is a robot action game developed by From Software, which is a series of concepts that combine over 500 different parts to create your own robot "AC" and perform various missions on it.

AC placed in the garage. Mechanical design that makes you feel stylish why it's rugged is also an attraction of Armored Core. The bottom graphic is finished as beautiful as it seems to be a capture of a movie scene, but this is a confirmation screen of yourself at the time of assembly (assembly of the aircraft), to confirm the appearance by turning your own machine in this scene even in closed beta I made it.




Armored Core collects and combines each part such as the head, leg, arm, core, boost, and creates your own body. There are other games that make and manipulate robots by themselves, but Armored Core is outstanding in the variety of parts and the variety of airframe performance that can be realized by it, and it continues to attract fans for over 10 years It has become. More than 500 kinds of parts will appear in V.


◆ Armored Core V is online


In Armored Core 4, up to eight players could compete online, but in V, the online elements were further strengthened and players teamed up with other players connected online, with each team having their territory , Scrambling the territory like a campaign battle.

You can enter the team by applying for enlistment to an existing team or by creating a new team by yourself.


Teams can enlist themselves by enlisting enlistment by member approval system, making closed team of only limited members.


Selection of the territory to invade. Invade the other team's territory to rob the territory, take a defensive game, prevent attacks from other teams, and fight for the territory.


In the previous series, to cope with various missions and types of enemies, it was necessary to have a certain degree of versatility to the aircraft even if it was free, but due to the team's battle, Furthermore, it seems that a distinctive aircraft of individuality can be active.

◆ Super fast battle using the new element "wall kick (boost drive)", operation is simple


Ultra high-speed battle using boost is one of the important attractions of Armored Core, but for those who have never played a series, there are elements that give the image "Armored Core is difficult to operate" It might have been.

However, when you actually play V closed beta, it seems that it is now possible to perform a fairly intuitive operation in this work. Especially, the action "boost drive" which kicks the walls that did not exist in the past so far and moves at high speed is simple, it looks and is easy to operate, even a person who plays the Armored Core for the first time is an innovative element that can enjoy high speed battle I feel such a possibility.

As a feature of V, the setting of the size of the AC itself is also reduced to about 5 m from the conventional 10 m, and the buildings lined up more than the own aircraft are getting bigger. The altitude that can be raised by jumping and regular boosting is also limited, and in order to climb on the building, you need to kick the wall and climb the wall.


The height limit that can be increased seems to have the effect of lowering the hurdle of entry by beginners. In the previous series, while floating with fluff in the air, it was necessary to dodge the missile by technical operation while measuring the remaining energy of the boost, but this was also a big hurdle for beginners.

However, as the size of the aircraft itself has become smaller this time, the importance of topography such as buildings and upland stands has become extremely large, because even small buildings can hide enemy bullets only by hiding behind, the complexity It seems that the strategy of "how to fight in advantageous terrain" is more important than the boost operation.

AC up kicking the wall with a boost drive and rising high, attacking the enemy boat from above. In team warfare, it is not necessary to fight against all the enemy AC's because the victory or defeat has been settled by destroying all the designated batteries and helicopters, but the power of the bullets fired by the turret is not extraordinary It is strengthened as much as it is, if it is a lightweight type aircraft, you will be seriously injured by mourning just by taking a stroke. As a result, strategies and techniques for attacking the elevator from a safe angle and position are likely to become extremely important.


In addition, it is now possible to "kick" newly in the work. In the previous series, it was necessary to equip either arm with "blades" etc. in order to do fighting in close proximity, but in this work it is possible to approach a battle even if you have a gun in both hands .


◆ Various machine characteristics


Although the kind of parts is fulfilling enough to say that the biggest attraction of Armored Core is in its abundant parts, it is also interesting to assemble (assembly) that the characteristics of each part clearly appear in the game It is a factor that makes it exceptional.

Design of the head part. The head part has functions to analyze external information, which affects the lock function etc. There are parts suitable for approaching battle and parts suitable for sniper.



In the armored core, since the leg parts play an extremely important role, the type of AC is often classified by the type of the legs frequently, such as "the opposite foot", "that tank", etc. referring to AC. There are four types of legs: "bipod", "reverse joint", "tank" and "quadruped".

The bipod type is classified into lightweight, medium weight, and weight by loadable parts weight, light weight loading parts are small but the speed is fast, weight moves slower but many parts are installed I can do it. The lower design picture is expressed as "medium and two biped" because it is a medium type of bipod.



This is a two-legged weight type.


Inverse joint type is thinner in armor than the bipod type and does not have much load, but it is excellent in jumping power. Especially in Armored Core V, jumping is an extremely important factor, and in order to climb the hill, we quickly join the high place with the high jumping power against other types that have to kick the wall to climb the wall The place of activity of inverse joints that can do things is likely to be wide.


The tank features thick armor and extremely high loading capacity. Although the movement is slow, it has strengths such as shooting a cannon cannon of great power without stance motion, and it seems to be an essential element for the base defense game. In this work there is also a range in the power of weapons, weapons of power that are able to shoot down AC in 2 to 3 shots are also prepared. Even in the closed beta, I met many times in the scene that it was shot down by tank bombardment at the moment when I passed through the tunnel. In addition, the caterpillar turns when walking in this work.


