FromSoftware has announced via the official Dark Souls Twitter account that the online servers for Dark Souls 2’s PS3 and Xbox 360 servers will be shutting down a little over three months from now, on March 31, 2024, at 5 AM Pacific Time.

That means players on those platforms will no longer be able to play online past that date, though single player will, of course, remain unaffected. Meanwhile, FromSoftware has also confirmed that the game’s online servers on PS4, Xbox One, and PC will remain unaffected.

Additionally, FromSoftware has also announced that on the same day, Armored Core: Verdict Day’s online servers on PS3 and Xbox 360 will be shutting down as well, which means only solo play will be available beyond that. Unlike Dark Souls 2, Armored Core: Verdict Day isn’t available on any other platforms, which means it’s effectively losing its multiplayer permanently.

The servers will close at 5:00 PDT | 14:00 CEST | 21:00 JST.

Thank you for your comprehension and support.

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) December 22, 2023

Armored Core: Verdict Day PS3 and Xbox 360 servers will shut down on March 31st, 2024.
After this date, AC:VD will continue to be playable offline.
To all players and fans who have enjoyed AC:VD over the past 10 years, we offer our heartfelt gratitude for your undying support.

— FROMSOFTWARE PLAYER SUPPORT (@fromsoftware_sp) December 22, 2023

However, the methodical nature of From’s approach should not be mistaken for a lack of progress. Armored Core has changed quite a bit over the years, as each new system and gameplay element is added and built upon, and as any fan will tell you, the biggest changes always appear during the numbered entries in the series, which From then builds upon with at least one standalone expansion. This has allowed the developer to build the Armored Core franchise into multiple “series,” each based on one of the numbered entries, and each exploring different gameplay aspects of the Armored Core universe.

"At the beginning of each season, each faction controls a fraction of the fifty-six objectives that are scattered across the world map. The first faction to gain control of all of these objectives wins the war."

And so, when a numbered entry in the Armored Core series shows up, fans can be sure of two things: it will be a different take on the same formula, and From will follow it up with at least one or more (Armored Core 3 still holds the record with five) standalone expansions, which brings us to Armored Core Verdict Day, the first follow up to 2012’s Armored Core V.

Much like its predecessor, Verdict Day is primarily a multiplayer game. If your console is connected to the internet, Verdict Day will automatically connect with From Software’s servers. Once you’re online, you can team up with other mech pilots, create a team, and wage war against other pilots and their mechanical monstrosities.

Anyone who was a fan of From Software’s criminally underrated Chromehounds will feel right at home in Verdict Day. Once online, you’ll be required to create a team of mercenaries, or join an existing one. From there, you or your team will choose a faction to fight for in Verdict’s Day multiplayer mode, a persistent online conflict between three factions known as the Verdict War. At the beginning of each season, each faction controls a fraction of the fifty-six objectives that are scattered across the world map. The first faction to gain control of all of these objectives wins the war. At that point, the conflict resets, allowing you side with a different faction, should you choose to do so, and fight it out all over again.

"Thankfully, Verdict Day’s servers aren’t region-specific, which means you can play with and against pilots from all over the world, so finding a match generally isn’t hard. However, if there aren’t any other teams looking for a fight, the game will place you in various pre-set scenarios."

Capturing enemy territory is simple, but how you capture will depend on the mode you play. Normal Sorties are the standard game mode, and will allow you to gradually chip away at another faction’s control of a base, while Special Sorties, which must be unlocked, allow you to take large chunks out of an area’s defenses. The game is constantly updating the world map with the status of various territories, and your faction will offer bonuses for defending areas that are under attack, or for helping to advance into a strategically important area. It’s a simple system to understand, but a complex one to master, and it adds quite a bit to the game.

Thankfully, Verdict Day’s servers aren’t region-specific, which means you can play with and against pilots from all over the world, so finding a match generally isn’t hard. However, if there aren’t any other teams looking for a fight, the game will place you in various pre-set scenarios. Some will require you to take out turrets, while others might task you with taking out computer-controlled ACs, or even fight against large bosses. The game is a lot of fun even if there aren’t other people to play against, and the perpetual nature of the online makes you stay invested. The game also allows teams to stage mock battles with one another, and there’s a Free Battle mode for players who just want to pit their mechs against one another without worrying about what faction they’re fighting for.

If you get tired of fighting for a faction, you can also hire yourself out as a mercenary. Mercenaries can’t communicate with the team that hires them, but they’re a great, and fairly inexpensive option if your team finds itself in need of a little additional firepower. Mercs only get paid if the job is done, which makes working freelance a risky proposition, since you’ll have to pay for damage to your AC and ammo cost regardless of whether the mission is successful, but the promise of easy money makes it hard to resist. You can’t go out on your own missions while you’re waiting for someone to pick up your contract, but the community is fairly active, so mercenaries shouldn’t find themselves waiting around too long.

