Game developer From Software is a veteran of the giant-robot-fighting genre and has demonstrated its skill in various ways, including the recent Chromehounds. That game, while fun in its own right, unfortunately wasn't well received by many gamers and the gaming press in general. So From has decided to stick with more familiar ground for its newest outing by revisiting the long-standing mecha series Armored Core, and taking it to next-generation consoles.

Armored Core's basic premise of building custom mechas and doing battle with them remains unchanged in Armored Core 4. The gameplay, however, has been given a much more action-oriented overhaul, with less emphasis on customization, which may be disappointing to fans of AC's deep customization levels. The new action focus may have been designed to bring new gamers into the series, but there are flaws in the gameplay that can limit the enjoyment of the non-fan. Many of the single-player missions have a number of irritating aspects to them, such as limited boundaries to move in, short mission lengths, inconsistent difficulty, and identical mission objectives that can get boring fast. The controls are also a bit awkward, with targeting controls particularly hard to manage.

The real fun of the game, however, comes from its multiplayer mode, where you can fight online with other giant robot warriors and see gamers' creations. Despite the sparse options, seeing and fighting against the mechas of other players across the globe, as well as being able to trade specifications with them, is enough to keep the multiplayer fresh and exciting.

Armored Core 4 is available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and is rated T for Teen.