Armored Core V

The novel integration of singleplayer and multiplayer is a brilliant feature in its own right, but it's yet to be seen how region-locking of the servers will factor into this automaton's staying power.

A brilliant game that is nonetheless difficult to recommend to everyone, then. But those with an eye for detail and a fair amount of patience will be rewarded with a deep, engaging and entirely idiosyncratic experience. Just don't go in expecting your hand to be held at any point.

If you've ever played and enjoyed an Armored Core game before, you have to buy V now. No questions asked. It's the best the series has ever seen and the online mode is balanced and deep, providing legs it desperately needs to contain a community. Even if you've never played an AC game before, now is the time to try. We're entering the golden age of mechs trying to blow each other up.

Even if you're aggravated early on, don't take this game at face value. From Software has developed some of this generation's most interesting games, and obtuse or not, Armored Core V is one of them.

A solid and intricate Armored Core with the best online offering yet, lacking only the visual sheen to make the energy and pace of its combat shine. It's still an acquired taste, but once you've whetted your appetite, it's hard to resist.

A niche game: complex and very demanding, it will award the player willing to patiently master each aspect. We would have liked a better technical production and a more involving story, though.

For you guys who love to collect gear and customize/create avatars, particularly mechas? Again, this is worth a look. Everyone else, you may want to give this a pass for now and wait to catch it at a discount.

The developers stayed true to 100% Mech customization, with over 500 parts that seem to offer infinite possibilities. Unfortunately, the singleplayer experience suffers from most work clearly having gone into the multiplayer aspects. With those, however, Armored Core V offers an extensive Mech MMO.

You need to be willing to work with the game long enough for that to happen, but Armored Core V isn't engaging enough for anyone but die-hard fans of giant robot customization to actually do so.

If you can't play online, Armored Core V is rather dry, but if you can, it's a detailed and substantial mech experience made loads better by the addition of other people.

Alas, I came to terms with the fact that if anyone wants to get the full enjoyment from this game, you have to be online at all times. There just isn't anything about the offline single player that makes you want to repeat doing the same old missions over and over again. The most enjoyable times are going to be during conquest mode taking out team territories and progressing through the story with friends at your side. You'll have bad times and good times all while enjoying the company of those that see you as a comrade in arms and a fellow gamer

A fun game and a unique blended experience for online-inclined players. It can feel a bit overwhelming with information feedback and customization menus, but with enough time and dedication to figuring things out, players will find a rewarding experience and solid mech combat.