"Completing the campaign unlocks Hardcore mode, which features ten variations. One, of them, aptly titled Money is Everything, will triple your repair costs after missions, and charge fifty times as much to restock your ammunition, and another, One-Shot Kill, includes all of the aforementioned penalties, in addition to making you deal and take ten and five times more damage, respectively."

You can also hire mercenaries to help you with the Story Mode, which returns from Armored Core V, with a few additions. There are sixty missions in total, though only ten have anything to do with the plot. As a result, the story doesn’t have a whole lot to say, and the plot doesn’t break any new ground for the series, though long-time fans will appreciate the references to older Armored Core games. Despite the story’s shortcomings, Story Mode is extremely enjoyable, and the sheer variety of the missions is impressive.

The one-on-one AC battles will no doubt remind series veterans of the Arena from previous games, while others will task you with destroying transport convoys, taking out enemy bases, and even fighting against boss mechs. Each mission features secondary objectives, which might task you with finding special AC parts hidden on various maps, taking a limited amount of damage, destroying a certain number of enemies, or simply completing the objectives within a time limit. The game will rank you on how well you did, and there’s a lot of replay value to be had in returning to older missions to get a better score or complete all the sub-objectives.

Completing the campaign unlocks Hardcore mode, which features ten variations. One, of them, aptly titled Money is Everything, will triple your repair costs after missions, and charge fifty times as much to restock your ammunition, and another, One-Shot Kill, includes all of the aforementioned penalties, in addition to making you deal and take ten and five times more damage, respectively. Should you happen to die on Hardcore mode, you’ll have to restart the entire campaign from the beginning. And you thought Dark Souls was hard.

"I often found myself calling on a large, tank-legged UNAC that was armed to the teeth with heavy weapons. While this behemoth would wade into the enemy, and draw as much fire as possible, I would sit back and use my AC to slowly chip away at the larger enemies with my sniper rifles and long-range missiles."

Despite the sheer number of modes present in Verdict Day, the real appeal of the Armored Core series is still building your mech, and From Software knows it. Armored Core V owners can import their mechs and parts right off the bat, but that’s just the beginning. Verdict Day adds over 100 parts to Armored Core V’s vast library, so you’ve got your work cut out for you, even if you’re a veteran of the previous game. Weapons Arms make a welcome return, as well, adding an extra layer of complexity for bipedal and reserve-joint AC pilots, who can use them to add powerful weapons to their arsenal without having to worry about entering a stationary stance to fire them. The game also allows you to tune weapons once you buy them, adding to either power, accuracy, or fire rate.

Verdict Day also introduces UNACs, or Unmanned ACs that are piloted by the AI. Players can build these just like regular ACs, but they can also customize the AI piloting them. There are three separate logic trees for you to choose from, each of which is governed by seven different categories and numerous subcategories, which will allow you to alter how your UNACs move, when they fire their weapons, how they use their recon drones, and even how they approach their targets.

You can use your UNACs in Story Mode and online, and even they’re quite helpful even if you don’t delve deeply into customize them. I often found myself calling on a large, tank-legged UNAC that was armed to the teeth with heavy weapons. While this behemoth would wade into the enemy, and draw as much fire as possible, I would sit back and use my AC to slowly chip away at the larger enemies with my sniper rifles and long-range missiles. It’s moments like this, when everything comes together, from the design of your mech, to the strategy that you’re using, the quality of your team, and even the design of the map, that make Armored Core incredible, and Verdict Day nails the balance perfectly.

"Unfortunately, the game still has flaws that have plagued the series for a long time. The menu system is poorly laid out, which makes finding the things you want either difficult or time consuming. The learning curve is still extremely steep for new players, and mech customization is still obtuse in places it shouldn’t be."

Unfortunately, the game still has flaws that have plagued the series for a long time. The menu system is poorly laid out, which makes finding the things you want either difficult or time consuming. The learning curve is still extremely steep for new players, and mech customization is still obtuse in places it shouldn’t be. For example, there’s no way to retune a weapon once you’ve purchased it, meaning you’ll have to buy the same thing again if you want to tinker. In addition, From has made the bizarre decision to make weapons arm specific, meaning that if you purchase a laser rifle under the Right Arm Weapon tab in the shop, you won’t be able to quip it to your mech’s left arm.  As usual, while the mechs themselves are lovingly rendered, the arenas you’ll fight in vary significantly in terms of visual quality. It’s a minor complaint, given the sheer variety of areas you can fight in, but it can be jarring considering how good the mechs look, and how good the sound design is.

