Wiki AC:fA Game Rating, Review, and General Discussion

[Harakiri Tiger]

This Rating, Review, and General Discussion topic is focused on Armored Core: for Answer.

 

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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?
  

[Taurus]

well, the result vote,

• Overall Difficulty------------------------3/5 (but only mission 42th I'll give it for 5/5)
  
• Default Controls-------------------------4/5 (a bit new control if compared with retro series, btw I like it)
  
• Mechanics--------------------------------3/5 (too much detail, somethings retro games could do better)
  
• New Features----------------------------3/5 (at least, it wasn't much different)
  
• Bugs + Glitches-------------------------4/5 (didn't have any bugs would be better)
  
• Story-------------------------------------5/5 (for Otsdarva and Maximilian Thermidor)
  
• Mission Quality (Single Player)---------3/5 (trust me, ACPP or MoA would be more interesting missions)
  
• Arena (If Applicable)--------------------3/5 (because it was too easy)
  
• Part Balance-----------------------------3/5 (LR could be balance than FA)
  
• Part Diversity----------------------------3/5 (same reason as above)
  
• CG Art + Video--------------------------3/5 (good, but for trailer video, AC4 better than FA)
  
• Graphics---------------------------------4/5 (only thing that I don't like is explosive from grenade when look at it from far, far away)
  
• Voice Acting-----------------------------5/5 ("LYNX of Collared, Thermidor here...")
  
• Sounds-----------------------------------4/5 (good enough)
  
• Music-------------------------------------4/5 (good, but again, AC4 songs are better)
  
• Multiplayer-------------------------------3/5 (for so laggy, but sometimes I'll give it 4/5....btw it's up to my net)
  

total result : 3/5

[Rogan]

Difficulty: Its sad, very sad 1/5

Controls: The same as AC4 so they are solid 4/5

Mechanics: Don't try to jump to this from retro 3/5

New features: They took a decent mechanic in QB and killed it, I like the use of Assault Armor and OB 3/5

Bugs: Don't get me started 1/5

Story: Hard to follow and not really important, I did like the option to play the bad guy 2/5

Missions: These are stupidly easy 1/5

Arena: Same as above 1/5

Part balance: It wasn't until reg 1.4 that the game was well balanced but its just fine now 4/5

Part Diversity: I love it, wish the pulse weapons worked better but thats all 5/5

Video and Art: Very nice, wish they did some more with the backgrounds 4/5

Voice acting: Nothing special 2/5

Sounds: A slight improvement over AC4 3/5

Music: AC4 was better here 3/5

Multiplayer: You can't take it in a serious manner the game lags so badly. If you can just accept lag then you can find yourself enjoying your multiplayer experience. Adding co-op was a nice touch but the missions are too easy to begin with. Without accepting lag 1/5, with accepting lag 5/5

 

Overall: 3.7-4/5 The game's huge part selection saved it, I love building strange designs

[Pendragon]

* Overall Difficulty

Gave us a hard mode, which is nice. But I swept through that with a proper design build. Then again, imagine someone new to AC trying it. I can understand why they made it easy. 4/5

* Default Controls

They actually got it pretty decent in this one. Still had to change it though. 3/5

* Mechanics

Even more of a jump than AC4 attempted. Took some time to adjust to. 4/5

* New Features

Assault Armor, Vanguard Overboost and fights against Arms Forts? I'm probably alone on this, but those were enough to warrant my love for this game. 5/5

* Bugs + Glitches

Same for AC4, but also had some odd glitches against Arms Forts. They didn't happen alot, but it was still a bummer when it happened. 3/5

* Story

Same as before, but with a twist of betrayal and choosing your own course. Loved it, but needs more branching paths and endings. 4/5

* Mission Quality (Single Player)

Well, they were longer than AC4's campaigns, which showed improvement. And there were a large selection too. i also loved how things actually changed in hard mode, instead of just making higher AP enemies. That made the game worth several playthroughs. 4/5

* Arena (If Applicable)

An actual arena this time? It was nice to see it return. Though I can't for the life of me remember if you get any parts for defeating high rankers. Also, it felt a little bland, since the higher ranked AC pilots didn't threaten you via mail or offer you encouragement as you went upwards. (ah, the good old days of AC2 and ACSL.) 3/5

