Review by MrYowler

"Could have been better."

In my humble opinion, AC2 is both a good and lacking game. There is a little story, but not much. You are a Raven, another word for mercenary. You have just travelled to Mars, but you were a very active pilot back on Earth. Your Arena skills will be tested here. Can you become the Nine Breaker?

Gameplay: 6/10

The gameplay surely wasn't what I was expecting. Being the first AC I bought for the PS2, I was expecting excellent control. Much to my disappointment, it didn't have that. This is DualShock 2! There should've been Analog control. No matter how good you get, you can still sit there and watch your computer opponent move around in a fluent motion. From this you can see how comfortable he is while he is piloting his AC. So no matter what, you never get that comfortable control you want. However, this one has a bunch of awesome missions to choose from. Some easy, some difficult. But the real plus side is: the Arena. Ah yes. Fifty-eight Arena combatants waiting to go at your throat. Some of the AI is EXTREMELY cheap, but some is very good. Hustler Two and Light Seeker should be a walk in the park.

Two player support? Sure. This was also a disappointment. If you have a Saved game with all the secret/normal parts, and an awesome AC with all missions complete, then yeah it could be fun. But if you don't have this, you get to fly around with big, weird-looking aluminum robots and blast each other with small Pellet Gun esque rifles. So, this brings me to the conclusion that Gameplay deserves a 6/10.

Sound: 10/10

This is excellent. The sounds are extremely vibrant, and well made out. Everything from your operator, Nell Aulter, to enemy AC's firing a jet of ammunition toward your AC, to other environmental terrain sounds. The music is very catchy and well-expressed. Therefore, 10/10.

Graphics: 8/10

Other than this annoying, stupid, misbegotten slowdown factor, everything is just peachy. What is this slowdown factor you ask? It's a latency problem with the game. Like, when fighting against two enemy AC's, and having heavy fire rained upon you, there is a good chance the game is going to stop moving in a fluent, fast-paced motion as it was before. The cinematics are also very vibrant. You'll have to see for yourself. 8/10.

Challenge Factor: 7/10

Like I said before. The difficulty to this game varies, somewhat. Some missions will be a walk in the park to some people, then a couple missions later, you might be stressing your brain to figure out what the heck to do. About the Arena, most of the time the AI is pretty good. (with the exceptions of Hustler Two and Light Seeker). Sometimes it's extremely deplorable. Both challenging, and not challenging, the Challenge Factor receives a 7/10.

Replayability: 9/10

Although there are quite a few negative aspects of this game, it's hard to put this one down and let it collect dust. From 58 Arena combatants, to 30 exciting missions, you have a lot you can do with this game. Not to mention the tons of possible AC combinations you could make. There is also space for making your own strategies. All in all, replayability is a 9/10.

To Buy, or to Rent?

Rent. Most definitely rent. See how this game suits you before you go blow off some green on it. Only buy this game if you're an extreme, die-hard AC fan.



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