Released: 19981007 Publisher: ASCII Developer: From Software Genre: Action

Review by: Mike

Over-sized hunks of metal, explosive
weapons, scatter missles, laser beams, and the
familiar 'ka-chung, ka-chung' of footsteps. ASCII
and From Software bring that mech action to life
not-quite-a-sequel (or more appropriately,
expansion pack) to the original sleeper hit. ACPP
picks up directly where the first left off, adds a
couple notable options, and ultimately provides
the total mech experience.

As with the majority of mech action titles, the
gameplay is mission based. ACPP will have you
carry out certain objectives in order to complete a
mission. Some missions will call for total
destruction of mech opposition, escorting friendly
units, or gathering enemy intelligence. Each
mission gets progressively tougher, meaning you
will need to build up your mech, adjust its core
parts, decide which weapons to lock-on, and of
course which colors to dress your mech up with.

In the game, the animation plays fluidly rarely
with any significant slowdown. The graphics
however, aren't completely smooth, with
noticable breakup on the battlefield environments.
The music is fast-paced, consisting of techno
and other thumping sounds, which definitely fits
the gameplay. Overall, the audio and visuals are
solid, and the minor mistakes can be easily
overlooked due to the intense, and exciting
gameplay.

Armored Core PP's concept isn't unlike many
other mech titles. Run around, search enemies,
aim, fire. But the execution is top notch, as the
game screams action and is extremely fun. In
the single player mode, ACPP is roughly split
into two areas -- the mission based play, and
Arena. The mission-based play is what you'd
expect, with objectives to complete, mutiple
enemies, and an unfolding storyline. The baddies have discovered the ultimate
weapon, codenamed Project Phantasma. Your goal is to gather weapons
intelligence and eliminate Project Phantasma, while obviously destroying
anything in your path. The Arena is a one-on-one battle, where you climb up
the ladder defeating other mech pilots. In either of these modes, you gain
credits for each success, allowing you to pick up new mech parts.

The battles are set in a closed playing field. If you ever step out of the
'imaginary' boundary, you are immediately aborted from the mission, which is
quite annoying. Luckily the environments are nicely sized, and if you should
eek close to boundary lines the mech computer will generate blaring beep
warnings. All the familiar elements are there, including missle lock-ons, radar,
weapons selection, lifebar, energy level consumption, and speed meter. The
mech's capabilities and weaponry solely depend on your mech setup.

That brings us to the mech Garage, one of the more impressive features in
ACPP. A chunk of the fun comes in stacking up your mech with the best
weapons, increasing armor power, replacing parts, and deciding on a way cool
color scheme. Each part has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. With
every improvement, each part may bring new problems. Several of limiting
factors include speed, weight, firepower, energy, ammunition, and armor.
Adjust your mech to meet mission objectives and mech standards, and make
sure everything is balanced. For instance, I wouldn't setup an obese mech
with top-of-the-line firepower because the thing would be barely able to move.
With a complete library of different parts (arms, legs, core, weapons, missles,
and more), you may find yourself in the Garage hours on end like me --
picking, choosing, and testing which parts fit best.

On the multiplayer, ACPP has a two player split screen versus mode.
Using the mech you've setup in single player, you can battle other players in
the environment of you choice. The fights can get pretty intense -- prancing
around, hiding, jet packing to building tops and more. Unfortunately, there is
some slowdown (as with most PSX split screen games) that is very noticable
after being in single player mode. It's not enough to kill the gameplay, luckily.

Another worthy mention is the ability to use mech configurations in
Armored Core 1 in Armored Core PP. You can load up the mech you built in
the original AC, and continue to use it in ACPP.

Out of my few peeves, one includes the length of the game. 17 missions is
a bit on the low side, and to the experienced AC player, the game is a breeze.
The multiplayer and Arena modes do pad it up a bit, but more missions
would've hit the spot.

Being that there are so few Playstation mech titles in the US, I'm glad
Armored Core is a good one. Although the original didn't receive much
attention, the game was solid. It's most likely this one won't sell incredibly
well too. But for those of you who like mechs, and want mechs on your
Playstation, Armored Core : Project Phantasma is definitely the way to go.

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