First details and screenshots for a a new Armored Core game have reportedly surfaced via a consumer survey, according to a post by ResetEra user Red Liquorice.
The survey included a description, screenshots, and two short gameplay videos—one of a boss fight and one of a snowy area. The screenshots and videos were ID-watermarked, but the user was able to obscure the watermarks on the screenshots and shared them publicly.
“That’s all there was—four pages of four images,” Red Liquorice said. “The two videos I couldn’t save, no idea how even.”
The description featured in the survey is as follows:
About
Melange, an unknown substance that could dramatically advance human society. In the past, this substance caused a cosmic catastrophe on planet Bashtar that engulfed the surrounding star systems, and eventually its very existence was lost. Decades later, the Melange reaction was confirmed again on planet Bashtar. In search of the unknown substance that should have been lost, various speculations begin to swirl. Various parties are getting involved; The government, corporations, cultists, and unknown mercenaries… The protagonist is one of them.
The game is a TPS ( Third-Person Shooter [948 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/shooter/tps”>third-person shooter) mecha action title that lets you move around an overwhelmingly scaled map that represents a unique sci-fi world with dynamic mech action. You will face strong enemies and fierce battles both long and short range using guns and blades.
Key Features
- The Sci-Fi World Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki [15 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/people/hidetaka-miyazaki”>Hidetaka Miyazaki – FromSoftware [353 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/fromsoftware”>FromSoftware‘s unique and deep sci-fi worldview and multi-layered story. Set on the planet Bashtar, a sci-fi world devastated by a planet-wide disaster, with an overwhelming sense of scale that only mecha can provide.
- A Vast Field that Represents a Multi-Layered World – In a massive and three-dimensional map, you can feel the scale of the mecha universe. A wide variety of maps offer an array of challenging enemies and carefully crafted situations that are worth taking on again and again.
- Feel the Tension, in Long and Short Range Battles – This game offers not only long-range combat with guns, but also short-range combat elements such as blade and shield, that add a sense of urgency to gameplay. Decide between defensive tactics during tense and challenging battles against powerful enemies.
- Three-Dimensional, Dynamic Action [158 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/action”>Action – The game’s dynamic, three-dimensional movement is something no human can imitate. You can move freely around the vast map with the unique mobility of a mech.
- High Degree of Freedom in Customization – Reconfigure body parts and weapons in order to upgrade your mech. With a high level of customization, you can build a mech to suit your play style; from a build that focusses on close-range combat and mobility, or a build that emphasizes firepower to wipe out swarms of enemies at once.
Red Liquorice shared the following additional impressions of the footage:
The boss fight seemed very Souls in terms of speed and style. It looked like an industrial-looking brown room, the player started afar, locked on firing guns, then closed in and attacked; melee and the speed / movement all seemed very familiar Souls style. [If I recall correctly] the boss had a domed head and was bigger than the player, but not huge. If I had to guess, I’d say this was like an Asylum or Taurus Demon style early boss, obviously total speculation there, but it didn’t seem grandiose or particularly impressive as an encounter. Boss had a life bar on screen (at the top of the screen [if I recall correctly])—very simple, but it was more red LED-styled, futuristic as you might expect—angular edges on the life bars rather than straight rectangle.
The second video didn’t seem to include any combat, just moving towards this big wall or gate in the snowy area, following either other players or enemies ahead of the player, relatively small in the distance, but they had circular ‘target’ effects on them—perhaps not a target, but just identifying them other mechs. The snow reminded me of the Capcom mech game from a while back, just because of the snow.
As for the title of the game, Red Liquorice said, “The survey listed a choice of titles for the game, so I guess that hasn’t been decided on yet. Most of them were Armored Core: [Something], including just ‘Armored Core‘ and both Armored Core 6, Armored Core VI, and other subtitles I can’t remember—some of the choices didn’t include Armored Core in the name at all.”
Way back in September 2016, FromSoftware confirmed in an interview that it was working on a new Armored Core title. Two years later, company president Hidetaka Miyazaki suggested that the title was still in development, despite no official announcement.
(Editor’s Note: Header screenshot is of Armored Core V.)