Then, a few days after the first co-op mess, I complained about this co-op to a different friend of mine. He explained a much more effective way of playing co-op, and offered to sit down and school me. By choosing single player, then opting for the “partnership” aspect of the single player mode, another person can be invited in to your game to help complete a mission. There are still a few problems with this, but let me explain the real co-op experience, that didn't involve replaying anything. This "single player partnership" mode is often overlooked, and missed in many reviews and walkthroughs.
Though this mode is a significant improvement, co-op is still very limited. Certain missions won't allow you to have assistance from a friend – this limits the “whole game playthrough” on co-op significantly, and by inviting someone in after a mission is selected, the second player misses the briefing completely. After every completed co-op mission, you're separated from your partner, and have to play the “party invite game” every time. This leaves a lot of waiting, inviting, and loading, which may be considered inconvenient to most.
One happy note: for those that aren't very careful with their aiming, I am happy to report that there is no friendly fire damage to worry about! Circle your foes, and unload wherever you can to take care of business. Explosions make co-op fun! For those that want to hurt their partner, that's located in another mode.
Co-op in Armored Core is still new, and could use some work. Basically, while this is a step in the right direction, From Software has a bit of tweaking to do before I'd consider co-op on a regular basis. So, unless you get stuck in the game and frustrated often, or really need an excuse to talk to an Armored Core obsessed friend, stick with the single player.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
The Co-Op Experience: Traditional Mech style play in the 7th installment of the Armored Core series. Online co-op allows drop in and drop out options for a seamless experience.Armored Core for Answer promises epic boss battles, hundreds of weapons, and huge expansive environments.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.