Finally, Armored Core has come to the 360. And you say so what? We got MechAssault. Yeah, but MechAssault moves like a drunken sailor on shore leave. Compare that with the boost fury of an Armored Core game. And Armored Core 4 is even better because boosting is now the main point of the gameplay and it's a whole lost easier.

In previous Armored Core games, boosting causes things like overheating or fuel problems. But not in Armored Core 4. You can, and must, boost your way around your enemies to beat them. And unlike previous games, you get fully stocked mechs to control. But you can still upgrade or change parts to suit your needs for the gearheads that love to fiddle with their mechs.

The Armored Core stories aren't that great. It's the future and there's been some big war leaving nothing but corporations to rule and you play the anti-corporate mercenaries who must fight the evil corporations. It's still slightly better than aliens taking over the world bit found in other games. But basically, you go on missions as you progress through the story and meet some interesting characters.

There are some major improvements over previous Armored Core games. The environments are much larger, you can boost more often without restrictions, and you got shields. So you'll have to consider what weapons to pack based on whether your enemies have shields or not. When you finish missions, you get points that you can use to upgrade your mechs. Unfortunately, you must unlock parts by completing missions instead of just buying them when you got the cash like in previous games.

Armored Core 4 has some huge explosions. The mechs are detailed enough, but the enviroments are very bland and lack structures, which seems to be a trademark of Armored Core games. However, there's plenty of particle effects and enough environmental effects to go around. One thing we didn't like was the use of CGI movies, which is also a trademark of this franchise. The soundtrack is great. It's got that techno-rock mix that fits so well with the action.

You can unlock arenas that you can play in later. There's plenty of parts to upgrade your mechs. There's multiplayer that features one-on-one, four-on-four, or an eight player battle royale. The maps are basically open arenas. Armored Core 4 is an excellent introduction for newbies, but provides all the requirements for mech fans. The constant ability to boost really helps move the gameplay to the next level. It's a pretty solid game.