Activision did just that and between film releases decided to fund a dedicated Transformers game which wasn’t stringently bound to the narrative idiosyncrasies of a series that’s, to be fair, pretty mongrel at the best of times. High Moon have managed to tackle the challenge with a remarkable level of craftsmanship and for the first time in a long while I’ve been able to play a refreshingly good Transformers game.

War for Cybertron effectively tells part of the back story of what happened to the Transformers before they evacuated their planet and left for Earth. It features many familiar names as well as both Decepticon and Autobot campaigns. Set over 10 chapters, you can either start at the beginning (with the Decepticons) or halfway through (with the Autobots). What transpires is a linear narrative from both sides of the conflict. Due to this framing much of the origins for the major characters in the mythos, the game doesn’t have either Megatron or Optimus Prime square off directly. Instead, it opts to show how both these leaders found themselves in there respective positions on either side of the conflict.

From the off, High Moon have picked a shrewd starting point for the game’s narrative, as it not only sets up other elements in the canon backstory but also gives a huge amount of freedom to the team as much of what happened on Cybertron wasn’t overly documented. This also means that the designs of the Transformers themselves could be reworked to fit High Moon’s functional needs. As such, by forging an untold narrative path High Moon have been able to focus on making the game decent in the process.

Interestingly, the core third person shooter functionality is actually very standardised. Using the Unreal engine, the game plays like you’d expect much of the genre to operate. However, the levels have been built a bit differently as they’ve been made to work sympathetically with how each of the mecha transform. This is a major step forward in gaming terms, as the transformation has historically been overlooked as some kind of ephemeral gimmick and not something that’s crucial to how these mecha would operate. Now, we have each of the mecha transform at will but within an environment that encourages that.

To make matters more joyous, High Moon have used a modicum of physics to handle the mecha’s inertia. Whilst it’s not overly realistic in a technical sense, it’s actually far more accurate as to how the mecha would handle in the show. So whilst, in the past, I’ve often advocated the avoidance of physics based middleware for mecha gaming the caveat I gave at the time (as in “you need to know what you’re doing in terms of the mecha mythos”) definitely stands in the case of High Moon’s usage here. From being able to transform back from vehicle mode into mecha and still retain the momentum makes a huge difference at making these mecha functionally consistent, as well as affording a nuanced form of control to the player in the process.

All this adds a different slant on the core third person shooter framework the game uses and, once in the various multiplayer modes, also produces another functional layer to what is becoming quite a stale genre. That said, each of the transformers have to manage their ammunition quite fastidiously and it does take a while getting used to hearing Optimus Prime’s gun go “clickety-click” once it runs out.

This is probably the main issue the game suffers from; due to its functionally standardised core it is, on the one hand, more manageable and cogent but on the other quite monotonous. Admittedly the levels and mecha variance do help to break this up but the truth is that there’s nothing really new here. Being able to play a Transformers game that actually works is definitely a step forward but it ultimately plays like the vast swathes of games already available in the third and first person shooter genre.

Mecha gaming is unique in its attempt to functionally re-interpret a fictional ruleset from a multitude of viewpoints. From the customisation focus of Armored Core, to the fixed dashes of Virtual On and to the control of individual limbs in Gigantic Drive. These games are meant to offer something new and different in their approach. This is what has kept the genre fresh over the years and how it’s managed to carve out its own functional identity.

Just implementing a straightforward and obvious approach to transforming is definitely a welcome advance but it’s not enough. Considering the potency of the Unreal engine it’s a shame that the game doesn’t try anything really new, though we are relieved that the Gears of War cover system was left out so that’s at least something. We understand it makes sense to make this game appeal to as many people as possible but the license, to be fair, mostly limits that to Transformers fans so why not explore that further and make something new in the process.

The above may sound more damning than it actually is but in truth this is still an excellent and thoughtfully crafted game. From the gentle narrative references to the wonderful (though generic) mecha handling, it does finally hit the spot that the original TV series and movie all those years ago instigated. High Moon have finally picked up the baton that other Western developers have dropped. So much so that it’s a relief to say that this is the first decent Western developed mecha game we’ve played in long while. For that alone High Moon should be commended for their work and with any luck other Western developers will learn from their example.

Tamashii: 7/10

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What transpired was a game that allowed the player to transform into an actual boss that spewed impossibly complex geometrical patterns of death, whilst the dashing mechanics were in place to render that almost irrelevant in the hands of a competent opponent. Even without the boss mode activation, the original game was awash with danmaku leanings all over the place and it added a very fresh dimension to the Virtual On lineage.

Unsurprisingly, the original arcade game gathered quite the fanbase in Japan and consequently received a 360 port, which was comically retitled as “Wartech” in the West. G.rev have since followed the original game’s success with an arcade sequel and it wasn’t long until another 360 port followed. Put simply, it’s bloody amazing.

Before I kick off on DUO it’s worth clarifying how Virtual On dealt with its sequels. The first Virtual On was relatively slow paced and instigated dash freeze once the player had finished their dash attack. This embedded the game with a level of tactics that was unique at the time. Following on from this, Virtual On’s sequel Oratorio Tangram ran much faster and almost negated the dash freeze entirely. As such the tactical element had effectively gone but the combat system was so solid it didn’t really matter.

DUO is in a similar situation to Oratan; the game is a lot faster than its predecessor and whilst some may be concerned at the supposed loss of tactics compared to the original G.rev have sidestepped this issue in a very cunning way. Aside from the “normal” game there’s also a “command” mode now, this basically takes direct control away from the player and allows you to issue commands to the Rounder. In short, it turns the game into something not to dissimilar from an RTS but the brilliant offshoot of this is that it makes you watch how each game plays out. Forcing you to interpret your opponent’s movements in a more tactical manner. It’s really quite clever and very obvious, as when you return to “normal” mode those tactics are almost baked into your head and you suddenly start playing the game in a much more tactical way.

The “normal” game has also received multiple re-workings to the core combat system. The dashes themselves have been made subtly more potent, this is tied to the direction and orientation you dash in relation to your opponent. This means you’re constantly looking for an optimal vector before your attacks will do their most damage. Unlike in the original game, where you could almost fire and forget for a lot of the dash attacks, you have to really focus on getting your dash attack right otherwise you’ll waste your shots.

