Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a kit from Armored Core 4 and For Answer to review. Specifically, Kotobukiya’s 1/72 scale Noblesse Oblige. This is an important design, as it was originally used to promote the original Armored Core 4 before its release (specifically in two trailers here and here). It also heralded the shift in mecha design towards the very talented Yuzo Kojima.

Our review only covers the kit in its out of the box and unpainted form (however, we have also included painted photos towards the end). In addition, to give the kit some context, we’ve also captured some HD gameplay footage of the design in action from Armored Core For Answer.

Macross is by no means an anime series to be taken functionally for granted. Dealing with the three disparate modes of each variable fighter has meant that the developer has to somehow craft three separate games that can all interact instantly with one another. Purely from a logistical standpoint, implementing a functionally coherent Macross game is an immense task.

This is often why many of these games aren’t very good. Either down to real world budgetary constraints or lack of time, trying to tackle the raft of very genuine issues has meant that the final game has suffered. Yet some get lucky and are allowed to tackle parts of the problem and simplify other aspects to make the overall package gel more convincingly. SEGA AM2 and From Software managed to do just that in their attempts and now Artdink have joined their ranks.

A new promo video was released over at the official site for Armored Core 3 Silent Line Portable today. It highlights the original AI functionality from the PS2 version as well as clarifying the compatibility of game saves with Armored Core 3 Portable. What’s nice about the video is how it uses one of the in-game tracks, specifically that of “Rise In Arms”. As Silent Line’s score, penned by Kota Hoshino, was remarkably well wrought (so much so that on its release it was encased within a hardback artbook).

To tie in with the release of Super Robot Wars Neo at the end of this month, Banpresto are launching their ad campaign. Normally, these have involved the indomitable Shoko-tan for the past few iterations but this one is especially endearing as it’s portrayed as a mock newsreel with obligatory helicopter reportage. There’s a nice bit of coverage over at 4gamer, which shows the making of as well.

Over at NCSX you can just about still buy the full set of the newly released Video Game Robotics gashapon. This is a follow on from Yujin’s successful Shooting Game Historica line but features mecha from a variety of games. There are a total of five disparate units in the set, ranging from Assault Suits Leynos and Valken to the more recent Border Break. It’s worth clarifying that these are small scale plastic figures, rather than full featured toys. That said, for their size and pricing the sculpt and the detailing is remarkably impressive. Personally, I’m just glad the likes of Wolf Fang got included.

For those that have yet to play and finish the wonderful Armored Core For Answer, here is a video from one of the various end game missions where you face multiple Nexts at once. The mission in particular is called the Occupation of Arteria Carpals and I’m playing it on the Hard difficulty on the first Regulation. It’s generally regarded as one of the most challenging missions in the game and as a consequence forces the player to utilise all manner of functional nuances at their disposal. This video has also been encoded in HD. Enjoy!

For those that played the original Armored Core back in 1997, they may remember with trepidation the final mission their Raven’s mecha had to undertake. For those that don’t, it was a massive level, so big in fact that it had to be split in half and have the player restocked and repaired mid-mission. It also had the trickiest level design in the entire game, with the player having to negotiate floating platforms in a never-ending tower of guaranteed death to those that lacked the necessary AC piloting skills. Then there was Nineball.

Nineball, and its pilot Hustler One, were listed as the top ranking AC and Raven combo and from the various e-mails received from enemy Ravens and greedy corporations, Nineball was a terrifying and truly formidable opponent. In the last mission you faced him, twice. Many who have played Armored Core will know the significance of Nineball and that of defeating the bugger. Thus in Armored Core 2 a new term was introduced into the world setting, given to pilots of exceptional skill and design prowess; Ninebreaker. It is this terminology, this legacy, even, that From Software has built their latest traditional Armored Core game around. The term is also fitting to the fact that this is the ninth iteration in the series.

In a recent piece of coverage on Game Watch, the extra parts list in the upcoming Armored Core 3 Silent Line Portable has been laid out in a fair bit of detail. We’ve already covered the addition of the fearful of the Karasawa Mk.2 but the full list of extra parts encompasses far more than one pimped out laser rifle. In fact it pretty covers the gamut of the earlier Armored Core series in terms parts, which is pretty impressive in and of itself. The full list has been laid out below in case you’re curious.

The upcoming Lost Planet 2 may have some kits released alongside with it by Kotobukiya. Now, these prototypes were only shown recently at the 49th All Japan Plamodel Hobby Show, with no word of release date or pricing. However considering Kotobukiya’s strong track record of producing kits for gaming series such as Armored Core, Virtual On and now Border Break, it’s hopefully safe to assume that Lost Planet 2’s Vital Suits will be recreated in a similarly well crafted manner.

There’s a nice post over on Japan Probe about how Ichiro Mizuki is one of the most well known Japanese people abroad, purely down to his long career as a vocalist for anime theme tunes. Mizuki is an interesting character though and since the creation of JAM Project his linkages to the Super Robot Wars games have been consequently quite numerous. Naturally, Mizuki’s background has been that of singing theme tunes in predominantly mecha anime shows, so the fit for mecha gaming tie-ins is obviously a good one.