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AC2:AA Game Rating, Review, and General Discussion


Harakiri Tiger

ACU Community Rating for Armored Core 2: Another Age  

7 members have voted

  1. 1. On a scale of one to five stars, what would you rate AC2:AA? (Read Topic Before Voting)

    • 5 Star (Incredible)
      3
    • 4 Star (Good)
      4
    • 3 Star (Average)
      0
    • 2 Star (Bad)
      0
    • 1 Star (Horrible)
      0


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This Rating, Review, and General Discussion topic is focused on Armored Core 2: Another Age.

 

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To help add a touch of personalization to the ACU Wiki articles covering each AC game, I have decided to add a section in their infoboxes that showcases what the ACU community feels about each game. This section is a rating of the games quality and approval by the ACU community and it is titled "ACU Rating". This rating is based off of a five point scale, ranging from one (a horrible game) to five (an incredible game). Only votes cast using the poll will be counted towards the Wiki's rating system. I will periodically check these topics and update the ACU Rating section for each game. The rating for a game will be the average of all of the votes cast for that game, rounded to the nearest integer.

 

The other important feature of this topic is to give us a source for the content that will go on each games main article page. This means everyone should write some form of review for whatever part of the game in question they feel like writing for. Even a few sentences giving your view on the games mechanics, story, or part balance can be highly helpful. We need as many viewpoints as possible to help insure the articles accurately reflect community views on the AC games. Also, this helps give us extra material to work with when filling in the main article pages for the AC games.

 

Of course, you're free to rate and review the games on whatever categories you can think of. If you can't think of anything, I have provided a list at the bottom of this post that can help you with picking things to rate the games on. There are quite a few categories to pick from. You do not have to rate the games using all of these categories, though.

 

You're free to be as biased as you like and discussion of the AC game in question is highly encouraged.

 

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Rating & Review Category List

  • Overall Game Difficulty - How hard was it to do everything you wanted to do in the game?
  • Default Controls - Did you like or dislike the default controls? Could you customize them?
  • Gameplay Mechanics - Did the way the game handled and the way things interacted in the game appeal to you?
  • New Features - Anything new to the series that you enjoyed or disliked in this game?
  • Bugs & Glitches - Were there any incredibly useful, useless, annoying, or funny bugs or glitches in the game?
  • Storyline Quality - Was the story coherent or entertaining? Were there any memorable moments?
  • Mission Quality - Were the missions fun, entertaining, repetitive, or just downright dull?
  • Arena (If Applicable) - How did the AI handle? Were the fights memorable?
  • Part Balance - Did you feel like the part balance was disappointing?
  • Part Diversity - Was there a satisfying variety of parts, regardless of or in regards to balance?
  • CG Art & Video - How do you feel about the games CG cutscenes and special movie scenes?
  • In-Game Graphics - Did you feel like the graphics and picture quality were sub-par or great?
  • Voice Acting - Were there any memorable voices in the game or voices that really fit their character well?
  • Sound Effects - How were the sound effects? Were they impressive or dull?
  • Background Music - Were there any tracks that played during the game you particularly enjoyed?
  • Multiplayer Mode - Was the multiplayer mode well-done or difficulty to utilize?
  • Other Stuff - Do you have anything else you want to mention about the game?

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  • 1 year later...

Overall Game Difficulty- This game was the most difficult AC games I've ever played because I came fresh from an Generation One AC background. As such, I had no idea about Limiter Removal, nor did I know that Floating types could hover over water until well after I beat the game; I didn't realize I was playing on Hard Mode the entire time. As a result, stages that would have be child's play with use of Limiter Removal or Floating type, were quite difficult. It may be a Hard Mode only phenomenon(since I haven't played it on normal), but certain AC opponents take a LOT of hits to kill. Too many. Personally I felt a little bit better knowing that CPU controlled ACs had more AP in AA, because in the Generation One games, I felt they were too easy to kill. However it seems a lot of them have too much AP, and still have infinite ammo. Nor do they suffer any damage from ammo heat. Not having anyway to get Humanoid plus other than playing the previous installment seems to be punishing new players who will definitely struggle with maneuvering.

 

When it's all said and done...I appreciate the fact that this game wasn't easy. After having beaten Seraph, I felt very accomplished.

 

Default Controls - I'm used to the controls from playing the G1 games, so I enjoyed being able to come back to them.The Extension and Overboost are easy to learn.