Following on from this, you now also have a partner that can initiate an attack. These partners are picked from a initial selection and each offer a similar, though more localised, bombardment that you would see once a boss is initiated. Partners are useful at herding an opponent and as such link into your dash attacks, as you can often place your foe in harms way with the aid of your partner helping you out.

The combat isn’t the only thing that’s been given a work over, as DUO looks far more polished than the previous game. With lots more dynamic lighting as well as bloom on various attacks (don’t worry though, they’re still clear in terms of how the game plays). The real shift though is that the texture detail has been upped and all the Rounders have undergone an interesting design shift.

Whilst you could almost argue the original game had an art deco feel to the proceedings, with wonderfully minimalist designs for the Rounders. DUO, by contrast, is far more commercial somehow. The Rounders themselves are still obviously streamlined but the various aspects that adorn their frame have become more complex, such as Mika Mikri’s Rounder that sports a form of zip up tracksuit “armor”, everything now looks very funky.

This then brings us onto the narrative and characters, in the case of the latter many are overtly androgynous and whilst this seems to put some gamers backs up it doesn’t really bother me. There’s also a healthy dollop of moe now as well, as many of the female characters have suddenly adorned a pair of engorged chesticles. This is then maximised to dating-sim-esque effect in the new Story mode, where the characters square off in various audio drama type scenarios followed by a bout of robotic fisticuffs. Admittedly, without knowledge of Japanese, all this plot will be lost on most importers. However, the games have engendered a pretty fervent following in terms of the narrative and a new separate audio drama CD was packaged with the game. Still, I’m not really fond of all this new fangled jiggling boobage in games such as this and consequently your mileage will obviously vary.

Moe aside, one of the more refreshing points in DUO is how G.rev have finally fixed the lag in their online multiplayer. As the original game had almost catastrophic lag in online matches where anyone wasn’t on the same continent, considering that the biggest proportion of players were in Japan this meant pretty much all online games played appallingly. This time around though, the game is super smooth with almost no sign of crippling lag at all. Naturally, this is very much a positive development and considering the amount of improvements elsewhere in the combat system only makes the game more worthwhile in terms of versus longevity.

That’s the crux of DUO’s brilliance; it’s a resolutely focused versus game. Understanding the dashing system and the nuances of each Rounder are what makes this so very compelling and deeply refreshing compared to other beat-em-up type versus games. Whilst many have been somewhat forlorn with the lack of any new real Virtual On games, G.rev have taken the premise into fascinating new ground and for that they should be applauded.

Tamashii: 8/10

In the scramble for supposed mainstream appeal more and more games have opted to take a standardised approach to gaming functionality. On the one hand this allows for a much more accessible learning curve and an implicit understanding of how a game will operate. The down side to this is that ultimately many games end up playing the same.

Bucking this trend is also very difficult as much of the mainstream press get pretty worked up when a game requires them to learn something new. This, to be fair, isn’t their fault as they often have to cover multiple games in a ridiculously short amount of time. As such, due to the way that the gaming press operates, functional standardisation is something that is critically welcomed.

So when something as brilliantly wrought as Lost Planet 2 comes along, with its immense number of fascinating nuances and insightful design choices, it receives coverage that’s very much distorted and more than a little bit unfair on account of how the gaming press is structured. As such, we feel compelled to address this issue; as Lost Planet 2 is really quite bloody amazing.

The original Lost Planet was an interesting though flawed game. The surreal narrative aside, the main issue was how the player was expected to manage their Thermal Energy (or T-ENG) supply. As the player was placed within the bitterly cold wastes of E.D.N. III and needed the T-ENG to survive. This meant your energy supply would slowly decrease and constantly needed replenishing and woe betide the moment you decided to don any of the game’s wonderful mecha, known as Vital Suits, as your energy would be sucked bone dry in double quick time. In short, the original game gave you a huge setting to play with but maddeningly metered it out through a very restrictive approach to managing the main currency the game required in order to operate.

On its release though, this issue wasn’t the problem the press had. No, their beef was the supposed bald faced arrogance on the part of Capcom to make a third person shooter that didn’t use standardised controls. Unfortunately for Lost Planet 2, this refreshing and unique approach has also been similarly criticised. As you’d expect though, they’ve rather missed the point.

Lost Planet 2 is set ten years after the events of the previous game and the world of E.D.N. III has changed dramatically. To the extent that the planet now sports jungles as well as deserts. The warmer climate also means that the player’s management of their T-ENG is far less restrictive. This means that your T-ENG doesn’t deplete over time and when you take damage you can use your Harmonizer, by pressing start, to convert T-ENG back into health. There is a penalty for this though, as using your T-ENG in mission will affect your final mission grade.

Entering a Vital Suit is also no longer penalised in terms of T-ENG consumption either, which makes the mecha combat all the more engaging as you can hold onto a VS for as long as your skill will allow. In addition, there is an added risk/reward element of being able to repair your VS if it takes too much damage – as often you’ll be in the middle of a fire fight when you break out the tool kit.

The big and most noticeable departure from the first game is how the singleplayer campaign has been structured. Unlike the original where you play as a lone protagonist, in this game you always have allies to help you out. These allies can also be swapped out for human players online and this is when Lost Planet 2 merges with something akin to the Monster Hunter games. This is especially true when you start facing off against the massive Category G Akrid dotted across the game. However, all this online multiplayer content aside you can still play the game through offline with the AI helping you out.

The whole game is split into 6 episodes with a variety of chapters within each. In each chapter there are often multiple of missions. Each mission is normally triggered by reaching a point further into the level (denoted by a red line), upon crossing the line the next mission in the sequence is loaded. This is only annoying when you fail mid-mission as you are rebooted to the start of the chapter, not the mission. Thankfully, a full on “Game Over” is quite hard to achieve and this is down to the interesting data posts spread across each level.

Data posts have to be activated by your or your teammates, upon activation they give you a boost of T-ENG, fill out the area map on the HUD and most important of all; give you an increase in the battle gauge currency. This means that each time you die you lose currency from the battle gauge, so searching for and activating the data posts also gives the player extra lives effectively. In addition, they also act as spawn points when you die (something that’s very handy on most of the levels, as they are often quite massive). Once the battle gauge runs out, that’s when you have to restart the chapter from scratch.

