Armored Core: Nine Breaker

In Nine Breaker, players pilot large mech robots called Armored Cores. Unlike previous games in the franchise, players are not hired for missions and no longer earn credits, instead being only focused on fighting Arena battles to raise the player's rank.'[1]

A training mode included in the game includes 150 minigames for practicing specific exercises. Upon completion, the player is rated on their performance in the exercise. Within the Arena mode, players are placed onto a competitive ladder and must earn points from winning matches to advance on the ladder.[2]

While previous games required that the player purchase customization options for their mech, Nine Breaker unlocks a majority of its parts from the start and allows others to be earned through performance achievements in the training or arena modes.[3]

Previous multiplayer offerings return in Nine Breaker. Players can fight each other in 2 player split-screen modes or local network play.[4]

Unlike other Armored Core titles, Nine Breaker doesn't have a proper storyline. Instead, it focuses on a training program that sees Armored Core pilots fight each other and hone their skills in the event that another war breaks out. The game hints at an underlying plot involving an organization putting together the training program due to a rare peacetime between corporate conflicts.

Armored Core: Nine Breaker was initially released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation 2 on October 28, 2004.[5] FromSoftware partnered with Agetec and released a North American version on September 13, 2005.[6] A European version was released in partnership with 505 Games on April 28, 2006.[7][8]

Nine Breaker received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9] In Japan, Famitsu gave Nine Breaker a score of two sevens, one eight, and one seven for a total of 29 out of 40.[10]

Critics noted that the game's removal of story missions, with IGN's Ivan Sulic stating, "Funny how a sequel can offer less, eh?"[4] Dan Whitehead, writing for Eurogamer noted that the game's focus on challenges and arena combat wasn't developed well enough, calling them "a series of competition scraps to plough through for no real reason." He noted that there was a framing story, but deemed it "hilariously half-hearted".'[1]

Criticism of the franchise's iterative nature continued in Nine Breaker. IGN's Sulic wrote "I might have been able to copy and paste the text from my Armored Core: Nexus review into this space... given how similar the two titles are."[4] Greg Bemis from G4 commented on the "stale" nature of the franchise, writing, "If you’re one of those Armored Core fanboys, congratulations! You just bought the same game...again."[15]

Gameplay for Nine Breaker was considered challenging like its predecessors, but some critics noted that the challenge often became frustrating due to how inaccessible it was. While GameZone found the combat systems "balanced", IGN found it to be "awfully tedious."[3]'[4] GameSpot's Bob Colayco called it "straightforward" and added that "The game offers a decent amount of strategy since you decide how to set up your AC in order to best match up with your opponents."[2] Eurogamer was particularly scathing about the gameplay, writing "only the most masochistic will persevere with this curt exercise in uninspired destruction."[1]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Armored Core: Nine Breaker at FromSoftware
• Armored Core: Nine Breaker at MobyGames