Sunday, June 28, 2009

Blogocolypse


So the end of the world has been a recurring theme in our lives very much(in fact I'm getting ready for a super blow-off party in 2012). But something more interesting then everything being destroyed is finding out what happens next. The one day I decided to stay awake in world History, we were learning about Latin and the use of post meaning after. So post-apocolypse, after apocolypse get it?

This may possibly be the the next best thing you get to zombie-apocolypse and blog-apocolypse, Giant Robot-apocolypse. A bit of an underground series, Armored Core has always been a huge hit in it's home country of Japan but Westerners don't seem as thrilled when browsing on the shelves. As for me I'm a sucker for custom robots and good storylines. Armored Core always delivers a good solid A for story and custom robos. The gameplay is sticky for newbies but a couple of matches in the AI arena and you'll be flying, boosting, and shooting like a pro. Back on the subject of doomsday though, Armored Core is set in a fictional Earth where humanity has fled to the underground for living as the surface is no longer habitable. The countries of the world have totally disbanded and instead rises the era for corporations. In the world of Armored Core people live tough but bearable lives and although having no sky isn't so hot the constant stress of living has resulted in a breaktrough in technology. Stepping up to the plate are known as Muscle Tracers aka MT's. Using these giant robots humanity was once again able to gain a foothold on survival but more importantly the corporations were able to use MT's for gaining more power through the use of military and battle MT's. Fight after fight eventually lead to another breakthrough in technology known as the Armored Core aka AC. An AC is generally a bigger tougher version of an MT but what sets the two apart is how AC's utilise a "Core" part which then gets attached with arms(for holding weapons)legs(for mobility and support)and a head(radar/scanning). With new humanoid mechs dashing across, people soon made piloting AC's a job and became mercenaries known as "Ravens" paid to work for the richest corporations and turn their shoulders on the little guy. You play as a Raven(not actual bird)mercenary and work through the stroyline to become the greatest AC pilot and change the fate of the Earth.


Later sequels are made to the series again succeeding in Japan and doing moderate-Fail on US soil. playing through the whole trilogy, you'll fight underground, in space, on Mars, and even rich environments with trees and plantlife(after humanity recolonized sometime around Armored Core 2 and 3). So just the concept that the apocolypse could epic fail at destroying humanity and instead give them giant robots was enough to make me buy this game and it should for you so good night and happy hunting:)

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