This is something that has drawn criticism elsewhere, as the AI has been accused of being useless and just getting in the way resulting in unfair and untimely deaths. This is true only if you play the game in the mindset of a lone protagonist, as per the first game. If you stick with the AI and work with them then you won’t have any issues, even on one of the later train missions where mistakes cost you dearly – sticking with the AI or at least keeping a mental note of where they are is very important. In truth, if you’re perceptive enough, the AI is actually very helpful – giving you T-ENG and generally saving your bacon in a firefight. Put simply, sticking with your teammates is essential for survival.

This is not to say that the campaign has been neutered in any way, as ultimately it feels as crafted as the original and the sheer variety in levels and their layouts is remarkably refreshing (as there are missions set underwater as well as in space). The narrative is also more balanced and as you play with the various factions across E.D.N. III, the plot unfolds in a manner not too dissimilar to something like Rashomon; with various viewpoints on the story culminating in a grand finale of sorts. It’s not an overt narrative though and is obviously meant more to add a broader context to the game’s events rather than give an obvious justification for them.

Naturally, the remaining multiplayer modes in the game are very well made and due to the overall co-op focus of the main campaign feel like a natural progression. Not to mention that many of the singleplayer levels double up as multiplayer maps, meaning that what you learned in the campaign is very much applicable in multiplayer.

The Vital Suits are utterly brilliant throughout and what with a select few now offering transformation, mastering the controls of each is a game in its own right. This is not to say that the handling for the mecha is any way unwieldy but that each of their nuances require a fair amount of investigation. The only issue with the later is that in the pause menu, where much of the useful controller mappings are laid out, the VS are designated via an alpha-numerical code. This normally wouldn’t be a problem but the game normally refers to the VS’ by their nicknames rather than their codes. Thankfully, once inside a VS the pause menu auto-selects the information you require – so that’s at least something.

The VS are aptly named though as they are very much vital for progression. Whilst you are very potent within a VS’ shell you are by no means invincible. Much of VS piloting is based around deft movement and learning to be where large ordnance isn’t. This is what brings me onto the final part of what makes Lost Planet 2 far more tactical than at first glance.

Almost every major action you undertake has an animation penalty, from the (very useful) grapple to entering or even repairing a VS. This is obviously very intentional and is meant to force the player to really think about their actions rather than just being blindly trigger happy. The grapple is an excellent example of this, as it can be used to great effect but is not really able to offer an instant escape when you’re in a crossfire. Instead, the game expects you to not get into a crossfire in the first place and use your team mates to give cover. What transpires is a subtle herding of the player to be more tactical and use their skills discerningly.

As a game then, Lost Planet 2 is very much meant for a broader type of gamer and one that relishes new functional systems to play and experiment with. It’s also a remarkably ambitious game in terms of how it’s approached multiplayer and allowed aspects of that to be embedded within the main campaign. Overall then this is a game that has to be learned and gradually mastered. It’s not a twitchy piece of brain dead standardised nonsense, far from it in fact. For the mecha gamer though, Lost Planet 2 offers something wonderful; a showroom filled with lots of shiny VS’ and each of them with the keys still in the ignition.

Tamashii: 8/10

However, like bastards are prone to behaving; it was relatively fair. Almost every time the game spat out your charred robotic carcass onto the heap it was invariably your fault. You’d been too cocky and wasted too much ammo, only to have a Pulverizer introduce you to the business end of several rather terrifying weapons. With enough practice and forethought though, you could endure and eventually triumph.

In this PSP port though, there are problems. Quite serious ones in fact. Despite resolving the input framerate issue via a data install, the entire game is still balanced as it was in the original PlayStation 2 version. Except, this time, you don’t have a DualShock 2 to help you out.

The premise of Last Raven is that a final war has kicked off between the corporations and the mercenaries they used to hire to do their dirty work, the Ravens. Set over the course of 24 hours, the player treads the very treacherous path where the ultimate aim is for them to be the final Raven standing. All this is set against the background of ancient technology that can obliterate entire civilisations if it feels it’s having a bad day. The narrative, for the Japanese version at least, was also quite well wrought and featured multiple branching paths that shed interesting viewpoints on each of the characters and overall plot.

Last Raven also benefited from being, in many ways, the developmental zenith of the PS2 Armored Core games. As such, it was balanced for people who’d been playing the games since 1997. Saying it was a hard game should be obvious. This PSP port is, in many ways, a totally faithful reproduction of the PS2 original and this is where the main problem lies.

Unlike the PS2 original though, this PSP port lacks a Dual Shock 2 to play it with. This is a very real issue as being able to track airborne enemies quickly and efficinetly was entirely necessary to stay alive. Last Raven, like Nexus and Ninebreaker before it, also sported a full-blown dual analogue control setup to cater for this.

Put simply, the PSP physically lacks the necessary control inputs to allow the player to stay alive in many of the missions. Relative to the PS2 original (to which the PSP version is still maddeningly balanced against), this version is unimaginably difficult. Not an account of some carefully crafted mission scripting but instead due to the total lack of foresight that the PSP is not suited to the functional demands the original game expected.

Thankfully, the input framerate issue that hampered Armored Core 3 Portable so severely can be sidestepped through a data install. However, even with this most welcome concession, the core game needed another balance pass to suit its new control setup.

This is not to say that the game is impossible, as you can just about make it through the campaign and even take down the trickier enemies, such as Zinaida and the Final Pulveriser. The difference with this port though is that there are many times where the controls fail you and you end up being fried in your own mechanical juices. At least in the original when the game spat your AC back into its garage after a failed mission you knew that either through your own improving skill or a subtle configuration change you could succeed. This port is palpably unfair in comparisonand most players, even veterans, would be hard pressed to see much point in persevering.

Difficulty is necessary in gaming but it has to be tempered with objectives that are realistically and consistently manageable for most players. A learning curve is one thing, even a harsh one, but a random player death generator is very much another.

