TEST Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, FromSoftware’s antiquated robots are back

Armored Core is a franchise that has spanned generations and has charmed players around the world. Since 1997, mech lovers have had fun with the productions signed FromSoftware ; yes, yes, the Japanese studio that has produced marvels like the Dark Souls, Bloodborne or recently Elden Ring. Fans have waited a decade to get their hands on a brand new episode. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is therefore born on the consoles of Sony Interactive Entertainmentof Microsoft and on PC. We could blow up bad machines for hours, it’s time to give you our impressions of this new experience.

The textures are superb and detailed.

Let’s start with the part that jumps out at us right from the start, the graphics. The adventure begins and it must be said that the rendering is not so… exceptional. We walk a little, trees collapse under our weight, containers fly away under our feet, traces appear on the ground, yes, at first glance, it’s pleasant, except that the animations are very basic. Beyond that, destroyed environments disappear from the screen after a few seconds, as well as the carcasses of opponents. Furthermore, the light effects are very pleasant, the textures are superb and detailed, and some landscapes are tantalizing. Collision bugs are present, we were able to see robots and decorative elements stuck in walls and other partitions. But to be honest and to give you a picture of the thing, it’s as if we were dealing with a remaster of a game old gen on a powerful console.

In addition, various visual choices are available in the settings. On the one hand, we can play on performance to have a good frame rate. Here, the movements are fluid, the game runs in the 60s fps, but the background is slightly blurred. On the other hand, we can improve the quality of the image to obtain a super sharp rendering, while enjoying (or not) the Ray Tracing, which is not terrible by the way, so you might as well deactivate it. Unsurprisingly, the number of frames per second is lower. It’s up to you whether you prefer a sparkling image or less jerky movements on the retina. On our side, as the title is quite nervous (and the camera is capricious), we recommend to play it in Performance to have good visibility during the clashes.

And the melodies in all this? They go unnoticed. During important phases, such as a boosted boss, we are entitled to electric and epic notes, but the team relies on sound effects to bring a special atmosphere to our esgourdes. Indeed, explosions, sounds of metals, engines, guns, the firm wants us to feel the heaviness and the “cold” side of the machines, and it passes. Starting music only at important sequences is not such a bad idea to make an impression. The dubbing, to talk about it briefly, are very good bills. No French, unfortunately, only English and Japanese are selectable. Of coursewe recommend the language of Mishima to immerse yourself in this purely Japanese universe.

If there is one point that can be scary, it’s the game gameplay. And for good reason, out of the corner of the eye, the controls of a robot do not seem easy. Jump, dash, fly, shoot, attack… Our machine literally moves in all directions, the brain and the eyes can have trouble keeping up. However, don’t panic. FromSoftware has thought of everything including a well explained and detailed tutorial which allows you to understand all the facets of handling. In other words, the old timers will find their bearings, while the new ones have enough practice to master their mechanical baby to perfection!

A rather pleasant tactical aspect.

We must therefore dance with our fingers on the controller to achieve devastating sequences, in order to surprise the enemy and put him down. Once the player understands how to play Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubiconhe can engage in monumental battles. However, there is a black dot on the board that quite often disturbs the camera. The latter is annoying and can not position itself when we are cloistered in a closed place or when opponents are the size of a mountain… Teeth can grind when the image is too overloaded. Developers want spectacular, but the problem is that we find it difficult to identify ourselves to better anticipate opponents, counter them and attack them. In a word: unreadable!

A hub is represented as a menu; too bad not to have made a 3D base. It is here that we can improve our machine with parts that we can buy in a dedicated shop, or by winning them during a mission. In the first part of the game, the more we progress, the more the difficulty increases. Some enemies require a little more skill than others, so we have to boost our robot to progress with a minimum of ease ; also note that additional tasks can be carried out to obtain small additional bonuses. In addition, the opponents are not alike throughout our journey, so it is impossible to go headlong each time. You have to understand, analyze, stir your brains a bit, and be well prepared to exterminate everything in your path!

Several parameters on the body can be changed. We can go there with a good heart, provided we respect one rule: do not exceed the energy and the weight limit. But pleasant thing, the system of purchase/sale is rather well thought out. Indeed, if a weapon or a material does not suit us, it is enough to throw it away to recover our money in order to get something better suited to our purposes. In addition, if we have different equipment in our inventory, during a failure against a boss and before returning to it, we can change our installation. So you will have understood, there is a rather pleasant tactical aspect in this new episode, which brings a little spice to our odyssey. Only here, the second part of this production is somewhat disappointing, because the challenge stagnates with less enraged and spectacular bosses. To compensate for this lack, conditions are imposed during our getaways. Why not do the reverse? Namely, to offer a rudimentary experience in the first place that breaks off halfway through the adventure to bring sensationalism. Damage…

Groups from various planets clash, it’s war. The reason for this conflict? Several years ago, a somewhat strange matter appeared on the planet Rubicon 3. The latter can serve as a source of energy and it could also be used to improve certain little things in life. The problem is that this substance is too powerful, and caused enormous damage to the star which was devoured by the flames. For simplicity, everyone crepe the bun to get this Grail. And about us? We infiltrate in the middle of it all, and we also engage in this fierce battle…

FromSoftware goes straight to the point.

Point to take into account, this is not an open world where the player can drag his feet in vast places delusional. No, in this new opus, we have to select missions via a menu and the story is told through rather interesting cinematics. The narrative is somewhat boring at first, but it intensifies as the hours pass. Twists and turns are present, in the end, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon knew how to captivate us until the end. To get to the end of the tunnel, it took us about thirty hours. Some missions are completed quickly, while others are more difficult and time-consuming. Although the big bad guys don’t look alike, there’s a certain repetitiveness in the progression that can get boring. It is therefore good to remember that this is a pure and hard action game, well framed, where you have to explode everything in its path, no more, no less.

Despite small flaws here and there (especially the camera), Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon remains a good electric title that may appeal to fans of the genre. FromSoftware goes straight to the point with expeditious menus and closed areas delimited by invisible walls to do battle quickly. We must put in place strategies throughout our confrontations to achieve our ends; one must die to better understand the enemy. The player then designs a robot in his image and must advance in quests which may seem redundant; especially after a while. We thought we would see a big break with the previous productions, finally, this episode remains in line with what was done in the past…

You can buy Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon on Amazon at €59.99.