Though it recently hasn’t had the same attention as Bloodborne or Dark Souls, the Armored Core franchise is the longest-running series from developer FromSoftware. The Armored Core games give players the chance to battle enemies while piloting giant robots, something we’ve all wanted to do for as long as we can remember. With Armored Core 6 on the horizon, new fans might be wondering which games are the best to pick up, so here are our choices for the best Armored Core games and what makes them so special.
Ranking the top 10 Armored Core games
There are a total of 20 games in the Armored Core series if you include some of the various spinoffs and sequels, but we’re going to be focusing on the best of the bunch for this list. Since the first game debuted for the PlayStation 1 back in 1997, the series has mostly been positively received by both fans and critics, with a solid mix of action and drama that fans hope will return for Armored Core 6 when it is released.
10) Armored Core: Nexus
2004’s Armored Core: Nexus is a bit of a departure for the series. In it, a new corporation is digging into ancient technology, which causes tensions to rise among the other corporations. Nexus offers the same customization as other Armored Core games but shifts the focus to things like heat dissipation and energy consumption. These systems had the potential to be very frustrating for players, forcing them to take long breaks in the action before getting back to the task of shooting other giant robots.
9) Armored Core
The game that started it all, the original Armored Core game holds up surprisingly well, considering it came out back in 1997. It establishes the terrifying post-apocalyptic world that the series is set in, with corporations controlling nearly every aspect of people’s lives, and gave players options on which missions they would undertake. The amount of customization of the robots is remarkable considering the technological limitations of the time, though the graphics are a tough sell in the modern age.
8) Silent Line: Armored Core
Set directly after Armored Core 3, Silent Line: Armored Core puts players into a world slowly recovering from generations spent underground. While the story, which centers around uncovering the truth behind a string of unexplained disappearances, is one of the best in the series, there wasn’t much improvement over the previous game in terms of graphics or mission types. This ended up making Silent Line feel more forgettable than it should have been.
7) Armored Core: Formula Front
While most games in the Armored Core series have the brutalities of war as their backdrop, Armored Core: Formula Front instead has the giant robots turned into sporting vehicles. This change in context worked well for the title, making the games feel more light-hearted than previous entries. The lack of an in-depth story stops Formula Front from climbing higher on this list, but the gameplay and graphics are every bit as good as some of the more recent titles.
6) Armored Core 2: Another Age
There are several distinct timelines in the Armored Core series, but the first timeline wrapped up with Armored Core 2: Another Age. As temporal send-offs go, this was a fun one, with Earth once again facing a conflict between the corporations that run much of the world and a group of revolutionaries trying to build a new nation. While the battles were intense and more strategic than many of the previous games, the lack of an Arena Mode left many fans feeling let down by this entry.
5) Armored Core 2
There are members of the Armored Core fandom that will insist that Armored Core 2 has the best story in the series. While we disagree, there is certainly plenty to chew on in this title. Set on a colonized Mars, players must choose between different factions in their fight against The Frighteners. There are plenty of twists in the story, along with the usual grinding for money and upgrades that have become trademarks of the series.
4) Armored Core: Verdict Day
Released back in 2013, Verdict Day is the most recent game in the Armored Core franchise. It takes many of the series’ core features, such as tactical battles and in-depth customization of the mechs, and offers a few much-needed enhancements. The plot centers around a fight for the increasingly sparse resources in the world and features some of the best characters in Armored Core history.
3) Armored Core: Last Raven
While many games in the Armored Core franchise gave players a chance to work with different factions, few implemented that mechanic better than Last Raven. Players take control of a free-agent mech pilot and must choose which side they will side with, a choice which will ultimately impact the ending of the game. Armored Core: Last Raven was where the series shifted to a more dark, gritty plot, something that subsequent titles have carried on.
2) Armored Core: For Answer
Player choice was never more evident than in Armored Core: For Answer, which followed the rebooted timeline established in Armored Core 4. In For Answer, players had to take their choices very seriously, as they could dictate if humanity survived or was wiped out entirely. These stark multiple endings along with more emphasis on exploring an open world make this one of the best games in the Armored Core franchise.
1) Armored Core 3
You have to go back to 2002’s Armored Core 3 to get the best game in the series. The game’s visuals are shockingly good for the time and there are plenty of missions to keep an enterprising mercenary busy for dozens of hours. What is key here is the variety of missions, which kept the game feeling fresh throughout its lengthy playtime. In almost every way, Armored Core 3 was years ahead of its time and still holds up beautifully more than two decades later.