Even if you know nothing about Armored Core and/or never played the original Last Raven, this port would be infuriating for many. Simply because it makes wholly unrealistic demands of the player for most of the game. As such, Last Raven Portable is to be avoided unless of course you have actual robotic fingers.

Tamashii: 4/10

This review was undertaken via the Japanese UMD release.

Considering that the host platform is portable, it makes sense that the main game be based around moderately concise sections of gameplay. The earlier Gundam Battle games executed this approach very well, despite the odd difficulty spike. Assault Survive departs from this concise nature and has undertaken a sprawling approach to its missions instead.

At its core you still have short missions making up the game, the difference now is that there is a map system semi-lifted from the Dynasty Warriors series. So whilst there are brief missions making the game up, they are often chained up together to make a level that’s pretty longwinded and not really suitable for a handheld gaming device.

This may sound a tad unfair, as the core game and its missions are indeed excellent and the broader scope of the level map makes the conflict feel more fleshed out (as enemies can move between maps too, so defending a fleet of ships three maps away becomes as much of a skill based issues as well as a deeply tactical one). Even the whole upgrading of units is nowhere near as arduous, as you seemingly end up flush with cash at the end of each sortie. Assault Survive also borrows the shop approach seen in Macross Ultimate Frontier, so you’re never gated in terms of the unlocks as you can just buy a mobile suit to fit the occasion. Despite all this, the map system does somewhat dull the sharpness that the clearly crafted core game offers.

To explain, the missions for each series start out relatively straightforward; with one map for the mission. As you progress, more maps are added and to successfully complete the mission you must fulfil all the objectives in all the maps. Switching between maps is undertaken by pressing the shoulder buttons simultaneously, this then locks onto the nearest map beacon and upon approaching it warps you to that map (delineated by letters of the alphabet). You generally know the status of each map, as yellow dots denote allies and red are enemies. This all begins to fall apart when it becomes apparent that a single mission in the older Gundam Battle games equates to one map, so when you have 9 maps to contend with you then have quite a slog on your hands. This is exacerbated by having to quickly switch between maps to defend allies, as picking out the correct map beacon requires the correct range and orientation of the player (not to mention the implicit understanding of where each of the beacons reside on that map).

All this is that you can be in a situation where you have to return to a map, through several others, on your 8th map out of 9 only to have the allies you were rushing back to protect buy the farm. Due to the fact that there is no save for map progress, means you have to start it all over again.

Unlike the annoying the difficulty spikes in some of the earlier Gundam Battle games, Assault Survive suffers from something far more damning; frustration through tedium. Having to re-do an entire multi-mapped mission, with each of the maps being more than manageable, only to have a defense target die and fail you the whole thing is pretty irritating. At least with a difficult mission, the onus is on the player to use a modicum of skill, with this though the game expects a greater amount of tactical forethought but not the means to execute that. This is really the main flaw as the tactical complexity is most welcome but being unable to easily move between the maps at the same kind of speed your enemies can isn’t entirely fair.

Admittedly, there are some concessions to this problem as your two wingmen can be given commands. One of these is to hold position and defend a map. This works for the most part but on the longer multi-map missions many of the maps contain boss type enemies, which need the full strength of you and your wingmen to take down. The best the wingmen can do, even with a good upgraded mobile suit, is to die slowly giving you enough to time to get back to the map and take out the threat.

All this may sound pretty damning and in a way it obviously is, the shame is that the core game is actually excellent. It’s just that all this new tactically focused content swamps that and really doesn’t work within the context of the gaming tools available to the player.

What made the Gundam Battle games such fun was their visceral and paced approach to combat, you could initiate the final throes of the Titans or Zeon on a train ride home and feel satiated. Assault Survive is far more drawn out and would make more sense on something like a home console, where you can realistically invest that kind of time. Not to mention the lack of mid-map/checkpoint saves is pretty brutal in a game like this anyway.

Even with the new Seed and Double O campaigns, not to mention the inclusion of V Gundam finally, Assault Survive is an unfortunate entry into once what was an excellent series of games.

Tamashii: 4/10

Then Metal Wolf Chaos was announced and it was apparent that the Otogi production was supposedly behind this, well at least on paper. In reality, many of the Armored Core team were apparently “getting involved” in the game’s creation and the final result is something truly surprising and quite functionally invigorating.

The premise of Metal Wolf Chaos is quite unusual; the President of the United States of America has been subject to a coup d’etat by his very own Vice President. Michael Wilson, the usurped Pesident, isn’t going down without a fight though and so he dons his custom power armor and tries to go on a cross-country campaign to re-take the White House. Each mission is contained within a specific environment, much of which can be blown to pieces along with whatever else stands in his way.

The game is very much a third person shooter with a very standardised dual analogue control setup. The only elements that really categorise the game within the mecha genre are its use of weight coupled with boosting. Admittedly, your power armor is equipped with a suitably ludicrous amount of weaponry (that inexplicably fits into the two large shoulder pods at the rear) but the weapons are not that far off human scale so the subsequent action feels more grounded as a consequence.

On first impressions though the game is a bit of a con. As the opening and subsequent in-game cutscenes, many of which were used to promote the game at launch, show Michael Wilson’s “Metal Wolf” power armor flying through the sky and boosting around in a far more carefree manner than the game allows. Along with a selection of weaponry and abilities that are remarkably potent, such as landing on a tank from a height effectively crushing it, the cutscenes display a level of functional potency absent in-game. So when you finally enter into the game, the amount and speed at which you can boost around is hugely reduced. Couple that with the somewhat underpowered starting weapons and you do feel as though you’ve been partially duped.

This was something that took a while to shake off, as the sheer amount of functional restriction was hugely irritating especially after playing the far more free form Armored Core games. That said this “tsundere” approach is very much a From Software calling card. After pouring more time into the game it gradually became apparent, through subsequent weapon acquisitions, that Metal Wolf Chaos was a fiendishly well crafted shooter. The boosting that initially drive me somewhat spare, was actually quite nuanced; as the initial acceleration on a boost could be used to travel faster and more precisely if carefully chained together. In some ways it was almost akin to fathoming the depth in GunValkyrie’s approach to boosting, though arguably this was far more straightforward. In any case, it was becoming very obvious that the game was incredibly good.