The quadruped type is highly stable, it improves accuracy of shooting and reloading, so it is suitable for sniping with a heavy weapon, it is possible to hide in high places and fight like a turret like a battery. In this work, special gimmicks such as driving anchor to the ground at the time of sniper are prepared, and boasting a strong popularity through its series from its characteristic form.


When a Cannon type weapon is attached, the type other than the tank becomes "shooting shooting" at launch.


In stance shooting mode, the viewpoint switches and zoom up, enabling more accurate shooting. Effective sniper was difficult in closed beta because the stage was not so wide, but the stability of the quadruped type is outstanding, if you secure enough distance with four legs at a high place, it is quite I was able to hit it.


The blade of this work attacks with the image that flames come out from the front of the fuselage sideways. In the sense used in the closed beta, the range of attack is wide, it is quite easy to apply, and the attack power is also very strong. Equipped with blades on both hands, it is also possible to deliver super strong attacks with cross-slashing motion.


In addition, in this work, you can equip the weapon as a "hanger unit" on the shoulder, you can use it in exchange for the weapon held in the left and right arms according to the situation. It is also possible to equip various weapons, take the tactics of using effective weapons by seeing the attributes of enemies.


Attributes of weapons


In V, attributes are given to weapons. Depending on parts, concepts of weak points are introduced, such as weak against chemical bullets instead of strong against bullets. Attributes of weapons are the following three types.

· KE (Kinetic Energy): Weapons using physical impact. Use live ammunition.
· CE (Chemical Energy): A weapon that uses energy generated by a chemical reaction. Use chemical bullets.
TE (Thermal Energy): Weapons using thermal energy. Use optical bullets.

The weapon under is a bullet weapon. "KE" is displayed in the top "Attack power" item.


In the sense of the closed beta, the influence of the attribute was quite large, and even a live bullet weapon with high offensive power could not be easily damaged, it was felt a remarkable difference such as being able to destroy easily with optical bullets. As a result, the strength of the aircraft is relativeized by the opponent's weapon, so there is no "best assemble", so there is a lot of room for devising the way the team is built.

"Battle rifle" is a weapon of CE attribute (chemical bullet). The attenuation of power by distance is small, and the effect is demonstrated also for the opponent who KE attribute (live bullet) is not effective.


Some of the TE attributes (optical bullets) can charge shots. Various tactics are possible depending on the type of weapon.


◆ Maintenance of the territory


In the team warfare of V, the victory condition at the invasion of the enemy map is not destruction of enemy AC, but destruction of targets such as turret and helicopter specified within the time limit, so the invader side is aggressive It is necessary to take an attack on the defense side and the battery is destroyed if it is running around.

It is possible to set up a defensive facility such as an elevator in the team's territory, which will enable you to advance defensive warfare advantageously. The image below is the territory prior to the installation of the elevator.


Arranging the batteries at key points.


The territory where the battery was installed. In closed beta, it was impossible to customize the territory, but since the power of the attack by the turret is quite powerful, it can be imagined that even just one more battery will be sufficient pressure.


◆ Cooperation among players is important in team competition


Because the power of weapons is high in V, it is not unusual for yourself to be sunk in moment if you battle with multiple ACs. What is necessary to avoid this situation is how to cooperate with the team and how to create an advantageous situation. In addition to the AC 4 aircraft, one operator can participate in the competition.

The operator is responsible for giving accurate instructions to allies while grasping the situation of the whole battlefield, and you can hit the searchable "RECON" on the map and grasp the position of the enemy.


Players in the same team are able to voice chat, and in the impression that played closed beta, if there is voice chat, it is also possible to maneuver such as to pinch from the front and back with the timing of entering the enemy's gathered point So you can fight surprisingly advantageously.

The operator can grasp the status of the battlefield and the state of each army of his army in real time. If the operator works well, it will be possible to use various tactics.


By typing a marker, the operator can give instructions to the members without intervening the voice, but in the closed beta the players were not used yet and the instructions were often not transmitted well.


Functions such as symbol chat are not implemented in closed beta, but if you increase the communication means that does not involve the voice during play and waiting a little more, you can avoid having to feel disadvantage in play by alone I received the impression that there was nothing.

◆ Story mission enables smoother progress


In this closed beta, we were able to play only one story mission, but as compared with the Armored Core series so far, the characters of the characters are much more serious, the number of characters themselves It is an increasing impression.



In the series so far, too, the map is so wide that it often happens that I do not know where to go, but if the destination is specified, the guide will be shown so the impression that the story progresses fairly smoothly received.



Furthermore, in this work, it is possible to perform armed replacement at a specific point during the mission. In the series so far, since I started the mission, it was not easy for me to retire once I gave up that "This map can not be this armed." However, in the current work, such foot stepping may be less. Fellows come down with a helicopter when exchanging.


The closed beta this time is not handling of the trial version, but since the general user participates in the pilot operation of the development stage game, all the screens in the mission are provisional and post play movies etc. here Things can not be done, but AC like those posted on the image on the top were moving very fast and grin.

In the closed beta, the rough edges were also conspicuous in detail, but for the testers who played the closed beta with the contents that make the atmosphere feeling like an innovative robot action game feel adequate, I can not wait for the release in October I wonder if it is unbearable.

"Armored Core V" is scheduled to be released on 7800 yen (tax included), October 20, 2011 (Tue) on 2011.

Armored Core V Official Site