In AC2, war has decimated the Earth and corporations have taken over. Soldiers are regularly hired to deploy guerilla tactics against corporate competitors, and as a high-ranking Raven, you’re offered credits to implement these strikes. The action in Armored Core 2 is pretty straightforward: Your targeting system automatically locks on to the nearest enemy, and you plug away. Gamers should appreciate the ability to select which missions to accept. What really stands out in AC2 is the customization. With a claimed 10 billion possible part-combinations to make your AC (head, core, radiator, legs, weapons, etc), you can continually tweak and swap items to make the perfect robo. The graphics bring the AC world to life. The robots are smoothly rendered, and visual effects are nicely done. The sounds are mostly solid—from the “thump-thump” of your AC running to the detonating of rockets—though more concussion sounds would’ve made the size of these monstrosities more palpable. The sour note in AC2 is the controls. PC gamers spoiled by joysticks, keyboards, and mice will find targeting and controlling the up/down motion of the ACs tough to deal with, as the PlayStation 2 controller isn’t best suited for this type of game. Overall, Armored Core 2 is a solid title that gets kudos for strong action and replay value. Giant-robot fans will want it—others should, at the very least, rent it.
