Grey Corridor Central. (Armored Core 2 (PS2))

Member Name: thegoldencat

Product:	Armored Core 2 (PS2)
Date:	17/11/08 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some times you'll be outside, away from the scourge of the grey corridor.

Disadvantages: You usually won't.

Overview
Armored Core 2 is a mech-combat game from a long-running series that started on the playstation. This the first of the series to appear on the Playstation 2. They're still pumping them out to this day making tiny, incremental improvements to justify each new release, of which there have been countless millions. (At least.) But I get the impression they got the formula down in this one.

Story
There isn't one really. Well there is, but its rubbish.

Assorted criticism (This is the only section)
In Armored Core 2 one spends a lot of one's time engaged in seemingly fruitless activity that would not normally be categorised as fun. In fact despite this being a fun game overall its quite difficult, if not impossible to pin-point exactly where this enjoyment is to be found.

Its there though, somewhere: When it all comes together. Armored core 2 is still an enjoyable game. And for an eight year one it holds up quite well. Obviously if we're talking about visuals... its best not to say anything. Apart from- my haven't we come a long way since then.

Of course you could also say- Holy bloody god what the hell is that. Its grey! EVERYTHINGS GREY!! My god I'm a grey man running round a grey corrridor shooting at grey boxes. ITS A GAMING NIGHTMARE! AAARGH! Put COD4 on so I can wipe its hideous monochromatic visuals from my mind!

And so on. but that would be harsh and anyway you can change your robot-thing's colour. The crap graphics though you're stuck with.

That aside then, its all rosy? Well no, or rather nooooooooooooooo: not even close.

Its also agonisingly slow and clunky. Every movement is an effort, a ponderous trial. Targetting, moving, pretty much any action is rendered a chorewhen flying around in a robot should feel fun and effortless.

But that all instills the impression of a tangible sense of weight and grandeur to your mighty mehanical fighting machine no?

Well yeah but surely these awesome super weapons of the future would be able to, y'know, turn round properly. Otherwise they'd just spend all their time getting shot to pieces from all angles while they devote half an hour to just spinning pathetically on the spot wouldn't they? Woudn't they?? (yes)

I've laboured the point perhaps but you get the point, you will spend most of the time trying to face the guy who's blowing the crap out of you. Mostly unsuccessfully. Some ass missiles would be very handy a lot of the time. Hey! that could be the improvement for the next sequel. They could blow that across the box-

Armored Core 7, 662, 222 "Now With Ass Missiles!"

But hang on you said you liked it whats going on?

Yes it is truely an arcane matter how Armored core manages to be a good game. A contradiction. But like a bunch of wrongs making a right (Or Hulk Hogan landing on the moon) armored core 2 manages it.

Oh yeah and the FMV, bloody hell! Theres a enough of a pause in between each bit of dialogue to make yourself a cup of coffee. And thats good because that means leaving the room.

Seriously though this is a fun game. Honestly. Somehow spending two thirds of your time tinkering with your mech, attatching endless different parts from an endless list of categories, all to the end of participating in shockingly banal three-minute missions, mostly near indestinguishable from one another. And this, to the end that you get currency to spend on more parts so you can do more missions and, argh! Its an endless, vicious-circle of despair and pointlessness. My mech will never be good enough! Oh no my radiators too heavy! Why am I still playing this!

And therein lies the crux of the matter. You will be playing it, because even though this is essentially a rubbish game, it engages an obscure part of the brain which must be sated. Quite addictive then, and once you're entrenched in the endless micro-management and economising which makes up the meat of Armored core 2, and which is inexplicably enjoyable, its hard to let go, and your endless strivance for mechanised perfection will easily see you through a very old game that has one or two (or three or four...) flaws about it.


Additional
Clearly I have been somewhat satirical. If you put in a lot of time you can end up with a reasonably agile machine and pilotting such a craft feels more like the game should in the first place.

Summary: A marvellous, mind-blowing menagerie of mechanised mayhem. But grey.