A significant chunk of the newest trailer forArmored Core 6showcased the combat that players can expect in the game. One of the aspects that should immediately stick out to fans watching the trailer is the sense of speed present during mech combat, with the new Assault Boost ability allowing players to quickly close distance between targets while still firing weapons.Armored Core 6appears to be giving players more options for fluidity and movement than previous games in the series, along with the added requirement of dodging an impressive amount of projectiles while taking on enemies. Fans of the PlayStation exclusiveReturnalwill apparently feel right at home inArmored Core 6.
Released in 2021 for PlayStation 5 and earlier this year for PC,Returnaltakes developer Housemarque’s penchant for bullet-hell shooters into the form of a third-person action roguelike where nimble dodging and character positioning are just as important as damage output. Akey characteristic ofReturnalwere the movement abilitiesthat players made use of to stay on their toes and avoid incoming projectiles. Judging from the new trailer forArmored Core 6, it would appear that FromSoftware may also be fans ofReturnaland have even incorporated some of its combat flow into its next game.
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Armored Core 6 May Have Its Own Version of Returnal’s Advanced Movement
In addition to all the tools for movement that players had inReturnalacknowledged by tutorials, there were also so-called “advanced movement” techniques that players could use to essentially “hack"Returnal’s more challenging sections and make the most of the Selene’s maneuverability. Although not an official movement technique outlined in the game,the DMJ technique inReturnal(which stands for “dash, melee, jump”) was one that was crucial to achieving the best times on a run or even progressing past challenging sections. The Assault Boost technique implemented inArmored Core 6could also give players the ability to string together complex series of movement actions to “break” combat in ways similar to bothReturnaland theSoulsseries.
Because bothArmored Core 6andReturnalare third-person shooting combat games, player mobility is hugely important to the feel and fluidity of each game’s action.Armored Core 6has the added challenge of needing to think about movement in three dimensions, with mech flight mixed in alongside standard running and jumping on horizontal planes. It is possible that the development team at FromSoftware looked toReturnal’s speed of combat and creative mobilityas an influence for how to updateArmored Corefor modern audiences.
Returnal and Armored Core 6 Bring Bullet-Hell Shmups Into Third-Person
The “Shmup”, or “shoot ‘em up”, is one of the oldest genres of video games with titles dating all the way back to the medium’s origins. Popularized in the arcade-era with both horizontal and vertical scrolling titles, the Shmup genre hit its creative peak in the 90s thanks to the work of developers from Japanese studios such as Toaplan and Cave who are synonymous with the creation of Danmaku, AKA bullet-hell.Returnalgenerated critical praisefor how it successfully implemented bullet-hell in a third-person shooter, with significant focus on dodging and memorization of patterns - two fundamentals of shmup gameplay.Armored Core 6’s latest trailer shows that players may be in store for another third-person bullet-hell.
Both the regular enemy and boss encounters showcased in the newestArmored Core 6trailer emphasized just how many projectiles would be coming at players during combat, and the new movement abilities will be crucial to avoiding taking damage while trying to simultaneously dish it out to foes. AlongsideReturnal, thenext game in theArmored Coreseriesis apparently drawing inspiration from Danmaku shooters as well as recent titles in the FromSoftware library. For fans of shmups and other difficult video game genres,Armored Core 6andReturnalbring plenty to the table to balance a player’s tool kit against seemingly insurmountable challenge.
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubiconis releasing on August 25 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
MORE:Armored Core 6’s Release Date Makes Late 2023 Even More Exciting for Gamers
