Rotten Core
Armored Core 3 Portable serves as an archaic, painful reminder of how far the series has come.
Published: December 1, 2009
It's been a whopping seven years since Armored Core 3 hit the PlayStation 2, and in that time, a whole hell of a lot has changed. The ACs (mechs, if you aren't into the series vernacular) have become far more agile, have stepped into levels that are orders of magnitude more detailed, diverse and, most importantly, larger and the actual combat has seen some serious updates in speed and adaptability. In short, the series has gone somewhat mainstream -- at least as close to it as Armored Core has ever been, leaving the clunky, stoic games of yesteryear in the past.
I'll fully admit, though, that I have a major soft spot for the old Armored Core games. When I got into gaming PR over a decade ago, Agetec was one of my publishers and I became enamored with From Software's strident insistence on making games that didn't[i] appeal to everyone. Sure, stuff like [i]King's Field and Armored Core made for some tough sells to the mainstream, but I could always count on the enthusiast side to have a couple fans here and there that would properly appreciate the particularly clunky but enormously deep ways of building ACs.
Which is why I take no great pleasure in being on the other end of the fence in reviewing Armored Core 3 Portable. I know it's a hard sell to just about anyone for a PR person, and anyone working on this title has my deepest sympathies. Most will probably treat the game like they did when it hit on the PS2; play for a few minutes or fumble around for an hour and then start clicking away at their keyboards with a scathing review of how boring or ugly or clunky it all is. I, on the other hand, have given the game plenty of time and attempted to connect to the me of seven years ago that would have squealed with delight at a new Armored Core game.
Here's the problem, though: even by 2002's standards, played by 2002 Sam, this is a difficult game to enjoy. And it's most definitely not 2002 anymore. Armored Core 3 Portable is a lens back into the earlier days of the series and a stark reminder as to why From Software had to give the whole series an overhaul with subsequent iterations. Yes, it's clunky, but that much can be overcome with a little patience. Hell, it takes a few hours before you even get to the good stuff: customization, and that's where the real meat of an Armored Core game comes from.
Except that the game almost seems to be trying to prevent gamers from getting to that point. The briefings lack any sort of context to suck you into the world. The actual arenas you'll fight in are tiny even by PS2 AC standards. The lack of information shared between menus makes diving in and out of screens to check stats or further information an absolute chore. Well before the game ever has a chance to involve the player it's already worked on almost every level to dismiss them. Can the game be good? Sure, it's Armored Core after all, but why this version of Armored Core was ever released for the PSP is a serious head-scratcher, and to be perfectly honest, I've moved on. I can still get my fix of customization and build an AC that can scar the landscape with a couple dozen rockets or scream across open water with an infinite amount of boost energy. Going back to small, black fogged attempts at a downtown city or dusky canyon just aren't doing it anymore.
I would defy anyone to look at just about any part of Armored Core 3 Portable's graphics aside from the ACs themselves (which still look decent, but suffer from the PSP's trademark lack of detailed textures and whittled down poly counts on arguably the most important and ever-present screen element) and try to say it looks good even by PSP standards. It's an ugly game and there's no getting around it. The sound isn't much better (aside from some ambient menu music), with barebones effects work and a lack of oomph to anything even with a nice pair of headphones on. This is simply not a game up to 2009's standards, and if From Software wanted to do a port, they sure as hell should have attempted to properly embrace the PSPs feature set.
They didn't, and the result is a game that's simply trapped in time -- a period in time that has been relegated to a kind of quaint, far-off memory rather than something to be looked back upon as the progenitor of where we are now. It's... irrelevant, and it pains me to even write that. This pains me even more: Armored Core 3 Portable is simply not worth picking up. It's barely worth playing and I mean that for the AC superfans out there. Everyone else will just find this a massive waste of money. Goodbye, Armored Core of old; you'll be missed, but if this is any indication, not much.
I'll fully admit, though, that I have a major soft spot for the old Armored Core games. When I got into gaming PR over a decade ago, Agetec was one of my publishers and I became enamored with From Software's strident insistence on making games that didn't[i] appeal to everyone. Sure, stuff like [i]King's Field and Armored Core made for some tough sells to the mainstream, but I could always count on the enthusiast side to have a couple fans here and there that would properly appreciate the particularly clunky but enormously deep ways of building ACs.
Which is why I take no great pleasure in being on the other end of the fence in reviewing Armored Core 3 Portable. I know it's a hard sell to just about anyone for a PR person, and anyone working on this title has my deepest sympathies. Most will probably treat the game like they did when it hit on the PS2; play for a few minutes or fumble around for an hour and then start clicking away at their keyboards with a scathing review of how boring or ugly or clunky it all is. I, on the other hand, have given the game plenty of time and attempted to connect to the me of seven years ago that would have squealed with delight at a new Armored Core game.
Here's the problem, though: even by 2002's standards, played by 2002 Sam, this is a difficult game to enjoy. And it's most definitely not 2002 anymore. Armored Core 3 Portable is a lens back into the earlier days of the series and a stark reminder as to why From Software had to give the whole series an overhaul with subsequent iterations. Yes, it's clunky, but that much can be overcome with a little patience. Hell, it takes a few hours before you even get to the good stuff: customization, and that's where the real meat of an Armored Core game comes from.
Except that the game almost seems to be trying to prevent gamers from getting to that point. The briefings lack any sort of context to suck you into the world. The actual arenas you'll fight in are tiny even by PS2 AC standards. The lack of information shared between menus makes diving in and out of screens to check stats or further information an absolute chore. Well before the game ever has a chance to involve the player it's already worked on almost every level to dismiss them. Can the game be good? Sure, it's Armored Core after all, but why this version of Armored Core was ever released for the PSP is a serious head-scratcher, and to be perfectly honest, I've moved on. I can still get my fix of customization and build an AC that can scar the landscape with a couple dozen rockets or scream across open water with an infinite amount of boost energy. Going back to small, black fogged attempts at a downtown city or dusky canyon just aren't doing it anymore.
I would defy anyone to look at just about any part of Armored Core 3 Portable's graphics aside from the ACs themselves (which still look decent, but suffer from the PSP's trademark lack of detailed textures and whittled down poly counts on arguably the most important and ever-present screen element) and try to say it looks good even by PSP standards. It's an ugly game and there's no getting around it. The sound isn't much better (aside from some ambient menu music), with barebones effects work and a lack of oomph to anything even with a nice pair of headphones on. This is simply not a game up to 2009's standards, and if From Software wanted to do a port, they sure as hell should have attempted to properly embrace the PSPs feature set.
They didn't, and the result is a game that's simply trapped in time -- a period in time that has been relegated to a kind of quaint, far-off memory rather than something to be looked back upon as the progenitor of where we are now. It's... irrelevant, and it pains me to even write that. This pains me even more: Armored Core 3 Portable is simply not worth picking up. It's barely worth playing and I mean that for the AC superfans out there. Everyone else will just find this a massive waste of money. Goodbye, Armored Core of old; you'll be missed, but if this is any indication, not much.