Then there’s the story and this was probably why the game engenders such a cult following. The voice acting was entirely in English and hugely hammed up with it. Many initially thought that the narrative was actually delivered straight and that’s what a Japanese developer, such as From Software, actually thought about the American Presidency. In truth, it was actually quite clever satire as much of the game purposefully exaggerates the selfish arrogance and insecurity of those in power, as Michael Wilson ultimately destroys half the nation he is trying to take back, including a memorable section where you attack an armored version of the White House (shrewdly called the “Fight House”). As far as he is concerned, Wilson still thinks it’s “his” country and screw the Republic. It’s just that the way Japanese satire displays this obvious hypocrisy as being overtly silly, rather than through acerbic wit, meant that many took the whole setup literally.

The really interesting aspect to the narrative though was how it displayed the fickle nature of the American media and especially the news networks. As the moment Michael Wilson is ousted, he’s labelled as a terrorist and even the fictional “DNN” network openly approve of the fascist mindset that the nation has descended into. The parallels with networks like Fox News are subsequently quite unnerving and you get the feeling that this was entirely intended.

Apparently this satire hit too close to home and the game was held back from a Western release. The fickle portrayal of the American media was something most Western publishers were very much wary of (as the media was responsible for promoting their gaming output). However, From Software had unwittingly used an unsanctioned version of the Presidential Seal, which gave many American publishers a way out. Ultimately, the lack of a European release belies the real issue here as there is no reason why the Presidential Seal couldn’t be used abroad (after all game was successfully published in Japan without any problems).

Satire aside, Metal Wolf Chaos is very much a well wrought game. From the large selection of disparate weapons, to the intricate environments it’s a game that has to be thoroughly investigated. Despite the somewhat ostentatious presentation the game is actually quite nuanced and, to fully appreciate its functional scope, a similar level of insight is required as with From Software’s other games. It is more approachable in terms of its controls compared to something like Armored Core, which has a level of notoriety in that department, but it still expects the player to invest their time and skill to master the Metal Wolf. Once you reach this threshold, the game opens up into a playground of unbridled destruction.

Overall, Metal Wolf Chaos is a game many could initially play but not necessarily master. Couple that with its very Japanese satire and you have a game that’s probably quite misunderstood but has weathered that in a uniquely positive manner. There’s a lot more to this game than many may appreciate but if you persevere there’s something rather wonderful in store.

Tamashii: 9/10

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In any case, the original game was sublimely good (check out our review if you don’t believe us) so the thought of a handy portable version would be suitably brilliant, right? Well, unfortunately no. Armored Core 3 Portable is rife with a number of severe issues that render the original game virtually unplayable in parts and mostly frustrating in others.

Armored Core 3 was intended as a reboot after the rushed debacle of the first two PlayStation 2 games. It boasted a very impressive draw distance, solid framerate and a whole new engine with an emphasis on how the original PlayStation games operated. The game had all new and suitably gritty designs by Shoji Kawamori too and it even offered 4 player versus, a then first for the series. In Japan it also offered online multiplayer, via a USB modem setup. It was a very crafted game and one that expected suitably precise player inputs.

So when Armored Core jumped to the PSP with Formula Front at the hardware’s launch, many weren’t overly surprised that the action element had been removed in favour of something more akin to Carnage Heart. Where you build and program an AC to fight on its own. Following on from this was an update to the game, called Formula Front International, which afforded player control whilst retaining the AI elements. However, realising that the button configuration on the PSP wasn’t a good fit some functional considerations had to be made.

One of the more tricky control elements in the original games, until Nexus at least, was how the player looked up and down. This was strangely handled by the shoulder buttons and many just gave up as they felt it was unwieldy. That said with enough practice the shoulder buttons made sense as you could still boost, change weapons, fire, strafe, use your laserblade and all manner of other inputs whilst still resting your fingers on the shoulder buttons ready to change where you were looking. Admittedly, you could reconfigure the button layout but the default setup actually worked very well (once you’d spent some time with it at least).

On the PSP though, this option isn’t really available. So in Formula Front International, looking up and down was handled automatically for the player and it worked. Consequently making the game manageable on a handheld. In the latest port of Armored Core 3, this option is nowhere to be seen.

To really clarify this, what this means is that in an arena encounter against another AC who likes to be spend time airborne you’re having to sacrifice several inputs before taking your fingers away from the buttons to try and look up at your target. This makes what was once a very fluid and tactile game play very disjointedly. Plus, there isn’t the learning curve that renders this issue moot any more as you will always need to let go of at least a few inputs to look up or down. Whilst the original Armored Core games were harsh in their expectation in having the player deal with practically all the buttons on the pad, they were also quite fair as it always meant – with practice – you could instantaneously control every facet of your AC.

Now, this Armored Core 3 port could have been rebalanced to take all into account but unfortunately this isn’t the case. The game is identical in terms of the enemy scripting, so they behave the same despite the control handicap. This makes what were once pretty straightforward missions a real slog and ultimately quite frustrating. In addition, Armored Core 3 was never an easy game and this lack of rebalancing makes the port feel quite arduous in places. Admittedly, if you restrict your basic movements and attacks you can just about scrape through a mission but that’s missing the point really.

All this though isn’t the real problem with the game, though it obviously doesn’t help. The main issue, that renders the above almost trivial, is down to the game’s reduced input framerate.

Normally, most games keep their input framerate high so even if the visuals falter your controls won’t entirely let you down. Admittedly, if the graphical side of things does grind to a halt then obviously the controls will be affected too but you should never sacrifice your input framerate over your visual. Well, From Software did exactly that on this port. So whilst visually the framerate is mostly solid, your inputs really aren’t. What’s worse you don’t have the visual framerate drop feedback as to why this is happening and coupled with the lack of mission rebalancing the final result is quite depressing.

The main probable reason for this is that the port is still appearing to use the same disc reading code from the PlayStation 2 version, as it’s constantly reading data from the UMD (which also neuters your battery life). Having a data install option would have made a world of difference and would have at least rendered the game moderately playable. There are other stupid things as too, like the awful draw distance and that it also doesn’t look that great for a PSP game either. So even with the new parts, of which there are a few, replaying what was once a great game in this way just ruins the whole experience.