 

Gameplay Mechanics - The damage from Air Blading has been scaled down dramatically, which might have made a difference if there was no overboost feature. Due to the overall evasiveness of ACs improving, Airblading is a lot more difficult. Stun from solid weapons has been reduced greatly, but even with the new heat system it hardly seems worth it, because evasion has become easier. Overall, I'm not fond of the heat system. It doesn't work in your favor in missions, only in versus. In the G1 one games, ALL of them weapons were automatic; you could hold down the button, and your AC would continuously fire it's weapon. In AA, most of the shell weapons are automatic and most of the energy weapons are not. However it ends up being annoying, rather than balancing out energy weapons.

 

New Features - I don't care for the radiator/heat system very much. Most of the inside parts, except a few are useless. The extensions are better, with the new missiles being helpful, but in high level gameplay, you're forced to use the turn booster. The modifications made to the HUD was also a feature that I really liked. Although the Remnants of Enemies feature causes confusion in some missions, especially when the enemies respawn. I kinda missed the Mail feature from the G1 games.

 

Bugs & Glitches - Being able to stand on Phantasma back and nuke him is nice. I'm not sure whether or not that was intentional. It' always been weird when another AC stands ontop of you and looks like they're levitating.

 

The only other real problem is that sometime the Rising Ability stats for Tanks and Humanoids will freeze at a certain value in the performance screen. I'm not sure what causes it, but sometime the stat might remain at 0, 1000, or 2000 regardless of how much weight is removed from the AC. It can be frustrating when trying to add on parts, and the value changes spontaneously, since not everyone can figure out Rising Ability just by looking at an AC.

 

Storyline Quality - Coolest moment for me was assist the two ACs in stopping the rampaging AC. You get there, here the theme music as you look at the dead ACs, and then the operator "has a bad feeling". By far my favorite moment in the game. I didn't even pay attention to the name of the mission so it caught me by surpise. I didn't really feel that the last boss(Antares) was really an important part of the plot.

 

Mission Quality - Some of the missions, like the Mt. Horwick Missions weren't fun at all, and just felt like a chore, but again, I had no idea about Limiter Removal. As were most of the sea missions. I hated the bomb disarming mission with a passion. I would have been able to deal with them easier if the rewards were better parts, or if there were more hidden parts in the game. I really hate searching for hidden items in tough stages only to not find them. Some of the MT opponents seemed incredibly tough. The giant prototype MT(not the "Massive" one) was quite a nasty opponent. If I wasn't using Rockets, beating it would have been incredibly difficult considering how weak most of the weapons are. With the exception of Hustler-One who I felt was too hard to kill, I really enjoyed the missions where you had to fight an AC. The Final Battle with Antares was a huge let down. Battling Nineball Seraph was ridiculously difficult. Although the bragging rights associated with beating him are great.

 

Arena - No Arena, and it was kind of a let down.

 

Part Balance & Part Diversity- Caterpillar types have been completely nerfed in this game. In the Generation One AC games, Caterpillars had the most efficient boosters and the lowest energy drain. As a result they could stay Airborne (via pump boosting) longer than any other ACs. In this game both Humanoids and RJs can stay airborn longer than Caterpillars. With the damage on Airblading scaled down, this puts tanks at a huge disadvantage. This weakness is compounded when people use humanoid plus.

 

Rjs also got a nerf in terms of their turning speed. It was overall a lot higher in the G1 games, and now it's generally worse than quads. I found this to be an unnecessary nerf because their load capacity is not that great. This nerf is only justified on the VAT RJ legs which have a high load capacity, and very good jumping ability.

 

To the designers credit, the Karasawa can now be used by certain Quads and Tanks, whereas it was only available to Tanks and RJs in G1 games. This is both a blessing and a curse.

 

The main problem is that the Karasawa is far too powerful in this game. It's more powerful than any other arm weapon, and most back weapons. Players are forced to use the Karasawa against bosses because hardly any other Right Arm weapon is strong enough to kill them. In the G1 games, Weapon Arms had no armor, but incredibly high attack power, so it was worth the trade-off to use them instead of Right Arm weapons. In AA there's no point. Most ACs are better of with the lightest of arms(which have more defense than Weapon arms) and the Karasawa.

 

The Karasawa has always been a powerful weapon, but in G1 games it wasn't flat out superior to every other weapon. In G1 AC games the Light Bazooka for example had less attack power than the Karasawa, but a lot more shots. This makes sense, because the speed and attack power of energy weapons can be boosted with optional parts. In AA the Karasawa has more attack power, higher reload speed, AND more shots. It's tracking is also MUCH better than it was in the G1 games, and the beam is much thicker allowing it to hit targets more easily.

