Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

is a 2023 mecha-based vehicular combat game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game serves as a reboot for the franchise, is the first entry in the Armored Core series since Armored Core: Verdict Day (2013) and was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Armored Core VI received generally favorable reviews and became the highest-selling entry in the series, selling 1.3 million copies on Windows alone.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Armored Core VI emphasizes mecha-based vehicular combat. Players in this game take on the role of expert pilots in control of strong mechs known as Armored Cores. The huge flexibility for modification of these mechs with the use of various parts allows players to enhance and sharpen their capabilities.

The option for players to arm their mechs with a range of weaponry is a standout aspect of the game. One on each arm and two on the mech's back are available slots for these weapons. The players' broad arsenals grant users strategic freedom as they participate in combat.

The arena concept from the game's predecessors remains in place and appears through a "combat aptitude evaluation program." Players can put their talents to the test and compete with other players in this mode, and earn "OS Tuning" chips which allow for certain abilities and upgrades to be unlocked. The in-game currency, credits, is awarded to players that complete missions successfully. The amount of credits earned is influenced by the objectives achieved during these missions, with potential deductions for incomplete goals.

Armored Core VI did away the debt system from earlier games in the series, which caused players to lose money as tasks fail. This time, players have the ability to attempt missions as many times as they want with no concern for lost currency.

Plot

Setting
Armored Core VI is set in a future where humanity has developed an interstellar civilization. On the frontier planet of Rubicon 3, a substance called Coral was discovered that could be used as both an energy source and a data conduit. Coral was hailed as the key to humanity's technological advancement, but instead it caused a cataclysmic event known as the Fires of Ibis, which engulfed the planet and the surrounding star system in flames and left behind a lethal contaminant. All Coral in existence was thought to have been consumed by the disaster. Fifty years later, however, signs of Coral are once again detected on Rubicon 3. Corporations flock to exploit the planet and control the Coral, heedless of the cost and harm to the inhabitants, and mercenaries follow to profit from the conflict. The player is an augmented human designated "C4-621" who is in servitude to an infamous handler named Walter, and fights as an Armored Core pilot on the promise of earning a new life by taking on mercenary jobs. After illegally landing on Rubicon 3, C4-621 steals the license of a deceased mercenary and assumes their callsign: "Raven".

Synopsis
The augmented mercenary C4-621 is smuggled onto Rubicon with the assistance of their boss, Handler Walter. Upon landing on Rubicon, C4-621 steals the callsign of a deceased mercenary, becoming "Raven". With the new identity, Raven inserts themself into the war raging on Rubicon's surface between the megacorporations Balam Industries and Arquebus Corp, the anti-corporation Rubicon Liberation Front (RLF), and the Planetary Closure Administration (PCA), who are all racing to find or protect the Coral. During numerous battles, Raven ends up befriending V.IV Rusty, an elite AC pilot working for the Arquebus Corporation and "Cinder" Carla, leader of RaD, an engineering company. They occasionally provide assistance directly or through comms. In addition, after being caught in a Coral surge, Raven makes contact with an entity named Ayre who can speak directly to their mind. 

In the wake of the Coral surge, Walter detects Coral converging on the Central Ice Field, suggesting a massive deposit hidden there. As Raven heads over to investigate, Balam and Arquebus follow as well. This triggers the PCA into action, who send their military forces as well as recovered Coral superweapons to suppress the corporations. Faced with the threat of the PCA, Balam and Arquebus decide to join forces, and direct Raven to attack the PCA directly to weaken them. After the corporate alliance destroys the PCA's trump card, the Ice Worm, Ayre reveals to Raven that Coral is a sentient lifeform, and that she is a Coral-based entity. 

After suffering numerous crippling losses, the PCA are forced to withdraw from Rubicon. Without a common enemy, Balam and Arquebus resume hostilities and the three way war between them and the RLF continues, though Arquebus quickly gains the upper hand due to capturing PCA technology. Meanwhile, Walter sends Raven to explore an underground facility, and discovers the ruins of Institute City, the site of the Coral deposit as well as the Vascular Plant, which is designed to extract Coral and send it into space. However, Arquebus forces arrive, capture Raven, and seize Institute City while Walter is presumably killed. Carla helps Raven escape, explaining that she and Walter were part of a group called Overseer, who realized the threat Coral posed and swore to destroy it. Carla has Raven help her commandeer the Xylem, a massive colony ship, with the intention of ramming it into the Vascular Plant to destroy the Coral, even if it means creating another disaster like the Fires of Ibis. Ayre however refuses to allow her fellow Coral be destroyed and believes in the potential of both it and humanity coexisting, so she asks Raven to eliminate Carla, instead. 

