Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
FromSoftware's mech action game sends a mercenary pilot through contracts on the quarantined planet Rubicon 3, where fast, three-dimensional combat plays out across large stages. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon released on August 25, 2023 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Top 3 Reasons to Play
- Between missions, the mech can be rebuilt from different parts, and the choice shifts how fast it moves, how it fights and which tactics suit it. A boss that wins one attempt can be met with a different machine on the next.
- The mech moves forward, backward and vertically, and ground and aerial mobility are used together across large stages. Weapons sit in up to four slots, on both hands and both shoulders, and can fire at the same time.
- Replays are built into the structure. New Game+ starts automatically after the final mission and brings exclusive missions with it, and S-ranks are earned through Mission Replay.
Story and Lore
The first catastrophe came from a mysterious substance on the remote planet Rubicon 3: it set the planet and nearby stars ablaze and left behind a region known as the Burning Star System. Almost fifty years later Coral is back on the quarantined planet, and corporations and resistance factions are contesting it.
The player arrives as an independent mercenary working for Walter, a handler who rents out his pilots, known as Hounds, to the highest bidder. The previous Hounds, numbered 617 to 620, were lost on a mission on Rubicon 3, and 621 is the replacement.
Campaign choices matter beyond a single mission. Decision Missions are flagged in their descriptions, and picking one locks out its counterpart until the next playthrough, which keeps the three endings apart.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Assembly splits into three categories: weapons, frame parts and inner parts. Weapons set attack power, frames set strength and action, and inner parts govern agility and response, while legs, generators and boosters shape speed and maneuverability. Every part sells for the price it was bought at, and spare parts can be sold to raise funds.
- Attacks build an impact gauge on the target. Once it fills, the enemy is staggered and takes critical damage for as long as the state lasts, and the player's own mech can be staggered in the same way.
- Training missions between campaign missions are meant to supply the weapons a build needs, according to the developers.
- Online battles take place in the Nest simulator. Ranked Match arrived as a free update on December 19, 2023, and nameplates shown in custom and ranked matches can be bought with Nest Points earned in Ranked Matches.
The Arena adds its own set of boss fights, and a second Arena unlocks in New Game+.
Characters and Factions
- C4-621, nicknamed Raven, is an augmented-human pilot with damaged memories who takes over the mercenary license of a dead pilot, RB23.
- Walter runs the Hounds and issues missions over comms.
- Ayre, a Rubiconian voice, makes contact with 621 at the end of Chapter 1 and stays on as Mission Control alongside Walter.
- V.IV Rusty, a captain in Arquebus's Vespers squadron, is an augmented ace pilot who is sympathetic toward 621 and assists in Operation Wallclimber, an assault on the RLF stronghold known as The Wall.
Arquebus Corp fields the Vespers as its elite unit, and Balam fields the Red Guns. Allmind, BAWS, Furlong Dynamics, Schneider and RaD round out the corporations competing over Rubicon 3 and Coral. Against them stands the Rubicon Liberation Front, a movement of Rubicon 3 citizens opposing corporate rule, which has seized corporate weapons including the Strider, a mobile fortress with an energy cannon.
Editions
There is a Standard Edition which includes only the base game but you can also buy a Deluxe Edition which adds digital artbook and the original soundtrack.