In case people are curious, I still managed to S rank all the missions and unlock all the parts too but it was by no means an enjoyable endeavour (like it originally was on the PlayStation 2). Honestly, if you liked and enjoyed Armored Core 3 in any way leave this port well alone. It’s pretty much unplayable.

Tamashii: 3/10

This review was undertaken via the Japanese UMD release. The digitally distributed US version may operate more smoothly, as it won’t be using the UMD drive to access the game’s data.

It wasn’t long until other publishers like Sega decided to get in on the act. Learning from Banpresto’s example, Border Break was birthed along with a new arcade board called the Ring Edge. Sega also didn’t miss a trick either, instead of having a theatrically huge cockpit they instead opted for a smaller and more standardised cabinet, whilst also upping the potency of the board that would run the game (as Senjo no Kizuna’s was suitably basic in a graphical sense, which is why its PSP port was even feasible). However, to classify Border Break as a mere herd following cash-in would be a great injustice. To be perfectly frank, Border Break is probably one of the most refreshing mecha games seen this decade.

At its core Border Break is a resolutely multiplayer focused shooter, taking heavy influences from games like Battlefield and Armored Core. The game is split into two teams of 10 a side, with the main objective of destroying the opposing team’s base. Though this may sound easy, the core of each base is heavily armored from aerial attack, so you literally need to be underneath it in order to inflict any damage. Not to mention that each base is brimming with remarkably potent defenses, means that taking one down is by no means an easy endeavour. In addition, there are multiple spawn points along the route and capturing these is integral to gaining ground through the map. To anyone that has played Battlefield, this will all sound pretty familiar and much like in Battlefield, Border Break’s interpretation is equally robust.

The controls would also be very familiar to any PC gamer, as the cabinet sports a joystick and a mouse. The left joystick controls movement, boosting, jumping and crouching – the latter also doubles for context sensitive actions (such as using a repair station or a magnetic catapult) and the right mouse controls looking, firing, weapon selection and a target camera lock. However, despite all these apparently almost standardised elements Border Break manages to riff off them to create something wholly new. This is more than anything else due to a fantastically clever touchscreen interface, as you can literally point to any part of the game world and give commands to your team mates, such as defend this position or capture this spawn point. You can also point to your mecha, called a “blast runner”, and tag it asking for assistance such as ammo or health replenishment. Other facets, like the mortar, allow you to specifically pinpoint areas on the level map to bombard. The entire interface, from its joystick to the mouse and finally the touchscreen is inherently tactile.

What differentiates Border Break from the PC shooter crowd more than anything else, is that the blast runners retain their weight as well as a boost dash. Most mecha themed first person shooters, such as Shogo, don’t really differentiate their human protagonists from their mechanical. Border Break approaches the blast runners as mecha in an outright sense. Much in the same way Battlefield shifts control from vehicular to that of a human, Border Break merges both to give the sense you’re piloting something really quite beefy. The dashing is also very much a mecha staple and unlike Virtual On, which is based around fixed vectored dashes, Border Break uses a more analogue approach so you can change direction on the fly. What transpires is that without boosting, your blast runner plods along quite slowly but when you start to dash you also retain momentum. Couple this with the jump and you can, with a little practice, use the blast runner’s momentum to carry you further. More advanced usage takes it further still, using the initial acceleration and momentum on a boost to almost “hop” around, in a manner not to dissimilar to the quick boost function seen in the newer Armored Core games. Naturally, boosting is finite as your boost gauge depletes with usage. In addition, your weapons loadout and chassis parts effect the weight of your blast runner and its top speed as well as acceleration, though more of this later.

Sega have also been very shrewd in how you pay for all this. Credits are accrued as “game points”, or GP, and these slowly tick down on a timer. Once you run out that’s the end of your game. The GP system also applies to the time you spend in the front end, though you do have a brief grace period. Though the really cunning use of GP is how you customise your blast runner. Much like in Armored Core, you can customise not only the mecha’s frame but also its weapon load out. Apart from requiring certain raw materials to “make” a part, which are awarded at the end of each match via a random draw, you also need pay for each one with GP. That’s right, you literally pay real world money to upgrade your blast runner. It’s a clever system, as everything feeds back into your GP in one way or another and it never feels as though you’re being fleeced for every 100 yen coin you own.

Much like in Armored Core, each part of the chassis and weapons affect your overall weight. This effects your blast runner’s speed and acceleration in ways both subtle and profound. Though unlike Armored Core’s somewhat dizzying array of numbered statistics, Border Break’s parts are more straightforward in their effects. This is mostly down to the simplification and reduction in the number of parts categories, as well as the four classes each of the blast runners sit within. One element that is also quite interesting is that switching between your four potential weapons whilst very direct, as it lacks the scrolling dead zone selection seen in the earlier Armored Core games, each weapon has a very nice mechanical animation for its selection. This means you never select the wrong weapon but you can time your selection poorly, as it’s not recommend to switch from your machine gun to your rocket launcher in the middle of a fire fight. As such you’re always mentally preparing each weapon for each encounter, which adds a welcome layer of tactics to the proceedings. As this is something that is very much lacking from the reflexive nature of most modern day shooters.

One of Border Break’s more arcade defining qualities is its use of four distinct classes; assault, heavy, sniper and support. These are selected prior to each time you spawn and are customised separately in the game’s front end. Initially, you only have access to the assault class but through extended play more classes become available. The assault is your main staple, relatively fast and with a good emphasis on melee. Your blast runner’s sword is more manual than you’d expect though, as there is no target lock as such (only a camera lock), this means you can often over shoot your enemy with a sword swipe, leaving you suitably open to attack in the process. The sword is very potent and once mastered can be quite terrifying when you’re on its receiving end in an enclosed space. The heavy is more your full on ground pounder, equipped with a heavier machine gun initially as well as a rocket launcher (whose shots have a nice area of effect on impact). Though these weapons serve you well in a fire fight, the heavy is meant more as a mid to long range blast runner, as the mortar is used to clear areas on a map so the other team mates can control that area easier. The heavy also sports an ECM grenade that jams an enemy’s display, again allowing your teammates to take them out with greater ease. The sniper is pretty much what you’d expect but also quite nimble and woe betide you ignore an entrenched sniper. It also can deploy a fixed position machine gun turret, which is very useful if you need to leave a guard dog on a spawn point whilst you reconnoitre ahead. Finally, the support blast runner is one of the more interesting types, as not only can it heal team mates in the field but also drop very powerful mines. Its shotgun is also incredibly good in an enclosed fire fight.

