98. Armored Core 2|PS2|2000|mech sim|10h 5m|7/10
No, this isn't my AC. Mine had a grade of Excellent.Armored Core 2 is actually the fourth game in the Armored Core series, and the first entry on the PS2. AC2 largely apes previous installments insofar as main game design is concerned. That is to say; you play as a mercenary (Raven) taking on jobs from competing corporations, using the profits to evolve your armored core (mech), so that you might rule the arena, thereby having maximum prestige and profits. Whether doing missions or fighting in the arena, the gameplay remains the same. This is third person robot shooting action with a tiny hint of strategy.

The most important strategic element, is designing your armored core for maximum capability. You'll choose from hundreds of parts, carefully constructing a custom armored core, all depending on the requirements of any given mission or arena challenger. This aspect is often daunting for newcomers, and some people give up as soon as they realize how deep the customization is. For anyone who thinks maintaining a single armored core is too daunting, all I can say is they should never play Front Mission.

As far as improvements go, AC2 is a fair graphical improvement over its predecessors. (Though this has more to do with the PS2 than FromSoftware really pushing amazing graphics.) And the inclusion of voice acting during mission dialogues is nice. However, I found the arena to be not as challenging as previous installments. But on the other hand, missions were often much tougher than previous AC games. This has more to do with balancing issues, meaning the designers obviously favored one certain type of AC design for their playtesting. And truly Armored Core 2 often feels rough around the edges, likely a result of rushed development, as FromSoftware was in a hurry to release PS2 games ahead of other developers back in 2000.

For the right person, Armored Core 2 is a worthy investment of their time. And by right person, I mean someone who loves giant robots, enjoys endlessly tinkering with configurations, and is tenacious enough to ignore antiquated graphics and short sighted controls. If you are that type of gamer, Armored Core 2 will scratch that mech shaped itch. Albeit not as well as its predecessors did. Still, all things considered, Armored Core 2 is a good start to the long PS2 run of this series.

Also the final mission of this game can kiss my ass. Three stupid hard bosses back to back to back, really FromSoftware? No continues either if you die.
Really?