Debuted to immediate praise at The Game Awards this past December, Armored Core VI has since languished in a scrapyard of theories, speculation, hearsay, and bubbling excitement.
That is until today, April 27th, when title developers Fromsoftware released an over three-minute long trailer highlighting gameplay, story, and more. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon eyes an official debut date of August 25th, 2023.
Last seen in 2013 with Armored Core V: Verdict Day, the series has long remained dormant as series creators Fromsoftware focused on such megahits as Dark Souls, Sekiro, and Bloodborne.
Despite the franchise's long hiatus, from what was shown amidst the newest trailer, little has been lost in how the game's functions and mechanics work in line with the narrative.
As with most Armored Core games, Fires of Rubicon will seemingly drop players into the cockpit of a mech suit, oftentimes abbreviated as an AC (Armored Core) for simplicity.
Pilots are typically referred to as Ravens, mercenaries for hire to the highest payer, taking on odd jobs (or missions) for both reputation and monetary gain, which directly influences the story and its many characters.
Armored Core VI, which is incidentally the sixteenth game in the long-running series, takes players to the reddish-scorched world of Rubicon, which has been devastated following a cosmic cataclysm involving an energy source known simply as coral. The story will focus primarily on a mech pilot serving various different factions and megacorporations on the hunt for coral across the sand-coated, sun-charred, and industrial-decayed remains of Rubicon.
"It's an intricate and multi-layered world, brimming with mega-structures and enormous underground facilities built by its former inhabitants," explains game director Masaru Yamamura in a PlayStation blog post. "These structures cover a planetary surface wracked with extreme cold and contamination in the aftermath of the great disater, and the player will be exploring these various environments as they proceed."
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Yamamura went on to describe how some landscapes, primarily "sweeping battlefields," will be "very combat-oriented," while other instances will have players "recovering data logs from the wreckage and doing other side objectives too."
Fires of Rubicon will seemingly stay as close as possible to its predecessors while still offering an extremely modern take on the franchise in line with some expert new additions.
For one, Armored Core VI will be introducing a so-called assault boost combat feature that allows players to seamlessly switch from long-range to short-range. This will aid in combat scenarios wherein players might be swiftly moving in and out of their target vector, as well as allowing for some incredible combos.
The game will also feature a new "stagger" combat scenario that will see a mech's Altitude Control System overload when the mech has taken too much damage over a short amount of time.
As with previous installments, ACVI will also play host to an immensely detailed and extensive garage, which will allow players to build and craft their AC to their liking. In the newest title, players will be allowed four weapon slots, one for each hand and two on the back.
Players will also be allowed to fully customize and kit out their ACs with different legs, heads, and cores for varied versatility and environments.
Long-standing fans will be pleased to see the return and heavy focus on laser swords and the like, as Yamamura described these weapons as being pivotal to the experience.
He says, "These can include a cluster bomb thrower, a chainsaw or pulse blade, lances, and other more idiosyncratic weapons. Since the main weapons are firearms, the melee weapons are more focused on that strength of individuality."
Additionally, the much-beloved Arena mode will be returning, allowing fans to dive headlong into a vat of combat with specially-tailored mechs and more. The so-called "combat aptitude evaluation program' will feature "a lot of colorful characters to fight," Yamamura said, highlighting top rank as a major goalpost to hit for players.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon flies into stores come August 25th, 2023, nearly 26 years since the series first launched on the PlayStation in 1997.
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