Armored Core 4 - first look

The future, as anyone with a brain will attest, will be a bombed-out wasteland in which never-ending wars are fought not only with conventional tanks and planes, but also with mechs. Apparently, victory can only be achieved by piloting titanic mechanized humanoids that can both walk and swordfight, despite the obvious lack of any tactical advantage those capabilities might provide when facing enemies armed with hell-hot lasers that could cut through a planet and radar-guided missiles stuffed with nuclear warheads.

This is self-fulfilling future history, guaranteed to happen simply because the collective mindshare of humankind expects it will - so you can't question it. All you can do is prepare for it. And for PlayStation 3 and 360 owners, the best way to prepare might just be to pick up a copy of publisher Sega's robo-blaster Armored Core 4 when it ships this spring.

For those unfamiliar with this long-running series (the title may say "4", but it's actually at least the eleventh Armored Core game - they usually don't use numbers), it's pretty easy to explain. Imagine you're playing a detailed driving sim like Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, only instead of tweaking the engine and gear ratios of your car, you're mounting a blast cannon and missile guidance system on your giant mech. And instead of driving around a track, you're blowing other mechs into shrapnel, along with a fair amount of your surroundings. It's pretty much like that.

Eric Bratcher
I was the founding Executive Editor/Editor in Chief here at GR, charged with making sure we published great stories every day without burning down the building or getting sued. Which isn't nearly as easy as you might imagine. I don't work for GR any longer, but I still come here - why wouldn't I? It's awesome. I'm a fairly average person who has nursed an above average love of video games since I first played Pong just over 30 years ago. I entered the games journalism world as a freelancer and have since been on staff at the magazines Next Generation and PSM before coming over to GamesRadar. Outside of gaming, I also love music (especially classic metal and hard rock), my lovely wife, my pet pig Bacon, Japanese monster movies, and my dented, now dearly departed '89 Ranger pickup truck. I pray sincerely. I cheer for the Bears, Bulls, and White Sox. And behind Tyler Nagata, I am probably the GR staffer least likely to get arrested... again.