Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a particularly interesting game, not only for its content but for the context in which it exists. Released in August 2023, Fires of Rubicon marks the latest entry in the long-running Armored Core franchise of video games. The last entry in the series, Armored Core V: Verdict Day, was originally released a whopping ten years ago, almost to the day, with an entire console generation coming and going between Verdict Day and Fires of Rubicon. If we’re being blunt, it’s been a long time.
In the years following Verdict Day, developer FromSoftware has since pivoted into being pioneers of the fantasy RPG genre, with memorable titles like Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. These titles, in addition to the wider proliferation of the “Soulsborne” subgenre of their own creation, have essentially turned FromSoftware into a household name in the world of contemporary gaming.
It’s important to mention this because it would be disingenuous to suggest that it wouldn’t have an impact on Fires of Rubicon. For a significant amount of time, FromSoftware’s output was tied directly to a single type of game, albeit with variations and twists on what would become an established formula. Now, all of a sudden, we find ourselves with a new entry in a franchise that had been hibernating for a decade.
Admittedly, it’s a bit strange to jump from medieval castles to deep-future mech combat. But overall, it’s safe to say that the positives of Fires of Rubicon do outweigh the few negatives.
Fires of Rubicon Takes Players to a Dystopian Landscape
Fires of Rubicon stays true to a time-honored Armored Core tradition, with every numbered entry kicking off a new generation of Armored Core games. Each generation typically comes with its own setting, story beats, gameplay styles, and more. The earliest generations had typically leaned more towards the simulation aspects of mech-based warfare, treating its gameplay with a bit more realism through stat management, tactical decision-making, and a focus on being methodical.
Later generations would treat Armored Core less as a simulation and more like an arcade-y action series, with the overall speed of the games jumping higher and higher with each successive entry. Fires of Rubicon continues this trend, delivering what is likely the single fastest entry in the series so far.
The game takes place in the deep future, where mankind has somehow developed the ability to travel across the deepest reaches of space. A distant planet known as Rubicon 3 was a major catalyst for humanity’s advancement, with its unique natural resource, Coral, carrying miraculous properties. However, a cataclysmic event known only as the “Fires of Ibis” was attributed to the disturbance of the Coral, setting everything on the planet and the surrounding star system ablaze. Rubicon 3, for all intents and purposes, was as good as dead. That is until rumors of Coral reappearing on Rubicon 3 started to circulate.
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Those who had moved onto the planet after the widespread destruction now find themselves at the mercy of faceless corporations, with each one in mutual competition to find a new source of Coral. The player, known only as “C4-621,” is smuggled onto Rubicon 3 in a mechanized fighting robot — an eponymous Armored Core, or “AC” — via their Handler, Walter. From there, Walter promises a chance at a new life for 621 as long as they complete the various assignments given to them. With no allegiances, no past, and possibly no future, 621 finds itself unraveling the mystery behind Rubicon 3’s initial destruction, as well as the true nature behind the Coral’s existence.
Despite a more personable approach to storytelling this time around, Fires of Rubicon makes a deliberate effort to present its story in as cold and direct a way as possible. There’s no gussying up 621’s role in Rubicon 3’s conflicts, nor is there any attempt to paint them in a heroic light. Instead, you’re simply a freelancer. You’re thoroughly disconnected from your Handler’s true intentions, those you interact with rarely treat you with any form of respect, and there isn’t a single human face to be seen in the entirety of the game’s lengthy campaign.
In fact, most of the game’s important plot beats are merely directly communicated to you, either through radio communications during your adventures or through prerecorded messages and mission briefings prior to embarking onto the planet’s surface. Some have cited this as a downside compared to how involved the player could become in FromSoftware’s previous games. But it feels appropriate when considering the greater themes that pervade Fires of Rubicon‘s presentation.
Specifically, Fires of Rubicon invokes two specific themes throughout its dilapidated landscapes and melancholic soundtrack: loneliness and nostalgia. Armored Core as a whole would always trend towards the grim and bitter side of science fiction, often painting worlds ruled by prominent corporations and faceless machines. Fires of Rubicon is no different.
The titular planet, through its sparsely populated desert dunes and ruined snowy plains, paints a picture of a civilization that came, went, and slowly trickled back in before being sprayed down with gunfire. What should be clear and calm skies are often blocked in perpetuity by towering gridiron structures, splintered buildings that resemble broken ribs, and sparks of failing circuitry. That is if you can actually see the sky. You’ll spend just as much time in the damp underbelly of Rubicon 3, navigating cramped metallic hallways and blasted caverns made all the more decrepit by the carved remains of the planet’s inner crust.
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In keeping with Armored Core tradition, the game is structured in an incredibly user-friendly way. Fires of Rubicon‘s main menu is a hub for several different gameplay modes, with the main story being broken into a series of independent missions named “sorties.” These sorties, which vary in length anywhere between ten to forty minutes, can be freely replayed at any point after their completion for both additional rewards and a specific letter grade.
A competitive multiplayer mode featuring 1v1 or 3v3 battles can also be accessed once you progress far enough in the main story. There’s also the arena, which holds a variety of challenging brawls that you can participate in for OS Upgrades, in addition to the “Test Sortie,” a virtual playground of sorts to experiment with 621’s AC.
The Garage and Customization
Speaking of which, a staple of the Armored Core franchise has always been the garage. A place for player expression and tactical choices to collide, the garage allows you to customize 621’s AC to your heart’s content, provided you balance your various stats accordingly. An AC will always be able to run around, jump, quick boost, assault boost, hover in mid-air, and utilize four separate weapons, one for each arm and shoulder. But the combination of parts you outfit 621’s AC with will drastically alter each of these abilities.