* Part Balance

MUCH better than AC4 by a longshot. And they had patches to help this gen of parts as well. Naysay what you will, but they could've left us without any patches to help remedy the game, but they didn't. 5/5

* Part Diversity

Good once more, but because I'm slightly greedy, I could've used some more, like the vast selection they gave us in Last Raven. 4/5

* CG Art + Video

The beginning was pure gold. I wish it could be made into an anime, if I didn't have the looming fear they'd ruin it with a Gundam level preschool plot about trying to take over the world with wangsting weeaboo faggots. 5/5

* Graphics

My eyes have not been blinded by the mass amount of bloom. I see an improvement from AC4 right there. 4/5

* Voice Acting

Old King was fun to fight alongside especially with this funny german/russian accent. They could've put more OOMPH into the others though. 4/5

* Sounds

I didn't like the laser noises as much. Still they kept the machine guns and shotguns. 4/5

* Music

Just try playing COSMOS and tell me that isn't awesome. 5/5

* Multiplayer

Lag like before, but what can you do? it was still enjoyable to me. 4/5

 

Overall, I gave this a 4.5/5. And I'll probably be the only one who ever does, since this game is hated for some reason. :/

Edited August 15, 2010 by Pendragon

[Bakuhatsu Pengin]

Rating & Review Category List

Overall Difficulty 2/5

-sucked, was too easy. reg 1.15 + blades = insta win every mission

Default Controls 4/5

-similar to fps and fairly solid

Mechanics 1/5

-sucks dick

New Features 3/5

-new parts are ok but the increased speed and weeaboo crap is horrible. vob does nothing but make you waste 1 minute of your mission

Bugs + Glitches 1/5

-multiplayer is littered with bullshit. frequent console freezing, invitation system traps players in loading screen, mid-game drops, phantom lobby members will lock entire lobby into load screen... theres more than i can remember off the top of my head.

Story x/5

i have japanese version, so i have no idea at all what happens besides the fact that old king is batshit insane

Mission Quality (Single Player) 2/5

all the missions are really short and too straightfoward. less labrynths to explore like last ac games.

Arena (If Applicable) 1/5

AI is absolute shit

Part Balance 2/5

FROM sucks at part balance. when they do manage to balance things, tehres always lag that basically nulls that balance. reg 1.4 is fairly balanced, but blades are still gay because of lag

Part Diversity 3/5

reg 1.4 did an ok job giving players a nice selection of parts

CG Art + Video 5/5

too good for an ac game, thats for sure

Graphics 3/5

everything is cloudy and musky, which is kinda annoying

Voice Acting x/5

again, japanese version.

Sounds 4/5

some of the sounds are neat and they dont sound too cheesy

Music 2/5

i usually substitute the music with my own, since i dont like the FA music.

Multiplayer 1/5

due to all of the shitty bugs and glitches mentioned abouve, multi sucks. the current PS3 multi community consists of either complete USA noobs or laggy JP noobs. both populations suck really bad.

 

FA gets a 2/5 because i'm being generous

[megaboy332]

I Give EVERYTHING a 4/5

[█␢█]

• Overall Game Difficulty - 2/5
  
  Blazed through the single player because of reg 1.20. I think I got SS within the second week of owning fA. Some missions were tricky, but a few retries was all it took to S rank the mission. Also the in-game arena is a joke.

  
  

• Default Controls - 4/5
  
  The default "simple" control scheme is the worst thing to subject new players too. However, the controls are fully customizable.

  
  

• Gameplay Mechanics - 3/5
  
  My opinion of the game fluctuates from regulation to regulation, but overall I didn't particularly like the increase in speed from AC4. One mechanic that I'm extremely disappointed in from the change from AC4 to ACfA is the change in missile flight path. In fA, missiles no longer "lead" themselves ahead of the targeted AC in order to intercept their flight path.

  
  

• New Features - 3/5
  
  Assault Armor is an interesting addition that really spiced up games. Overall, the addition of new parts added variety with interesting spins on previous weapons, such as the Kojima missiles or the EG-O703. Certain new parts, however, seemed to be uninspired variations of already existing weapons, such as the AR-O700 or the Avior or even the entire Lancel and GAN02 lines.