As always, then, Armored Core is a bit of a mixed bag. It’s still a hardcore title that makes no apologies for its eccentricities. It’s still got a high learning curve. It’s still got a wonky menu system, and there are still quite a few minor problems with the way you build and tweak ACs that will undoubtedly drive some players up the wall.

However, it’s still an extremely solid series, whose core design has endured for nearly twenty years. The mech customization on display is still unrivaled, and the core gameplay is absolutely brilliant. Make no mistake: Armored Core isn’t for everyone. Like building and piloting and AC, Armored Core requires patience, dedication, and commitment, and like any AC you build, it’s both deeply flawed and wonderfully refined. It’s a game that promotes creativity and refinement over flash or an engaging narrative, and what you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put into it. Like its predecessors, Verdict Day is not perfect, but there is greatness here, perhaps the most to be seen in the series since Armored Core 3. You just have to be committed to building it.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

The next edition in Namco Bandai’s mech simulation series, developed by From Software, got some new screenshots during E3 2013. While the game will still feature a campaign mode, the focus will be on a persistent online multiplayer mode that sees three factions competing against each other dominance. Each season, the conflict then “resets” and the three go at it again. So far, it has a release date of September 26th in Japan for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 is developed by Tecmo Koei, and puts the all-out melee battles of Dynasty Warriors firmly into the One Piece universe. Of course, this will be post-timeskip and players will take advantage of new powers that Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are touting. A new Support Gauge will also allow for tagging in different characters for short intervals. Look for it to release on PS3 in Q3 2013.

Project X Zone

Finally, we have Project X Zone, a crossover title featuring characters from Namco Bandai, Sega and Capcom titles. The game features an extensive campaign mode and 2D character battles with team-ups and special attacks. The game boasts more than 200 characters from franchises like Tekken, Devil May Cry, XenoSaga, Resident Evil, Street Fighter and more. Project X Zone will release on June 25th in North America for the Nintendo 3DS.

There’ll still be lots of mechs to upgrade and parts to purchase as players work to assemble the baddest squad of hulking metal monstrosities. Operator Mode, which allows players to command a squad from a top down perspective, returns, and players will even be able to use save data from the previous game to unlock new content.

Command a squadron of fully customized Armored Core Units in a dystopian future ravaged by war and stripped of its natural resources; The last remaining resources needed for the survival of your faction are scavenged and bitterly fought for in the No Man’s Land, a bleak landscape that offers little hope for survival. Enlist into one of the various in-game factions and strategically adapt your weapon systems to wrestle control of territories away from other players and establish a much needed peace.

Check out the features below.

• 90 new missions across 7 battle ravaged continents.
• 150 parts to customize your load out.
• Battle alone or with your friends with improved online matchmaking.
• Use the adaptive a.i. to create unmanned AC units to even the playing field for online matches.

Although you’ll still be able to duke it out with mechs, Verdict Day will feature a new persistent online mode where 20 player squads will fight with each other for supremacy. You’ll be able to maximize the efficiency of your squad using the top down perspective of the Operator Mode, which makes a return here.

There will be 59 maps in total, and war will be broken up into seasons. War ends when one faction beats the other or the season ends. A new season sees the factions return to their pre-war state so the madness can begin anew.

What this does is resets the factions to their pre-war state, so they can do everything all over again. We know the definition of insanity, thank you very much.

Verdict Day will feature about 56 maps in total. An interesting twist is the ability to take pictures and screenshots for later viewing. They aren’t just for aesthetic purposes though – you can upload them to the in-game World News network and function as a war reporter too. It’s an interesting twist, like the battles from EVE Online but with photographic evidence instead of the spoken word.

Armored Core: Verdict Day will release for PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 26th.

Source: Siliconera

Vice President of Marketing for Namco Bandai, Carlson Choi stated, “The Armored Core series has continually found itself a deep and dedicated fan-base. Armored Core: Verdict Day expands the level of immersion with more advanced customization fine tuning and streamlined multiplayer modes.”

The mech simulation sequel marks a return to the franchise, upgradeable mechs and plenty of hardcore mecha action. Plenty of new features have been announced, including a persistent multiplayer mode with squads of 20 players each fighting for control of various territories.

Operator Mode returns with Verdict Day, and you’ll once again be able to command your squad in various scenarios from a top-down perspective. Interestingly, players can carry over their Armored Core V save data to unlock new content from previous games.