 

Perhaps it's not to say that the Karasawa is too powerful(which it is) but that the other weapons are too weak. A lot of the back weapons are incredible strong, but have very few shots. The Dual Chain Gun for example is the most pathetic weapon in the game. For all it's weight, it has low ammo, and very low attack power, making the regular chain gun and the light chain gun both more effective weapons. It's reload rate isn't justified.

 

 

Most extensions are useless or impractical. While the Extra Missiles and Extra Armor are fun to use, players are forced to equip the turn boosters if they want to be effective in high-end versus gameplay. The insides are especially worthless. Bomb Dispensers have always been so-so at best, but now they seem pointless. The reverse vulcan, mine dispenser, are good, but the orbit maker makes them useless like the Karasawa does the normal weapons.

 

Handguns have gotten worse. Lowered attack power and bad stun. Shotgun should have been good, but are little better than sniper rifles, which are ineffective as far as shell weapons go, lacking power, stun, and heat. Machine Guns are still good, but the Bazookas suffered a major nerf, when compared to the godly Karasawa.

 

Rockets...the most skill oriented weapon in the game took a huge nerf. Their ammo numbers have mostly been shaved in half, oddly except the best 3(Small, Large, ECM). For some strange reason the ECM rocket has more ammo, which is a good thing, although it can be kind of cheap. Small Rockets do less damage, and the Large Rockets do much less damage. Again the new "heat" system doesn't compensate for the difference.

 

In terms of selection, there's a decent variety in normal arms, and humanoid legs. In terms of generators the selection was better in G1 games; there wasn't a clear cut "best" generator, each one had different strengths for different ACs. The core selection was surprisingly small, and the FCS selection hasn't evolved much. Shields are an interesting addition to the game, but they're more like training wheels for beginners. Once a player realizes how powerful the blade is, there's no reason to equip a shield.

 

I was impressed with the variety of heads. And with the new radar(back units). In the G1 games, the radar scope on some radars was so large, it was hard to determine the position of a close range enemy. That problem has been fixed. In additon some of them have bio sensors and noise cancellors. Traditionally in AC games the selection of humanoid legs has always been far greater than the other leg types, and this game is no different.

 

Floating types are an interesting addition to the game. They have speed surpassing quads, but cannot fire backweapons while moving. They're greatest asset in missions is the ability to move over water. Floating types seem to get the most out of the overboost system. However from a competitive standpoint (non PLOW), they aren't better than any of the other leg types. They would actually be a lot more effective WITHOUT the overboost system. With it, Quads are generally a better choice, as they can generally accomplish the same kind of tactics more effectively. Still, a good player can take advantage of the speed Floating types are capable of.

 

 

CG Art - Not really much other than the opening intro. The art during the credit roll was pretty cool.

 

In-Game Graphics- Depends on what monitor you're playing the game on. The game looked fine on my TV, but on my friend's it looked very dark.

 

Voice Acting - I was happy to see the operator from the G1 games return. Overall the voice acting was good. From the bourgousie woman who works for the BOC to the rat-like representive of the Indies.

 

Sound Effects - Lots and lots of detail put into the sound. It kind of bothers me that the grenade launcher has a laser weapon sound instead of the more ominous sound it had in G1 games.

 

Background Music- The only tracks I liked were the old school tracks. Other than that the music wasn't exciting. I like hearing the Big Beat/Electronica type music in mech games, but this stuff wasn't memorable. But hey, it could be worse, like the god-awful music from Virtual-On Mars.

 

Multiplayer Mode - Multiplayer missions were fun. A multiplayer option to double team Seraph would have been nice. While I think the overboost is an interesting feature in missions, I think it adversely affects Versus battles against human opponents. Being able to continually overboost allows players to runaway and stall for time. Some people can literally get a few hits in, and then boost away and allow time to run out. That makes Versus very boring. I'm not sure if it's just my copy of the game, but it seems that you can't keep any of the money you make in versus missions.

 

The Versus Arena selection is the worst, by far out of any AC game. Simply porting copies would have been more interesting...however I understand it to a degree. The giant G1 stages would have made it even easier for people to overboost and runaway during versus matches. Even considering that, the versus stages were not that exciting.

 

Other Stuff - I was upset that the game didn't have the gameplay demo that the G1 AC games had. That usually got me excited to play. Overall, I enjoyed this game, but coming from a G1 background the gameplay is very slow, and the ACs are sluggish by comparison. My other pet peeve was that your AC's AI no longer identified enemy ACs by name.

Edited by Geist X
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