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Armored Core: Nexus

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Armored Core: Nexus
North American cover art
Developer(s)FromSoftware
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Rintaro Yamada
Producer(s)Toshifumi Nabeshima
Programmer(s)Ryoutarou Kishi
Composer(s)Kota Hoshino
SeriesArmored Core
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Release
  • JP: March 18, 2004
  • NA: September 28, 2004
  • EU: April 13, 2006
  • AU: November 1, 2006
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Armored Core: Nexus is a 2004 third-person shooter mecha video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 2. It is the eighth entry in the Armored Core series and a sequel to 2003's Silent Line: Armored Core. Unlike Silent Line, Nexus is not an expansion but rather a full-fledged sequel.

The game's plot concerns a new corporation called Navis that begins to hoard ancient technology, leading to tensions between it and the existing corporations. As those tensions begin to mount, the player takes on missions through the reorganized Raven's Ark until the corporations break into all out war. When the corporations begin to activate ancient weapons in desperation, the player takes on more critical tasks of attempting to stop the weapons before they destroy everything on the planet.

Very little has changed from Armored Core's primary gameplay mechanics in Nexus. Players pilot mechs, take on missions, and earn money that they can use to customize their mech units. New additions to the game include dual analog stick support and a LAN multiplayer mode.

Gameplay

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The mechanics of Armored Core: Nexus continues with many of the franchise's conventions. Players pilot large mech robots called Armored Cores and are hired as mercenaries for objective-based missions.[1] Armored Cores are highly modular and can be customized with hundreds of parts and items.[2] Money is earned through missions and can be used to purchase customization options, but any expenses incurred through a mission are automatically deducted from the player's income.[1]

Mouse support allows for players to create emblems and navigate menus.[3] The control scheme of Nexus has been updated to include support for dual analog sticks, a first for the franchise.[2]

Nexus is split into two discs. The first, Evolution, is the main game and story sequel to Silent Line.[4] The second disc, Revolution, contains updated missions from earlier titles in the franchise that can be played using Armored Cores from Nexus.[1]

Like previous games, Nexus includes several multiplayer options. Split-screen modes and I-Link multiplayer connectivity return, allowing for 2 player head-to-head combat. A new addition is a LAN multiplayer mode that allows up to 4 players to connect and fight each other.[4]

Plot

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55 years after the incident at the Silent Line, corporate warfare is on the verge of breaking out once more between the four largest corporations: Mirage, Crest, Kisaragi, and the newly founded Navis. An ill-equipped bureaucracy called the Organization for Administrating Enterprise claims to police the corporations, but does little in practice to stop the escalation of conflict between them. Global Cortex, the organization that employed Armored Core pilots called Ravens, has been replaced with a successor organization called Raven's Ark.

As the corporations expand across the planet, Navis begins to hoard ancient technology and gains the attention of Mirage, which leads to an attempt by Mirage to use the OAE to force Navis into sharing the technology. Navis instead withdraws from the OAE and severs its partnership with Kisaragi to develop a secret alliance with Crest. Tensions from these events lead to all-out war between the corporations, which comes to a climax as Crest betrays their smaller ally and destroys the city that Navis is based in. Despite Crest withdrawing from the war, Mirage begins to attack Navis, leading the desperate company to activate an ancient weapon that proves to be uncontrollable. Despite the player's defeat of the weapon, the Kisaragi corporation accidentally activated a separate weapons system that begins to destroy everything it can.

Release

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Armored Core: Nexus was initially released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation 2 on March 18, 2004.[5] FromSoftware partnered with Agetec for its international versions, with the game releasing in North American on September 28, 2004, European on April 13, 2006,[6][7] and in Australia on November 1, 2006.[8]

Reception

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The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights, one nine, and one seven for a total of 32 out of 40.[12]

The addition of dual analog stick support was welcomed by reviewers, with Game Informer's Matt Miller calling it "long-needed".[2] Customization was praised as being "easier than before" by GamePro and the game's "real selling point" by IGN.[4][3]

Gameplay had a more mixed reaction. Game Informer wrote that the dynamic plot that took into account player losses and victories was "a mixed blessing".[2] IGN called targeting systems "imprecise and purposefully infuriating".[3] However, GameSpot disagreed, writing that gameplay changes and improvements "make Nexus more difficult and more interesting than its predecessors, which is great".[1]

Critics complained that the series remained inaccessible to newcomers and did little to change its formula. GamePro's Rice Burner wrote that the lack of information given to new players to acclimate them to the game was "unfortunate", and believed that newcomers would "find themselves in impossible situations".[4] IGN's Ivan Sulic was less forgiving about the franchise's iterative ritual, stating "it's practically eight games of enough already".[3]

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Provo, Frank (October 28, 2004). "Armored Core: Nexus Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e Miller, Matt (September 2004). "Armored Core: Nexus". Game Informer. No. 137. GameStop. p. 110. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e Sulic, Ivan (October 7, 2004). "Armored Core: Nexus". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rice Burner (October 1, 2004). "Armored Core: Nexus Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Armored Core: Nexus | FromSoftware - フロム・ソフトウェア". www.fromsoftware.jp. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  6. ^ Thomas, Aaron (2004-09-03). "Armored Core: Nexus Gets A Release Date". PSX Extreme. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  7. ^ "Armored Core: Nexus | PlayStation 2 [EU]". VGCollect.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  8. ^ Jastrzab, Jeremy (October 23, 2006). "Updated Australian release list, 23/10/06". PALGN. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Armored Core: Nexus for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  10. ^ Edge staff (June 2004). "Armored Core: Nexus". Edge. No. 137. Future plc. p. 110.
  11. ^ EGM staff (October 2004). "Armored Core: Nexus". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 183. Ziff Davis. p. 102.
  12. ^ a b "アーマード・コア ネクサス". Famitsu (in Japanese). Vol. 797. Enterbrain. March 26, 2004.
  13. ^ "Armored Core: Nexus". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Ziff Davis. October 2004. p. 92.
  14. ^ "Armored Core: Nexus". Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine. No. 75. Future plc. August 2006. p. 101.
  15. ^ "Review: Armored Core: Nexus". PSM. Future US. November 2004. p. 94.
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