MnLeL andSeekMain System: Engaging Combat Mode. For the first time in a decade, Armored Core is coming back with a brand new game for 2023. Revealed at The Game Awards, Bandai Namco and From Software have officially announced Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. The trailer was met with euphoric delight as this marks the first canonical installment for the franchise in over ten years.
The nearly three minute trailer showcases a scorched planet,. A strange phenomenon burns the surface, rendering everything, whether organic or man made, completely destroyed. The fire obliterates all and sweeps across a large swath of the planet. A circular object appears, appearing to be either a moon or a man-made circular structure. The trailer cuts to “Feed the Fire”.
Seek and Destroy
The embers burn out and a snowy, rusted world takes shape. “ Let the last cinders burn” interjects the trailer. An armored hand is seen scavenging, retrieving a part from a wasteland of Armored units. The camera cuts to what appears to be another Armored Core unit, with a cargo backpack. The unit is briefly shown observing the dismembered mechanical arm, before being distracted by explosions in the distance.
The trailer then cuts to total carnage and the familiar designs of the Armored Core units present themselves. The trailer becomes a flurry of brutal mechanized action, filled with the unending fire of Vulcan fire and explosions. One armored core unit is seen using a portable energy shield, before using a device to throw a small cluster of bombs against enemies. Another instance shows an Armored Core unit using a portable EMP device, knocking out a rivals shield, before delivering a fatal melee strike with a pneumatic rod.
The Fire Burns
The trailer showcases more dystopian carnage against various forces. Gargantuan black helicopters, weathered and worn, deploy flares as they enter the battlefield. More Armored Core units deploy to enter the fray. Minigun fire is interrupted by an explosion that brightens the dark. Finally, the trailer cuts to the Armored Core from before, donning a familiar head piece reminiscent of other units seen in the series. The unit ejects the pneumatic rod from the slain enemy, coated in oil like a hunter that has slain a foul beast.
A close-up of the optics reveal a cunning, mechanized personality. The last shot of the trailer cuts to the armored core unit boosting onto the battlefield, retrieving his machine gun stowed away on the right hand side. One last close-up shows a special visor being deployed over the head, illuminating so as to give the pilot newfound tactical capability. The trailer then cuts to the title Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.
The Future
The news made headlines as this marks not only the next big project for Form Software but the first Armored Core game since 2013s Armored Core V: Verdict Day. Hidetaka Miyazaki, director of Game Of The Year Recipient Elden Ring, originally started out as a designer for the series on Armored Core: Last Raven in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. With Elden Ring a gargantuan runaway success at almost 20 million copies sold, its clear From Software has set a new path ablaze in changing the world of video games. There is no telling what an Armored Core game will look like in an age that has seen the rise and continue success of Souls-like games but if Elden Ring is any indication, players are in for an experience unlike any other in recent memory.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon has been announced for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam, with a release of 2023.
