Armored Core 6 Explains How Combat Will Work
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More information about the combat of FromSoftware’s new mech title Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon has been revealed. Armored Core 6 was first announced at The Game Awards 2022, the same night FromSoftware’s Elden Ring took home Game of the Year. Since then, fans of the lauded studio have had many questions and speculations about what the combat of the sixth main-line Armored Core title would be like from a post-Souls FromSoftware.
Long before FromSoftware changed the industry with Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls in 2009 and 2011, becoming one of the most celebrated game makers in video games, the studio was known for the Armored Core series, which featured fast-paced third-person mech combat. After finding unfathomable success with the Dark Souls trilogy and Bloodborne in the 2010s FromSoftware moved on from Armored Core. Now, with FromSoftware returning to its mech franchise, fans of the studio have been wondering whether Armored Core 6 would take some pages from the studio’s most recent successful Souls titles.
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Alongside Armored Core 6’s release date, new information about the mech game’s combat has been shared by the game’s director Masaru Yamamura in an interview with PlayStation Blog. Along with the typical Armored Core medley of aerial and ground warfare Yamamura mentioned some key new combat features that are bound to get fans of Armored Core and Souls-like games excited. With the title featuring both ranged and melee combat, an ability called Assault Boost will help players quickly close the distance on an enemy, going from ranged fire to melee attacks in the process. Yamamura also expressed the potential for different combos to be weaved into this skill as well with players still being able to fire machine guns and missiles during the skill.
“Say you activate Assault Boost to make your approach while using machine gun fire and a missile salvo to stagger the enemy, then use your pulse blade to score a direct melee hit once you’re up close.”
Another element that’s new to Armored Core 6 is the ability to stagger enemies. Much like in some of FromSoftware’s Souls titles such as Dark Souls and Elden Ring, players who deal enough damage to an enemy within a short period of time can stagger it and have an opportunity at a critical blow. While it’s unknown if Armored Core 6’s stagger gauge will be visible to the player or if critical attacks to a staggered enemy will have a dedicated animation like in Elden Ring, the combat feature seems to be one inspired by the studio’s deep and more recent history with Souls titles. Additionally, Yamamura mentioned that Armored Core 6’s boss fights will be challenging, with players needing to learn and grow familiar with a boss’s moves to be successful; a bonafide staple of any Souls-like.
While the Armored Core 6 experience will be very different from that of a Souls-like title it looks like there will be some similarities and learnings from those games that FromSoftware will be implementing in this sixth Armored Core installment. There will likely be a lot more combat details revealed leading up to Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’s much anticipated release.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is releasing on August 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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Source: PlayStation Blog