  
  

• Bugs & Glitches - 2/5
  
  This is where fA gets most of its flak. The online netcode for fA is sketchy to say the least. Shot-registration is spotty, which makes using powerful, but slow-moving weapons unfavorable in the online environment. Teleportation in fA is quite common due to both frequent desynchronization as well as fA's inability to handle high speeds. Arguably, the game isn't unplayable, however. It just has a the entire metagame basically shaped around the game's poor netcode. Humorous collision detection issues on the Spirit of Motherwill and Junction maps where ACs will glitch up and down, though.

  
  

• Storyline Quality - 2/5
  
  The story in itself is rather interesting. However through what I'm assuming was a rather poor localization process, much of the back story is lost, and what remains is a rather flat and somewhat confusing plot (especially considering that the plot
  branches
  ). Shoddy dialogue translations don't help to further the plots either. You really have to do your own research in order to learn what actually happens in fA.

  
  

• Mission Quality - 2/5
  
  Short, easy missions. Even missions against the supposedly unstoppable Arms Forts are laughable.
  LAUGHABLE.
  There are a lot of missions to choose from, though.

  
  

• Arena (If Applicable) - 1/5
  
  Granted I didn't play the single player with regulation 1.00, the arena was a breeze. I literally beat the Collard arena as soon as I unlocked it using the starter AC. I'm also pretty sure that I didn't even change out any of the parts all throughout. Some AI do, however, are able to second stage, which is pretty neat.

  
  

• Part Balance - 3/5
  
  Part balance wasn't particularly
  bad
  , but it was by no means good. FROM SOFT seemed like they liked to experiment with vastly different concepts in each regulation, responding radically to feedback, rather than trying to improve upon existing mechanics. Many parts are unused because they're either just inferior to other parts or because they can't register (except for the Vanda, that is just a retarded design. Seriously, what the fuck kind of gun is going to have a rate of fire so great that no arm can handle the recoil?). The former is to be somewhat expected with the extreme volume of parts they churned out, but I come from the mindset that if a part doesn't serve some purpose unique to itself, it should be in the game. FROM SOFT also tried to buff some weapons because of the lag, which really ruined some of the game dynamics, in my opinion.

  
  

• Part Diversity - 4/5
  
  No problem here, lots of parts ranging from competitive to attempted-to-be-competitive to humorous.

  
  

• CG Art & Video - 4/5
  
  Opening cinematic is superb, which is to be expected from FROM SOFT by now. In-game cinematics, however aren't as good because they're just gameplay footage that's been recorded and replayed. Cutscenes use the in-game engine so I don't think those count either.

  
  

• In-Game Graphics - 3/5
  
  In-game graphics still look pretty nice, nothing improved, though, meaning that the ACs look incredible, but the terrain and backgrounds are lackluster. I don't really care for all those dusty/nuclear fallout effects they added to nearly every level, however. ALSO THEY REPLACED AC4'S COOL EXPLOSIONS WITH GIRLY ONES FUCK YOU.

  
  

• Voice Acting - 3/5
  
  I don't recall thinking that the voice acting was poorly done or anything, but the lacking translations left the game without very many vocals at all.

  
  

• Sound Effects - 4/5
  
  Sound effects sounded pretty good with speakers and a subwoofer. Everything had a nice oomph to it, except the building destruction sound. That is probably the game's loudest sound, easily louder than grenade explosions. I have no clue why, but it scares the shit out of me whenever I have the sound up and a building collapses without me knowing it.

  
  

• Background Music - X/5
  
  I turned off the in-game music at some point. It wasn't that I didn't like it--more that I just got tired of it. At this point, though, I can't remember any of the tracks.

  
  

• Multiplayer Mode - 2/5
  
  Basically what I mentioned in the Bugs and Glitches section. Latency kills the online play.

  
  

 

Overall I gave it a 3/5. It would have been a 4/5 for me had the netcode not been so bad. The game's still fun to me, no doubt, but I do recognize that fA is at the same time heavily flawed and poorly executed. Why am I still up.

 

P.S.: Pen has no class.

Edited May 2, 2011 by NlJl

[rylaf]

Overall I would give it a 3/5, with the biggest issue for me (playing on the ps3) being the inability to really progress in the storyline because of fps issues. Really a bummer

[KORTOKtheSTRONG]

5/5 would white glint again