FromSoftware Returns to its Heavy Metal Roots with Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon - Preview

For the best part of the last decade or so, FromSoftware has spent the vast majority of time embroiled in a genre essentially of its own making. From Dark Souls to Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to Elden Ring, the studio found its niche, excelling from one game to the next. There was a time, though, when FromSoftware’s biggest export was mecha action-shooter, Armored Core. In fact, the series is From’s longest-standing franchise, which kicked off in 1997 and has had fifteen instalments over the last twenty-odd years (although we’ve not had one for nearly ten of those years). 2023 marks a return to its flagship series, then, but what has the developer learned from the past decade with Dark Souls and the like, and how is Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon shaping up?

For those blissfully unaware of Armored Core ( which given the length of its hiatus is completely understandable), it’s a third-person shooter in which you pilot your own customisable mech and rain destruction upon your foes. Like Dark Souls, Elden Ring and their ilk, Armored Core VI leans into FromSoftware’s three key action-game tenets: responsive controls, expansive and dynamic maps, and originality and ingenuity when it comes to combat.

Based on those studio philosophies, Armored Core VI is all about its massive environments, with sprawling exteriors and interiors; a tactical combat system that’s only furthered by the ability to customise every aspect of your mech; and the satisfaction of overcoming challenging situations. Don’t be mistaken, however -  while that third tenet might suggest that this is more Dark Souls-like than previous Armored Core games, it’s not. Armored Core VI is an action-game, first and foremost. It’s all about customising your mech and taking it into the heat of battle.

Manoeuvrability is at the core of Armored Core VI’s gameplay. Being in full control of the mech is an important fundamental of the game. Players can boost, they can switch direction in an instant, and they can even fly and glide, provided they have the necessary energy - you can’t just fly interminably, as you need to manage energy consumption. Being able to get from the periphery into the mix is an important focus for the game’s combat too, allowing you to mix up ranged attacks with more up-close-and-personal combos, and that’s where the assault boost comes in.

“Assault boost is a core of ACVI dynamic action,” says Yasunori Ogura, Lead Producer at FromSoftware, “It is a skill unique to this title and can be utilised not only at battle but also traversal.”

Like Dark Souls (and as was shown in the hands-off demo we watched), “many situations can be overcome by observing and learning,” Ogura-san notes. And that, in turn, ties into the game’s mech customisation system (the Assembly) and mobility, as customising not only changes the look of your mech, it also drastically affects the playstyle.

In the Assembly, you can not only change the internal components of your mech to alter control your booster, power, shields and the like, you can also change every aspect of the frame itself, including the head, shoulders, arms and legs. 

That means if you’re struggling during one section due to a lack of mobility, you can head into the Assembly before you start from your last checkpoint and switch in some Reverse Joint Legs, sacrificing stability and defence to provide exceptional jumping performance “enabling agile transitions to aerial combat.” And if you want something more stable or tanky, you can switch to a tank track or tetrapod base.

That freedom to customise flows into the weapons as well. And then some. With two arms and two shoulder mounts to customise, players can choose from a machine gun, assault rifle, linear rifle (which is a special high-speed linear rifle that accelerates rounds using electromagnetic propulsion, enabling you to charge rounds for an increase in velocity and damage), pulse blade, laser dagger, missile launcher, dual missile launcher, active homing missile launcher, plasma missile, burst rifle, shotgun, and more. Players can even equip a pulse shield, too. So, yeah, there’s plenty of choice to be had here.

How you choose to set up will differ throughout the game, no doubt, and thanks to the checkpoint system and access to the Assembly within it, you can experiment to your heart’s content. If you want to use a loadout with a weapon and exploit the game’s impact and stagger system, and then have one to deal insane damage when the enemy is staggered, you can. If you want a more defensive setup with more power and shields, you can do that too. Want something mobile, agile, and with an energy sword, to boot? Sure, go nuts. This seems to be the real beauty of Armored Core VI.

Throughout the large scale, visually impressive environments you’ll be traversing, you’ll find different routes to the objective, doors to hack, supply stations for refilling ammo and repair kits, vertical catapults to gain significant height, and plenty of different battle arenas to navigate - some that allow absolute freedom, and others that are more claustrophobic in nature. Rather than running-and-gunning, too, you can approach with trepidation using your scanner, to see if you’re able to get the jump on enemies.

While our first-look at Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon wasn’t really that extensive, it did give us a feel for what to expect this coming August. If agile mechs, frenetic combat, plenty of choices to customise your own mech, and some pretty epic environments in terms of scale sound appealing, then you’ll definitely need to keep an eye out for Armored Core VI. And if a single-player campaign doesn’t tickle your fancy, then you can always try the online multiplayer PvP mode. Something for everyone!

Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC on 25th August.