 If Raven chooses to side with Carla, Ayre breaks off relations with them. Raven breaks the Arquebus blockade around the Vascular Plant and is forced to kill Rusty, who is actually fighting for the RLF. Ayre then attempts to stop the Xylem by taking control of Rubicon's orbital weapon satellites. Raven is forced to confront Ayre directly and destroys her. The Xylem successfully rams the Vascular Plant and ignites the Coral stored within, creating an apocalyptic firestorm later dubbed the "Fires of Raven". In the aftermath, Raven's survival is left uncertain while the PCA and corporations completely abandon Rubicon, the planet having been completely scoured of all life. A recording left behind by Walter then plays, congratulating Raven for destroying the Coral and fulfilling his last wishes. 
 If Raven chooses to side with Ayre, they attack Carla while her forces are distracted repelling Arquebus forces. Carla is killed, but this triggers a failsafe program that automatically sets the Xylem on a collision course with the Vascular Plant. Ayre then tasks Raven with sabotaging the Xylem to cause it to crash harmlessly in the ocean. She also sends a request for assistance to the RLF, who rise up en masse to overthrow Arquebus. Rusty also joins forces with Raven. They manage to disable the Xylem and kill Arquebus's leader, V.II Snail, but Walter arrives in his own AC, killing Rusty and attacking Raven. Raven defeats Walter and narrowly escapes the Xylem before it crashes. Ayre thanks Raven for protecting both the Coral and Rubicon, and promises that together they will ensure a future where Coral and humanity can prosper together. 

In a New Game Plus campaign, Raven can take on newly unlocked RLF missions instead of corporate ones, while the mercenary support AI ALLMIND contacts them, giving them an opportunity to battle AI controlled ACs for analysis. In an additional New Game Plus campaign, Ayre discovers classified data related to these ACs, while ALLMIND recruits Raven into the Coral Release Project, which seeks to achieve complete symbiosis between Coral and humans. ALLMIND begins assigning Raven its own missions in order to further the Release Project, culminating in smuggling them aboard the Xylem to destroy Overseer and seize control of the ship before it can collide with the Vascular Plant while ALLMIND eliminates Walter and Carla. With Raven's role complete, ALLMIND attempts to forcibly assimilate them and Ayre into itself. Raven and Ayre destroy ALLMIND and initiate the Coral Release themselves, which spreads Coral throughout the entire universe and heralds a new age.

Development
In September 2016, FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki mentioned that a new entry in the Armored Core series was in early development. In January 2022, the development of a potential new installment of the Armored Core series was leaked due to a focus test. The game was formally announced at The Game Awards 2022 in December. Armored Core VI was directed by Masaru Yamamura, his debut in the role after being a lead game designer on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. He took over from Miyazaki, who led development initially. Yasunori Ogura was the game's producer. Many FromSoftware staff members wanted to develop a new entry in the series but had to wait in order to properly allocate resources into the project. In 2018, the game entered prototyping, with Yamamura taking over as director once the gameplay was set in stone.

Kota Hoshino served as the lead composer of the game. During development, Hoshino was given keywords by Yamamura in order to set the game's tone and evoke a "sense of loneliness and nostalgia." Hoshino was given freedom when it came to composition based on the keywords, with tracks being adjusted according to the game's flow. Additional music was composed by Takashi Onodera and Shoi Miyazawa.

Reception

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Sales

The PlayStation 5 version of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was the bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 115,393 physical copies being sold. The PlayStation 4 version was the second bestselling retail game in Japan throughout the same week, selling 47,949 physical copies. The Windows version sold more than 1.3 million copies in over two weeks.

Notes

References

External links

2023 video games
Armored Core
Bandai Namco games
FromSoftware games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games
PlayStation 5 games
Third-person shooters
Video game sequels
Video games about mecha
Video games about terrorism
Video games developed in Japan
Video games set in the future
Video games set on fictional planets
Xbox One games
Xbox One X enhanced games
Xbox Series X and Series S games
Windows games