Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon lets you equip your giant mecha in the robot game with an absolute wealth of weaponry, from machine guns to missile launchers. But what if you don’t want that? What if you’d prefer to take on your opponents Pacific Rim-style in Armored Core 6, with some good old-fashioned punching? One YouTuber has shown that it absolutely can be done.
Armored Core 6 will happily let you punch opponents, from regular-sized enemies through to giant bosses. Is that a good idea? Probably not, given how heavily armed they are, but there’s a long-standing tradition of gamers punching their way through games.
As spotted by Eurogamer, YouTuber ‘ZeroLenny’ beat the game entirely unarmed. Okay, technically the giant mech suit he’s piloting is a weapon, but it’s still a hugely impressive feat.
Apart from punching opponents, he also discovered that, using his mech’s jet boost, he could slam into enemies. The combination of punching and crashing was enough to let him conquer all the game’s foes.
If that sounds familiar, you’re probably a fan of Pacific Rim. This Guillermo del Toro movie had giant mechs known as Jaegers laying into massive monsters. And, while they were equipped with swords and arm cannons, most of the fights were close-up brawls.
However, ZeroLenny couldn’t just flail away at every enemy until they collapsed. Some of the game’s enemies hurt you when you get in close. So, instead, he had to time his punches, dashing in and out.
Was it worth doing? It’s impressive to watch, but ZeroLenny concluded that, compared to playing the game “properly”, it wasn’t nearly as interesting. And, unlike Pacific Rim’s pilots, he didn’t have Ellen McClain’s not-Glados voice to egg him on.
That said, watching the video has left me craving a proper Pacific Rim game. It’s been ten years since the last one came out and it was a pretty middling effort so there’s absolutely room for improvement.
As for Armored Core 6, whether you’re playing it empty-handed or not, here are our guides to the Armored Core 6 weapons, Armored Core 6 frame parts, and Armored Core 6 inner parts. Also, here’s what we’ve got everything you need to know about the best Armored Core 6 builds and Armored Core 6 endings and story, in case you’re wondering why people are rocketing around in giant robot suits.