Armored Core: Nine Breaker is the ninth Armored Core series addition, and it takes its secondary title 'Nine Breaker' from Armored Core 2 and the name bestowed upon mech pilots of extraordinary ability and accomplishment; it's directly linked to 'Nineball', a gargantuan mech opponent battled in the final level of 1997's original game - which makes a daunting return appearance here in Ninebreaker.
In essence, Armored Core: Nine Breaker is a reduced priced expansion pack that relates to Armored Core: Nexus insofar as it utilises the same engine and the same integral mechanical elements where customisable mech parts are concerned. While gameplay and modification aspects are perhaps improved over those experienced in Nexus, Ninebreaker differs from all previous instalments because it's completely devoid of central narrative and related mission structure. It is, essentially, little more than a complex single-player and two-player head-to-head battler with massively wide-ranging customisation opportunities and shoehorned training 'missions'.
This deviation from the established Armored Core blueprint is fine - in principle - but, from the very start of Nine Breaker, the game relies heavily on past series association in order for players to sink swiftly into the masses of mech-based customisations and training tests required to construct and hone the perfectly balanced AC unit. Subsequently, though series veterans will doubtlessly enjoy the sense of immediacy found in the wealth of available modifications, those gamers unfamiliar with Armored Core may well find themselves a little lost beneath the sheer weight of choice, the reams of comparable statistics, and the distinct lack of useful reference points.
The training aspect of Ninebreaker is laid out across 150 separate programs split into six specific categories, which cover everything the budding pilot will need to successfully tweak and evolve their mech. The categories are: Attack, Defence, Technic, Special, Move, and Overall, and each individual area offers up a selection of training exercises in order to practice and perfect various related skills and techniques. Though the training component is certainly in-depth (150 tests isn't to be sniffed at), it still somehow fails to replace or transcend a considered and compelling storyline for the gameplay to complement, and it leaves Nine Breaker's central battle arena element feeling strangely fragile and fractured in the resultant void of content.
The 'Vs.' battles fundamental to Nine Breaker do create frantic and fast-paced encounters, though the lack of Network options on the PS2 is fairly unforgivable considering the very nature of the multiplayer-friendly gameplay and lack of a single-player campaign. That said, the single-player encounters offer up some notably finessed A.I. when battling computer-controlled adversaries. Indeed, it's refreshing to see the A.I. attempting typically human responses by charging headlong at the player to stifle strafing attacks, or by seeking to utilise cover when incurring heavy damage. These refreshing A.I. tactics help keep player reactions sharp and focused, and always promote flashes of the unpredictable and unexpected. Of course, the flexibility of the A.I. is likely to further benefit pilots and their ACs when taking the game into its split-screen human vs. human mode, where all that training and A.I. competition finally comes to the fore.
Graphically, Nine Breaker is competent without ever pushing the PS2's boundaries (Black and Shadow of the Colossus remain unchallenged in that department), and the visuals run well enough given the overriding feel of gritty underperformance that generally plagues PS2 titles. Armoured Core units are imposing and well detailed - individual ACs are open to colour and decal alterations to better achieve a more personal feel - and the effects of their specific weaponry is satisfyingly delivered through aggressive explosions, missile trails, laser blasts, billowing smoke plumes, etc. The training environments and battle arenas all allow for plenty of scope where ground-based and aerial conflict is concerned, and the game creates a fairly convincing sense of height and inertia while trading blows with rival mechs at varying distances.
Game sound is also thoroughly decent, and the throbbing musical ambience of Nine Breaker will likely push the pulse rate of those gamers immersed in the heat of battle. As with the visual performance of AC weaponry, its accompanying aural performance is equal to the task when it comes to convincingly drawing in players and invoking a willing sense of disbelief in the general ‘huge robots blasting seven bells out of one another with incomprehensibly large guns and missiles’ gameplay dynamic.
Yet, despite the game being a faithful extension of the ongoing Armored Core series and a focused attempt at shining the spotlight solely on the vs. element, Nine Breaker is still uncomfortably fiddly in its controls, too muddled and hard to absorb in its use of an effective onscreen HUD (Heads-Up Display), and much too reliant on attracting established fans rather than reaching to expand its appeal. It seems somewhat wasteful to create a representative videogame that accomplishes nothing in terms of widening the demographic magnetism of its series. Then again, it also seems rather shallow to produce a videogame that strips away any sense of narrative and merely constructs massive amounts of (dullard) customisation and an A.I./human-against-human vs. mode in its place - without even including a Network option to truly fulfil the limited opportunities that exist around that bare bones structure. Even fisticuff brawlers like Tekken and Dead or Alive manage to concoct some form of related plotline to build around. The fact that Armored Core: Nine Breaker retails for £19.99 doesn’t necessarily forgive its lack of content or longevity - only the obsessed AC fan will milk this beyond a few hours, but it does make it easier to accept as a series expansion rather than a genuine attempt at pushing Armored Core forward. The uninitiated however should be warned at this juncture, Nine Breaker is most definitely a game aimed at the hardcore fan base. Approach with caution.
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