This game came out on the Playstation 2, a console that shipped with the DualShock 2 controller, featuring two analog sticks. I think you can see where I’m going with this. You could perhaps make an argument that Project Phantasma and Master of Arena were released into an ecosystem in which not everybody might have had DualShock controllers and that it might have made some sense to standardize to the lowest common denominator. A weak argument, but an argument nonetheless. There’s no excuse here — it’s beyond ridiculous that this game shipped without any way to use the analog sticks, even as an option.
And that sets the tone pretty well for the reception Armored Core 2 got at the time, I think. Looking over Metacritic I see a lot of complaints about the controls and a general consensus the series was becoming stagnant by this point. Fan reactions that I could find were a bit more forgiving of the controls, but seemed to share the feeling that this game didn’t do enough to differentiate itself from its predecessors. On briefly revisiting AC2 for this post I’m actually noticing a lot of subtle improvements to the controls and combat mechanics across the board, but subtlety was not what was needed at the time. Graphically the game is vastly improved, looking the part of an early PS2 game, but I think that with a new generation of consoles people were expecting a generational leap in gameplay when this game is very much an incremental one.
One common complaint that I really don’t understand is that the game is “slower”. Maybe the run speed on the ground is lower, but I wouldn’t know. Energy usage is far more lenient in AC2 than it was in previous entries, meaning you get to spend a much higher proportion of the time with your boosters engaged, effectively making the game move at a faster pace from what I could tell.
If I had to describe AC2 in one word, it would be “Subdued”. It still has an arena, which is still fun, though it’s not the blown out extravaganza that it was in MoA. The new Extension and Inside parts offer extra functionality like missile defense or the ability to drop mines, decoys and jamming devices which can be useful but fairly unexciting (well, not the mines. Those are useless). There’s a new overheating mechanic, expanding what was essentially a rarely seen status effect in previous games into a more complete system with an associated radiator part that you now have to factor into your designs. I can see people making impassioned arguments over whether overheating is something you should have to worry about in these games, or if that’s taking the complexity too far… But there’s no need for that in this case because as implemented here, overheating is almost never something you need to worry about outside of a few specific missions designed to push it. It’s all just sort of OK at best, inoffensive at worst.
I don’t think AC2 deserves a bad of a rap as it ended up getting at the time. It’s alright — a good game in the abstract, and far from the worst in the series. The worst thing you can really say about it is that it doesn’t change enough. I think the reason why people are so down on it is that it just doesn’t inspire excitement, which is what the series sorely needed in the transition between the PS1 and PS2.
Some odds and ends:
-Check out this passage from the in-game manual:
Yes, you read that right. The game literally tells you to cheese your opponents in the arena by picking a stage that screws them over. Well, if you insist.
-If you’ve played this game, you probably think you know what the absolute worst design element in this game is, be it something to do the balance of AC parts or the combat mechanics. I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. It’s actually the decision to make “New Game” the default option on the main menu. There’s just something about the sluggishness and ambiguity with which the game transitions from the splash screens to the title screen to the menu that constantly leads to me accidentally picking New Game. And once you’ve picked it you’re locked in, requiring a full restart and another trip through those splash screens to get back to the main menu. It’s infuriating. Seriously.
