Summary
Whether you’re fighting medieval-inspired bosses in a dark fantasy setting ofDark SoulsorElden Ringor being a mech and going toe-to-toe with other mechs in battle in the Armored Core series, FromSoftware always delivers on superb game design.Armored Core 6may not have traditional character creators like the studio’s Soulslikes, but designing your custom AC as the game progresses is also most of the fun.
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Many have already started totransform their ACs into characters like Kirby or Venom. However, video games and cinema have brought to life countless iconic mech designs that may help influence how you’d want your AC to look. So perhaps some of these may help inspire you, should you want to mimic some of these styles.
10Armored Personnel Unit - Matrix Revolutions
The Matrixsequels often don’t receive the same reputation as the original 1999 film, but this is arguably one of the best new features introduced in Reloaded and further used as a set piece in Revolutions. Seeing these Armored Personnel Units (APUs) in battle against the machines is thrilling, and the visual design fits with the aesthetics of Armored Core.
It may not offer the best protection since the pilot of the APU is exposed without any glass or armored enclosing, but the coolest part is the two mounted machine guns on each arm, with the machine gun ammo belt hanging out. And you certainly have weapon options for shoulder mounts in Armored Core 6, along with those like the HU-Ben having a similar bullet belt attached.
9P-5000 Power Loader - Aliens
The Power Loader may have no armaments, but it was still pretty effective for Ripley when she was going up against the Queen Xenomorph inAliens, and it’s become an iconic part of the franchise since. This yellow machine suit with claw forklift hands has been featured in games like Fireteam Elite and Colonial Marines, and maybe you may bring it into Armored Core 6.
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After all, it’s already been provenyou can beat the game with just your AC’s fists alone, so why not do it in the style of a Weyland-Yutani P-5000 typically used to haul around heavy objects? Claws aren’t one of the melee weapons yet in the game, but dual double trouble chainsaws can be a great substitute for the look.
8Dino Megazord - Power Rangers
There’s Gundam and Pacific Rim, but the giant Dino Megazord mech fromPower Rangershas undoubtedly stayed with a lot of childhoods, and the scenes of it morphing from all the Rangers' individual Dinozords like a Transformer into a giant command center for the Rangers are just iconic, especially with the song.
Another feature of this robot character is the weapon, which is the Mega Power Sord. Swords and lances are available as melee weapons in Armored Core 6, and you can even equip the Moonlight blade,an item found in other FromSoftware games.
7Farmer Made Mech Suits - Love, Death + Robots
The animated sci-fi anthology series on Netflix, Love, Death + Robots, displayed mech suits of its own in an episode where farmers protect their land from an otherworldly insect threat. There were three suit designs, one that was even quadrupedal and another that had a design reminiscent of Mass Effect’s Atlas suit.
Hank’s yellow bipedal mech has lots of lights around the cockpit, miniguns with a bullet belt on each arm, an additional flamethrower on the other, and its most important feature – a cupholder for his mug. Armored Core isn’t that detailed to let you customize the inside cockpit, but you’re able to have the minigun flamethrower combo if you equip the WB-0000 Bad Cook flamethrower.
6Marauders - Starship Troopers
The third film in theStarship Troopersseries introduced the Federation’s new solution to the alien Arachnid problem – the Maurader. It’s a green chrome unit with machine gun-powered arms reminiscent of a hybrid of an original ED-209 from Robocop and the ARC Mechs seen inDoom Eternal.
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This is a mech definitely suited for battle, as Rico and his fellow soldiers have hordes of bug enemies to slay in Starship Troopers, and this design certainly gives you some color finishes to play with. Even the video game Starship Troopers: Extermination doesn’t have these yet for players, so putting it in Armored Core would be impeccable.
5AMP Suit - Avatar
James Cameron is truly a genius when it comes to designing mech suits. On top of the Power Loader in Aliens, he gifted the RDA its Amplified Mobility Platform suit in theAvatarfilm series, a stunningly original piece of equipment that sadly was used for harm and destruction on Pandora. The cockpit has a glass cover, and there are robotic arms for lifting objects and carrying giant rifles with bayonets.
For even more inspiration, you may see this version of the AMP suit with flamethrowers that will be more prominently featured in Ubisoft’s Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. It also has some other minor cosmetic changes that feel very close to the AC parts in Armored Core 6.
4Exosuit - District 9
District 9 was Neill Blomkamp’s first of many sci-fi ventures and arguably the best. The film gave thrilling visuals and delivered a unique original story envisioning an alternate history of an alien invasion in South Africa. The characters and storyline were compelling, but what made it even better was this set piece of Wikus in an Exosuit rescuing his alien friend Christopher Johnson.
It’s a piece of alien tech rather than government property built with antennas and a black and orange design, and it’s got a nice artillery of heavy machine guns and lightning bursts that can vaporize enemies instantly. The suit also produces a magnetic field to trap bullets before sending them back. It’s a perfect model for your in-game AC, especially with all the various options of plasma weapons.
3BT-7274 - Titanfall 2
There are a lot of similarities to be drawn fromTitanfall 2and Armored Core 6. Both games feature protagonists who can pilot and battle other giant mechs, though the former emphasizes the relationship between the pilot and machine and gives you a first-person perspective. Titanfall’s BT unit also takes a page out of District 9’s playbook with its vortex shield ability to capture and send back bullet projectiles.
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You have a missile launcher attached to each shoulder, almost like the Doom Slayer’s shoulder canon, and can wield a weapon like the AMP suit from Avatar, and the BT feels like its own well-established character in the story. Piloting it, on the other hand, is a much slower speed than what your AC can go in Armored Core.
2Deathbringer - Horizon Series
Another game dedicated to fighting machines is theHorizonseries, albeit not in an exosuit and instead having you use a bow and arrow to hit their weak points. While it may be tougher to consider some of the larger animal machines like Tremortusks, Thunderjaws, or Fireclaws when making an AC, the Deathbringer is more up Armored Core 6’s alley.
If not the name alone, going up against this machine in a fight proves truly frightening and intense given its massive size, the fact it can turn 360 and hit you from any side, and the multiple appendages and giant miniguns and rockets. Perhaps some Faro Automated Solutions tech can cross over into your AC?
1Metal Gear Rex - Metal Gear Solid Series
How CJ from GTA: San Andreas became a mod in Armored Core 6before gaming’s most iconic piece of machinery – Metal Gear Rex – shall remain a mystery, but it may serve as the best inspiration for your build in Armored Core 6. After all, Metal Gear Rex is a boss fight that lives in gaming infamy.
Seeing this powerful missile-launching machine finally pick on someone its own size would be an epic sight and deliver the justice that Snake deserves for having to fight it one-on-one. Its features even mimic some of the existing NPC designs of AC machines, such as Sulla.