No game is without its faults however, Border Break’s are relatively few though. Most notably of which is the mouse’s incredibly short cable, as you will initially be pulling on it much like you would on a PC back home only for it not to give way. In truth, it can be quite annoying initially but after further play you adapt to make smaller and more precise movements, which arguably suit the game more as you then use the boost dash as it was probably intended. Secondly, whilst this is a game using a new Sega arcade board it’s not exactly graphically cutting edge. By no means is it ugly but compared to many 360 or PS3 games, Border Break looks a bit dated in places (though not in the mecha department, as they all look pretty fabulous). That said, most modern console games don’t run at 60fps nor promise a lag free online setup (not to mention most are upscaled from a non-HD resolution these days), so whilst the environments have some texture tiling in places it’s forgiveable considering how fluidly the game operates on a functional level.

The final issue is ultimately Border Break is an expensive arcade game, some may have issue with paying for gaming time rather than a credit that you can hold onto via your skill alone (much like Virtual On or any other arcade versus game). Not to mention having to pay for your blast runner’s new parts with actual cash could rub some up the wrong way. The truth is that in this department your mileage will vary, we found no issue with the approach to game currency but we do appreciate that money doesn’t exactly grow on trees either. Regardless of these faults, Border Break doesn’t labour under them in any real way. As the game is functionally very well crafted and that alone is a refreshing enough to render the above issues a tad moot, in our eyes at least.

Though the truly striking thing about Border Break, more than any other, is how seamless the game integrates a Western design approach for a PC shooter with the very Japanese rule sets that ensconce its mecha mythos. You’d think that Western developers would have nailed this long ago but Sega have done what many probably thought to be wholly incompatible; a standardised Western approach to controls with the bespoke nature of Japanese mecha. It’s an impressive achievement and one that will most likely be completely overlooked, as there are currently no plans to release Border Break overseas.

This would be an obvious shame and whilst a console or PC port could graphically keep up with what Sega’s new Ring Edge board is pumping out, the touch screen controls are very much integral to the immediacy of the overall experience. Plus, sitting in an arcade and taking down an enemy’s base alongside a gaming compatriot and then seeing both your and their blast runner’s punch the air with their mechanical fists is a sensation that games played in the comfort of your own home still really lack. Border Break, as an arcade game, is therefore nigh-on faultless in terms of its place amongst similar brethren from the mecha gaming pantheon but whether that would make the leap to any kind of port, motion sensing controls or otherwise, remains to be very much seen.

What Border Break does though is renew an element of faith that was once somewhat lost after the decline of Sega’s much loved Virtual On series. As a game then it’s not just simply good but a thoughtfully crafted affirmation of why mecha games exist in the first place.

Tamashii: 9/10

Considering Capcom’s solid arcade versus history, it should come as no surprise that they have been making very solid Gundam themed arcade versus games for nigh-on ten years. Normally specialising on one series and/or timeframe of the Gundam mythos, Capcom kept their approach very focused. It wasn’t until quite recently when they literally threw pretty much every Gundam into the ring within one game. Naturally, the subsequent versus depth that followed on from such a decision has pushed these games up a notch in terms of their functional prowess.

Despite the original games being rather well wrought, they were still derivative of games like Virtual On. Whilst they retained ranged and melee attacks there was only one mode of combat for both; that of fixed circle strafing dashes. Compared to Virtual On, where you had to manually plan fixed vectored dashes across an arena and then only via a tethered camera, Capcom distilled the games down so that the visual tethering also became functional.

A lot of this was down to the rules laid out in the host work and Capcom also had to make sure the games appealed to frustrated Japanese salarymen, that just want to pummel a few Zakus into submission. It was all very simple but it worked and the games garnered an arcade versus fanbase. Over time and multiple iterations later this fanbase has outnumbered the casual salarymen and the games have become more involved as a consequence.

The big addition that kicked off a few years back was with Capcom’s Gundam Seed arcade games. For one they dropped the ineffective space based missions but also introduced an all new boosting function. Although the games retained their circle strafing core, the fixed duration boost made a huge difference to the pace and tactics employed in the games. As you could literally break out from the tedium of circle strafing and do so at tactically opportune moments.

The shift that changed the games even more dramatically, was how they opened up in regards to the unit variance. As the older games were often series/timeframe specific and this ultimately limited the functional scope. In March 2008 Capcom released Gundam vs Gundam and as the title suggested the game essentially featured almost every Gundam from every series, OVA and movie in one game. The corollary of this was that the unit variety was pretty epic.

However, one of the main flaws in Gundam vs Gundam was that player’s could summon map wide attacks, called G-Crossovers. Whilst visual crowd pleasers they were pretty brutal in potency and the fanbase voiced their concern on how it lowered the standard of versus play.

Following on from this there was an even bigger game and the most recent; Gundam vs Gundam Next. Not only did it feature more mobile suits but Capcom also shrewdly removed the excessive map wide attacks. The notable improvement was also how Capcom implemented a new type of boost dash. This was called the Next Dash and it allowed the player to cancel out of anything with a boost dash, but only if they had boost left in their gauge. This was quite a subtle improvement but profound in terms of its versus ramifications. Unsurprisingly this new feature was met with with widespread praise from the versus fanbase.

Considering the recent games are based upon Namco’s System 256 arcade board, which is essentially a PlayStation 2 in a box, porting that to the PSP shouldn’t be an issue. For the previous, Gundam vs Gundam the port was pretty serviceable but it did suffer a few framerate issues. Since then, Capcom haven’t been idle as the latest port is remarkably well implemented.

Unlike Next, the arcade iteration it’s based upon, Next Plus has received quite a large number of improvements and modifications. Notably is a mission mode as well as several PSP exclusive mobile suits. In addition, previous units from Next have also been re-balanced for this port – all for the better as some where a little uber in the arcade.

