The latest showing of twitch mecha combat is here. Armored Core For Answer, for Xbox 360 and PS3, brought here by Ubisoft offers quite a lot more than Armored Core 4. Get ready to tweak, tune, and paint the hell out of your very own armored core.

As usual, through constant weapons development and fighting, humans have trashed the planet. The League of Ruling Companies, a group of super corporate powers, have attempted to provide relief for civilians by establishing the Cradle System, platforms high above the earth and over the pollution to live in. Also in the foray are Line Ark and ORCA, a surface-based state against the League and a covert resistance trying to save humanity, respectively. Pick your allegiance, and follow your missions.

Graphics
The mecha details are incredible, but the environments are not outstanding. You will see a ton of explosions, they might wow you the first few times, but it can get repetitive. Many of the buildings that you will end up demolishing on purpose or by accident look like they are made out of cardboard. These issues aside, Armored Core For Answer is still gorgeous for how fast paced the game is.

Sound
Decent voices, decent sounds, it gets a little gold star by its name, but nothing more.

Gameplay
The controls have come a long way from previous Armored Core games and are noticeably more smooth than Armored Core 4. For those who love to tinker, there is a huge toy chest of parts waiting to be bought and unlocked. The level of detail on customization is insane. You can view every stat imaginable of your AC and see how various parts will affect them. The brief tutorial I feel is just the right amount of instruction to get people going in this game. Online co-op is always a plus too.

Overall
This title is not for everyone, some may get discouraged or frustrated at the controls and reflexes needed for the harder missions and certainly online competitive play. A level of skill is needed even for standard missions, as the more beat up your AC is when you are finished, the more you are spending on repairs and ammo reloading, money which can be used towards upgrades instead. Any mecha fan is a given for this, but do not expect to rambo through every mission.