Armored Core: For Answer

If you think mech customization and boost-filled battles sound like your cup of tea, Armored Core does deliver on those parts.

Armored Core: For Answer has it hits and misses.

Throughout the campaign, several missions require you to tackle mobile “Arms Forts”. These are tremendously large battle platforms, bristling with heavy artillery, missile racks, and other surprises.

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.

Armored Core is best enjoyed with other enthusiasts, and For Answer has an impressive array of online options. [Sept 2008, p.88]

Armored Core for Answer will completely satisfy any fans of the series thus far, and will even do the job for action or mech fans in general. Newcomers to the mech genre might find themselves lost in the customization options and level of difficulty presented.

The latest Armored Core makes up for the series' lack of progress by simply being fun to play.

The game is solid, looks good and plays well, but it just has a "feel" that's not for everyone.

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]

Although the franchise needs clearer improvements, for Answer is a title that will captivate fans of the mechs. The incorporation of a cooperative mode brings a nice add-on, and the customization continues being one of great the attractiveness of the Armored Core series.

Solid Mech action combined with more technical blabbering than the average gamer is likely to appreciate. For all that, it's still a cool game. Certainly not made for the broad masses, but cool.

I appreciate the realization of scale in the game, and the overall fun you get out of just blowing things away with the different weapons you can toy around with. I'm not sure if there's been enough improvements here to appease fans, but as a player that hasn't been immersed in the Armored Core universe for a bit, I had a pretty good time.

Basically, play it for the multiplayer, or don’t play it at all.

The customizing of your own Mech, the good looks, the amount of weaponry, and decent story are all positive features of an average installment in the Armored Core-series. The missions and bland surroundings get repetitive after a while, and the fact that nobody plays the game online is a real letdown. All in all, Armored Core for Answer breathes mediocrity.

The cut scenes are gorgeous, the mech design is cool, the overall art style is kind of awesome… but the game itself isn’t really worth it.

This latest entry offers plenty for fans, but makes no concessions to anyone else. [Feb 2009, p.80]

Unless you're a major mech fiend, you'll lose interest within a few hours. [Dec 2008, p.87]

Definitely enjoyable in its own way, but a camera that can't keep pace with the action and dated visuals means that this is one for fans of the series only.

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.

The game does provide a few improvements, bringing revised flight controls and new cooperative mission modes, but For Answer lacks what a great series needs in order to stay relevant: progress.