![](http://www.clanofidiots.com//images.eurogamer.net/2013/articles/1/7/7/3/4/3/6/the-soulful-machinery-of-armored-core-1438950417900.jpg/EG11/resize/300x-1/format/jpg/1773436.jpg)
As I suggested in last week's Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor retrospective, however, limitations of this sort can be opportunities to discover something about features or mechanics we take for granted. In MHF4's case, I've developed a new appreciation for how important even the most basic surround sound effects can be in a game with long recovery animations, roving packs of velociraptors, and a camera system that often feels like it's sitting back to eat popcorn. And besides, it could be worse. I could be playing the original Armored Core.
Armored Core was "ahead of its time" in the sense that it felt like a game from the future that had elected, out of some howling, trans-dimensional spite, to become magically playable on old hardware that isn't quite up to the task. Worshippers had to contend with a couple of seemingly irreconcilable truths: (1) that Armored Core is a nippy 3D mech combat game with aerial fighting in which you must keep a target on-screen and in range to acquire a lock, and (2) that Armored Core is a game in which you look up and down by tapping the shoulder buttons. Did I mention that it's a From Software title? Because you've probably guessed.
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