For example, trading a pair of regular bipedal legs for a pair of tank treads comes with a set of advantages and disadvantages. You’ll be able to drift around incredibly quickly on the ground, and you’ll be able to use heavier weapons with greater ease, but you’ll be unable to equip unique boosters due to the weight of your treads. You’ll have to rely on boosters that are built into the treads themselves, which pale in comparison to your more specialized options.
Multiple weapon types are available as well. Explosives often deal a massive amount of damage in a wide area, but their heavy weight is difficult for lighter ACs to effectively utilize. Melee weapons are arguably the most varied and unique they’ve ever been in the Armored Core franchise, with each one being able to inflict massive damage at great risk to your own safety. Your shoulders, which can carry dedicated shoulder weapons or hold a second set of hand-held weapons, will often determine how you approach combat as a whole.
Do you want to trade direct damage for the ability to defend yourself with a shield? Do you want to emphasize hitting a target with massive artillery, or would having smaller heat-seeking missiles be more effective? These options, combined with permanent buffs via the OS Upgrade system, allow for a practically infinite amount of options in terms of fighting the game’s enemies.
Of course, the other biggest part of your AC customization lies in how you want to accessorize it. You can live out your dreams of playing with mechanized Barbie dolls and role-playing as agents of your favorite faceless corporations through Fires of Rubicon‘s customization. Just about every color under the sun can be used to paint your AC, with separate weathering patterns available for every section of every individual part. Even your weapons can be customized in a similar fashion, topped off with a surprisingly impressive decal system.
In addition to premade decals, you’re more than welcome to make your own decals utilizing a series of shapes across over 100 separate layers. Decals can also be freely shared through the use of a sharable code, allowing you to freely use other people’s creations as you see fit.
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These systems combine to form a compelling gameplay loop. You complete a sortie, head to the garage, purchase a part or two, test things out, and touch up your paint job, all before finally heading into the next sortie. Maybe you’ll hit up the arena first or replay a mission for some extra cash. Either way, Fires of Rubicon‘s satisfying progression carries its multitude of missions across its five separate chapters.
Multiple playthroughs are also heavily encouraged through the use of branching paths. You’ll sometimes be given a choice between one of two sorties to play through, permanently locking the other option out for the rest of your playthrough. These sorties will drastically alter the surrounding story, potentially giving you one of three separate endings with additional content being exclusive to New Game+ and New Game++.
Fires of Rubicon Is an Evolution of the Armored Core Franchise
Things aren’t perfect, of course. In shifting Armored Core further in the direction of a typical action game, a strange disconnect has formed between most of the game’s regular missions and the incorporation of Leviathan boss battles. The few times you’re fighting opposing ACs in a one-on-one battle of wits and steel harkens back to the days when such an occasion was a big deal.
In the first Armored Core game, at least, fighting an opposing AC was an event. It was a rarity, and the ensuing battle would often test both the viability of your skills and how your AC was constructed. That’s not to say that the same can’t be said here, but in terms of scale, enemy ACs simply don’t compare to some of the game’s more monstrous foes.
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We have to address an elephant in the room. The game’s tutorial boss, as well as the end boss of the first chapter, have been a notable wall for a significant number of players. They’re a “wall” in that they’re a challenge that doesn’t necessarily present itself in the game’s standard sorties. Their attacks are incredibly difficult to avoid without taking minor damage, their health pools are gargantuan, and the most efficient means of taking them down lies within the game’s newly implemented “stagger” system. By inflicting damage to the enemy in succession, you build up a separate meter that, when filled all the way, temporarily disables the enemy while increasing the damage they take. This system also applies to you.
But for a good number of bosses, you’re directly incentivized to focus almost exclusively on the stagger meter as a means to not only quickly deal damage but to catch a break from the constant onslaught of missiles, bullets, and whatever else they decide to throw at you. As it stands now, a common tactic shared amongst those who are having trouble with certain bosses is to simply build an AC tailored towards inflicting as much stagger as possible. It’s not only encouraged, it’s essentially the most effective way of fighting almost every major boss.
Refusing to engage with the stagger system amounts to intentionally putting yourself at a disadvantage. Interestingly enough, Masaru Yamamura, the lead designer of FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, directed Fires of Rubicon. We can’t help but point this out, as Sekiro also heavily utilized a similar stagger system.
Where things get complicated is that this isn’t necessarily out of line for the Armored Core series. In the past, frequently changing up your AC’s abilities and weaponry was essential to progression, as some missions demanded certain abilities over others. What makes this feel slightly off, however, is exactly what makes Fires of Rubicon different from other Armored Core games.
This trend towards pure action, that reaction times and dodging and all other sorts of skill-based actions are just as important as your AC’s components, makes this feel a bit out of place. Normally, you’d have to change up your AC’s capabilities because it was plain to see that it wouldn’t complete a mission’s requirements. Now that there’s so much of a focus on fast reflexes, combined with the effectiveness of the stagger system, the line between simply needing to try again and needing to make your AC more effective is a bit blurred.
Aside from this minor complaint, however, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in Fires of Rubicon. While some longtime Armored Core fans may feel a little alienated by the shift in direction, it’s an intentional reflection of the direction that FromSoftware has been heading toward when considering their recent output. The influence of the Soulsborne games can be felt, but not to a degree that purposefully removes Fires of Rubicon from its own franchise. Instead, it feels like an evolution of what came before.
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It’s a game that, with a patch or two, can fully cement its positive qualities into something most will appreciate. Its story is compelling, its environments are absolutely gorgeous, and the rewards that are locked away in multiple playthroughs are absolutely worth experiencing for yourself.
Fires of Rubicon is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Windows for approximately $60. A deluxe edition, which includes the game’s terrific soundtrack and a digital art book, is also available for $70.
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