Armored Core 2 for PlayStation 2

I've never played any other Armored Core game but upon seeing AC2 in the discount bin, I bought it. The game opens with a beautiful CG and proceeds with a typical New Game setup. The first thing I noticed was the voice acting. It sounded like someone was given a script for the first time, with all the pauses between the text boxes. The controls were rather evil, i.e NO analog support and the up/down controls are controlled using the L2 and R2 buttons, which leads to frustration. Now other than that, the controls were fine. The graphics were very well done for a PS2 launch game. The one thing that got on my nerves though, was the constant slowdowns experience when many enemies were on the screen or weapons were being fired in masses. The missiles caused me the biggest trouble, with the Frame rate dropping to near I'd guess 10. The plot progresses rather nicely in a game where I expected no plot to really exist. The plot is basically a war that is being raged between the Martian Corporations and you are being hired to help out various companies. It took about 20 hours to beat the game the first time for me. When you actually start the game you are given 5 options: Garage, Mission, Arena, System, and Mail. The Arena battles really add to the replay value because you constantly have to change your AC to battle the various challengers. Missions are as they sound, Corporations hire you out for money to do various things. In Garage, you assemble and alter your AC's paint job, control scheme, and parts etc. System is where your game is loaded and saved. The Mail section is where combatants and Corporations mail you about your success or failure. In Arena, you are pitted against 50 foes in an attempt to reach the 1st place spot, also called Nine-Breaker. If you have $20 just sitting around, buy this game, you won't regret it.