Armored Core 2 for PlayStation 2

Armored Core was loved and hated by many people when it was released a few years ago and the game itself was about building you own mech and taking it out to various missions and getting more money so that you can improve your mech. This same idea was used on every Armored Core game for the Playstation [there were 3, but all of them were basically the same so that?s why Armored Core 2 is not called Armored core 4] and some people were getting quite sick of Armored Core. But now there is Armored Core 2 the real squeal and one of the coolest additions to the armored core series. One of the biggest changes done to the game is graphics and control, besides that the game IS very much the same as the other AC games, but for fans or newbies to the series, read on..

How this game is played- You start out this game on a simple intro stage to test your skills against a few enemies. Then, you are given a few choices. You can either start a few missions which are levels with objectives which vary in difficulty. The problem with this mode is, is that the more ammo you use and the more you get damaged the more money is taken away from your full payment at the end of the level and sometimes you can complete a mission only to figure out that your reward is in the negatives. The other mode that is available is Arena mode. In this mode you have to vs about 40 mechs in various Arenas to get money. Once you get higher in the ranks you can get loads of cash and at one time or an other you will probably have TOO much money, which is a big surprise for this game [this feature wasn?t in the original Armored Core on playstation but it was on the last 2]. There is also a Two-player mode which is lot of fun.

Graphics- The graphics in this game is shocking. The areas that you go through in the Mission Mode, all look different and more unique that last level, certain levels has superb whether effects such as rain and fog. Also the enemies that you fight [mech or non-mech] all look cool and very unique in there own way. If you wan to get artistic with this game you have tons of options on how you can design your mech, you can make your own decal; and change the color scheme on every part of your mech body.

Sound and Music- The sound in this game is pretty good, you can hear a lot of madness going around all over the place, such as enemies moving, guns going off, and many other cool things. As far as sound goes, this was exactly what I expecting and that is a good thing. All of the music in the game is heavy-techno and since I am a techno fan I like the music very much, but not everyone out there likes techno so this is really your opinion.

Control - Now this is here the game can really shine or suck to some people. To newbies of the series the control can be scary. The D-pad moves your machine, The left analog stick [when pressed] activates your "Hyper-Boosters" which blasts you in one direction and sucks your energy like a sponge. L1 and 2 looks up and down and I forgot what R 1 and 2 does. The other four buttons is shoot, saber, and boosters. This control scheme seems just fine to me, but if you are worried about it, rent the game first.

Overall- This game lives up to the seires and I find it very fun because you can make many different kinds of mechs. Lets just hope the next armored core game is a little more different that it?s predecessors. The most these armored core games add are new parts, even though I don?t mind that too much though because some of the new parts in this game are very cool.