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Armored Core 2 PS2 Review by: Kazooie

For the mecha enthusiast this game is the one to get, hands down. The game play is great and loads of fun. It is fairly hard to get the hang of using all the controls simultaneously initially for newcomers to the AC series, but this is one game where the more you practice the better you get, and there's real payoff to increasing your skill. There's almost always room for improvement too, the game play itself can hold tons of playtime by itself. This is basically a mech game that actually plays fast and fun, unlike the plodding snail-like Battletech I had the unfortunate experience of renting for the PSX. If you like mecha and robots (Voltron, Transformers, anime mecha) and don't mind spending a fair bit of time putting them together and experimenting, this is your game.

There are several new types of parts which can dramatically affect play depending if they are used right, and a new ability to over boost that will take some time to get used to in order to use to maximum effect. Many of these are also very cool besides being useful, like energy shields on arms that can be used to block shots and blades to reduce damage, dual laser blade arms, decoys for missiles, antimissiles which shoot down enemy volleys, and support missiles which add more missiles to your own volleys.

Some people complain the ACs turn too slow. They don't. Depending which parts you choose, they can turn fairly fast, but as with previous AC games, simply standing and turning _will_ usually get you slaughtered. The ACs can move for a reason, you have to hop and boost around to help turn your AC around faster. Also the reason they don't turn faster than they do is the controls would get too touchy, as is it can be hard to keep opponents in missile lock while multiple missiles lock up, making the ACs turn faster would make it nearly impossible to keep opponents in lock while moving without breaking lock.

I was disappointed you could not construct your own ACs to battle against in the arena like you could in Master of the Arena for PSX, this is another thing I'm sure they could have added without too much trouble. Another thing I didn't like is there's no way to skip the little 'story' sections at the beginning of some missions - they're cool, but if I'm doing the mission for the 10th time to get some quick cash I don't want to be forced to watch it. It should also ask if you want to reload the replay of a battle when you win in the arena instead of automatically loading it. For the most part, these are minor annoyances.

There isn't that much of a story, which is ok. Basically you're a mercenary on colonized Mars where corporations are battling each other for supremacy. You take missions with different employers to do various stuff, like eliminating targets, clearing areas of enemies, or guarding stuff. Who really cares though, the game is fun to play, the story is fairly hacked but it doesn't really matter.

The graphics got a long overdue update and the ACs now are much more detailed. Some weapons, especially missiles look much cooler when fired in general, but others don't look as cool like the Chain Gun. In general it looks much prettier than the other AC games, which is to be expected since they're four years out of date graphically.

The sound seems like it's actually suffered. Most weapons just don't sound as cool when fired as the ones in the old AC games. There's an annoying peeyew for the grenade launcher, I want to hear a boom! Same with the shotgun, sounds like paff instead of a packow! These should be improved, it seems like they spent too long trying to make sound effects for energy weapons and just had to recycle them for solid weapons too.

Despite this, once you get the controls down, this game shines like few others in terms of depth of play, high-level tactics/maneuvers, and just plain rockin fun. Enemies launch a volley of missiles at you which you avoid by spitting out a decoy, then switch weapons to return a volley of your own, which gets shot down by the enemies antimissiles. They then come in for a blade attack, which you spot in time to block with your energy shield before switching weapons again to guns and opening up with your machinegun while boosting away. Etc.

The game is going to consume a lot of hours, even to just get yourself worked up to the point where you can outfit the AC you want. It's going to take a while to master the controls, especially those who haven't played AC before. The game is fairly difficult, and should keep the average player busy for a while just beating the game. There is no analog support, and I honestly don't care, I find analog control too touchy for me most times anyway, and in AC touchy controls would get you butchered against good opponents. I give Armored Core 2 for the PS2 a 9/10 9/10

Presentation For the mecha enthusiast this game is the one to get, hands down.	9.0
Graphics The graphics got a long overdue update and the ACs now are much more detailed.	8.5
Gameplay There are several new types of parts which can dramatically affect play depending if they are used right	7.5
Overall The game is going to consume a lot of hours, even to just get yourself worked up to the point where you can outfit the AC you want.	9.0