As per the arcade, Next Plus offers each of the “routes” through the game and these can also be played in multiplayer. There are several new routes for the port as well and these are unlocked through play, as are the new mobile suits.

The slightly odd thing is that the arcade element in Next Plus is actually quite lengthy. For a hand-held port you can’t really jump in and out as you want, as you have to finish the whole route to get the unlocks. Compared to the mission mode, where you can literally play a mission at a time, the arcade element can be a bit longwinded if you just want quick versus bouts.

That said none of the game is ever tedious or dull, as the sheer speed of combat now is suitably intense. Couple that with the Next Dashes, allowing you to cancel out of fluffed up moves, and everything just flows a lot more smoothly. You then have the vast array of mobile suits to choose from, each with their own control setups and nuances. There are also a fair amount of functional hat-tips to the Gundam mythos with each unit too. As something like the Reborns Gundam uses Tau drives and as such initiating Trans-Am is a one shot deal or the Bio-Sensor in the Zeta Gundam triggering each time your wingman dies. They’re nice touches and not shallow either, as they all have a purpose in the game.

However, for all these wondrous elements and the overall solid nature of the port there are certain shortcomings down to the hardware it’s hosted upon. This is not to say the framerate issues have re-surfaced, because they haven’t, but that the point of these games and what they are balanced around isn’t a solitary gaming experience. They’re squarely meant for human multiplayer, as such the lack of Infrastructure (Online) support in this port is unfortunate, though it does support AdHoc (local Wi-Fi) which is at least something. Separately, the controls can be a little awkward on the PSP and the game would benefit from being played on a decent stick now, as it is in the arcade.

In short, whilst this is a thoroughly excellent PSP game, it would make more sense if Capcom had ported this to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. The game needs pretty beefy online support and a stick, plus having the graphical upgrade wouldn’t do any harm either. That said, this is still a mightily good port of an already quality arcade versus game. Even if you’re completely ignorant about Gundam, the amount of versus depth present should keep even the most cynical gamer occupied.

Tamashii: 8/10

Now, I’ve played these games since 1997. Some have been good, others bad and a few completely brilliant. However, it’s safe to say that I know how to play these games as you’d think I’d have had enough practice by now? Wrong. Like every Armored Core game before it the skill set required to just survive changes both subtly and profoundly between each game. Last Raven is no exception as even after thrashing the entirety of Ninebreaker, with all of its 150 Gold medals acquired for each of its training programs, the final entry to the PlayStation 2 Armored Core pantheon promptly blew me into oblivion on the first mission. That’s right, the first mission in the game. Even with all my parts and, what I’d thought to be, a suitably uber AC configuration I still got obliterated. This is why Last Raven is no ordinary Armored Core game.

You need to understand that in terms of gaming difficulty, Last Raven is a total bastard. A beautifully wrought bastard admittedly but the entire singleplayer campaign is there to push you to the very limits of your skill. That’s the thing though, unlike the Armored Core games that pre-date it Last Raven is a heavily scripted and deeply crafted game. In that every facet of the campaign, to the parts you customise your AC with and even the core handling has been reworked so that each component reacts sympathetically with one another. This means there are no instant wins in Last Raven on account of uber parts or an exploit in the handling. Not until you have mastered every nuance the game has through at you can you truly become invincible.

The handling alone is tricky enough to get right though, as dealing with another AC is like try to fight a jet powered brick wall with guns that fire sponges. Initially at least, you don’t understand why they aren’t dropping like flies. The reason behind this is that recoil on your arms effects the accuracy of each shot and, more importantly, damage stats are spread across parts and not the body as a whole. This brings me onto one of the newer features in Last Raven, as each of the parts of your AC’s body can take damage and be destroyed independently (from the head, arms, legs and even weapons). Once the core has been damaged enough, that’s when real pain is inflicted. However, trying to hit an enemy AC core at speed whilst dealing with your own arm recoil isn’t particularly easy and often results in you either running out of ammo or being very dead.

The game itself is set over the course of 24 hours and has multiple branching narratives, where you often get to see fellow Ravens fighting for their life. Thrown into this mix are a selection of ancient mecha known as the Pulverizers. These initially match certain AC configs but later on turn into massive and utterly deadly opponents. What’s often terrifying about facing these enemies, is that you often do it at the end of a mission. So once you’ve barely survived a long and treacherous mission and expended most of your ammo, you then have to face a nails boss. If it’s not clear already, this game is still a bastard.

With practice though you can make it to the end of the mission and take out whatever stands in your way but this is something that isn’t for everyone. Last Raven expects you to persevere, not only in terms of re-examining your AC config but also in your personal acquisition of skill. With most games offering massive rewards for almost zero effort, Last Raven stands apart in this regard.

This is where Last Raven frays at the edges somewhat, not because it is hard but because the components that make it difficult have almost been overworked. The limitations on weapon firing and timing your hits to match the recoil, the heat management whilst you boost and then having to get a bead on your enemy. All of these had to be handled on the fly and coupled with the controls being so “comprehensive” meant that much of the time you were just trying to grapple basics of how the game operated.

Silent Line was superb and flawless because it was perfectly focused and knew just enough to make the game a challenge but not arduous. Last Raven is hard but in the sense that it overly restricts the player when it patently need not to. Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that much of what was taken for granted in the earlier games now has to be micro-managed on the fly. It’s a very different style of game and one that is rewarding but the slog to get there needed to be slightly less discouraging.

This is not to say that an immense amount of thought and care went into this game, as it very obviously had to. To damn Last Raven on the fact that it expects so much from the player should really be lauded and not villified. However, there is an argument to made here towards succinct gaming functionality and on that count Last Raven doesn’t quite make it. That said, the game does do something no-other Armored Core has done to date; once mastered you do have the palpable sense you have piloted a very complex machine.

In any case, Last Raven was a fitting end to the PlayStation 2 era of Armored Core games. It was brutal, sometimes even outright sadistic but always fair. For that it is still, by me at least, regarded as one of the best games in the series and in the mecha gaming pantheon as a whole.

Tamashii: 9/10

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