‘Armored Core 6’ story trailer reveals reboot’s dark, brutal tone

Bandai Namco and FromSoftware have shared a new story trailer for Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon.

Rumoured for several years before it was revealed in late 2022, Fires of Rubicon is in fact a reboot of the acclaimed series of third-person shooter mecha games. Learning from FromSoftware’s recent roster of action games like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring, it aims to achieve “groundbreaking gameplay” and reignite the lost love of its fans.

The trailer strikes a very dark tone with scores of Armored Cores being torn through like crepe paper on a grey battlefield. Among this exposition, there’s a cybernetic body on some sort of technical support as an unseen character asks to wake them up. “621,” says one character, referring to the last mecha that didn’t embark on the doomed mission. “I’ll give you a reason to exist.”

Including the significant technical improvements that have been achieved since the release of Verdict Day in 2013, Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon assures players that there will be “challenging and memorable battles along with a fulfilling progression system and deep gameplay, all of it now powered by assembling mechs and going into combat with massive bosses.”

Fires of Rubicon is set on a planet sharing the same name – Rubicon 3. Human settlers discovered a substance called “Coral” that had the potential to surge their technological standard ahead by centuries. Instead, the Coral caused a disaster known as “The Fires of Ibis,” wreaking devastation on the planet and engulfing the star system in flames.

Decades later, humans recover Coral on the condemned Rubicon 3 and a new battle breaks out for control over the resource. The protagonist is augmented human called “C4-621”, or codenamed “Raven”, and is an independent mercenary and Armored Core pilot. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon comes to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on August 25.

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