Armored Core 3
A reboot of the Armored Core series set in a subterranean world.
Armored Core 3, a third-person shooter from FromSoftware, hit the PlayStation 2 in 2002. As the sixth game in the series, it rebooted the franchise, kicking off a story that ran through Armored Core: Last Raven. The setting returns to a post-apocalyptic underground, where an AI called The Controller rules over humanity.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- FromSoftware
- Publisher
- FromSoftware (JP)
- Agetec (NA)
- Metro3D (EU)
- Producer
- Kenichiro Tsukuda
- Programmer
- Koji Nakanishi
- Composer
- Tsukasa Saitoh
- Artist
- Takeo Kido; Takahide Hamauchi
- Series
- Armored Core
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Armored Core 3 continues the series' core mechanics, with players piloting customizable mechs called Armored Cores. To earn money for customization, players complete missions for three major corporations, with mission costs such as repairs and ammunition automatically deducted from the reward. Voice-acted briefings provide a small amount of story before each mission. The Arena, returning after its removal in Another Age, is a free-form mode where players fight other pilots to rise in rank, earning credits and parts. Local multiplayer supports up to four players via split screen or console linking with a Sony I-Link Fire Wire cable, a new feature that increases the previous maximum of two players. An offline bot mode for fighting computer opponents is included. New features include USB mouse support for emblem design, computer-controlled allies that assist in missions, detachable weapons, and Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound.
Plot
Armored Core 3 reboots the series by placing players in a subterranean world called Layered, built by survivors after a nuclear war ruined the surface. This society is run by an artificial intelligence named The Controller, which controls almost every aspect of life. Three corporations—Mirage, Crest Industries, and the smaller Kisaragi—compete for power within Layered. Early in the story, The Controller starts glitching often, which boosts support for a rebel faction called Union that wants to bring it down. You play as a Raven, a mercenary working for the neutral Global Cortex organization. Your handler, Laine Meyers, gives you missions from different groups, and you decide which side to help. As the plot unfolds, you discover The Controller is secretly pushing the factions to wreck Layered’s own support systems, forcing you to fight it directly. Once you destroy The Controller, an emergency protocol opens Layered’s massive doors, letting humanity step onto the surface for the first time in hundreds of years.
Release
FromSoftware launched Armored Core 3 on the PlayStation 2 in Japan on April 4, 2002. Agetec helped bring it to North America on September 5, 2002, and Metro3D handled the European release on May 30, 2003. The game later arrived on the PlayStation Portable as Armored Core 3 Portable, hitting Japan on July 30, 2009, North America on October 21, 2009, and Europe on May 19, 2010. This version added widescreen support and an ad hoc multiplayer mode.
Reception
The PlayStation 2 version of Armored Core 3 received mixed or average reviews, while the PlayStation Portable version received generally unfavorable reviews, according to Metacritic. Famitsu gave the former a score of 34 out of 40. Critics praised the variety of mission objectives and the depth of customization but were unimpressed with the incremental nature of the game, barebones story, and continued control problems. Eurogamer's Martin Taylor called the variety of objectives impressive but noted that missions in uninspiring locales became tiresome. Game Revolution's Shawn Sanders stated that none had been able to compete with the complexity of the Armored Core series. IGN's David Smith wrote that FromSoftware seemed committed to doing the same thing over and over. GameSpot's Greg Kasavin called the design dated and criticized its unspectacular presentation. GameZone's Dylan Parrotta called the story under-developed at best and totally unintelligible at worst. The lack of dual analog control was especially derided.
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Elsewhere in Armored Core
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