A wise man once said that wars should not be fought and won with the press of a button. Clearly he didn't know what he was talking about. With Armored Core: Last Raven, I can fight and win as much as I please! Well, not exactly. But I do win as much as the game will let me. Plowing through cities, blasting other mechs, defending the world from giant machines that wish to take over – you bet I'm onboard. And in time, I will rule the world! I mean save it.

Armored Core: Last Raven is the 10th game in the series, the final edition for PS2, and the conclusion to the current AC gameplay style. New content has made its way into this sequel, most of which consist of mech parts (hundreds!) that can be purchased and used to piece together the perfect fighting machine. Customization, experimentation, and a whole lot of trial-and-error are the order of the day for this one. Players will have to keep at it if they want to get things right.

Luckily, there's an incentive for doing so: better performance. Through that performance comes the satisfaction of tweaking a mech to the point where it's actually more powerful than your adversary.

Last Raven's gameplay is augmented by superior control mechanics. It's a little third-person shooter, a whole lot classic Armored Core combat. Not happy with the initial setup? The style may be changed somewhat, but the important thing is that you'll end up with quality, responsive functions regardless of the setup you choose.

But then, just when you think you've got it – your enemy changes its strategy and blasts you into oblivion. Intelligent AI or just a cheap bait-and-switch technique? It's somewhere in between, leaning slightly more toward the intelligent side of things. The enemy won't always be one step ahead of you, but it does feel that way at times.

So begins your journey through Heaven and Hell. From satisfaction to frustration, get ready for a hefty, difficult (but eventually rewarding) ride.

Last Raven is without a doubt the most versatile Armored Core, with a story that spans several different endings. Though usually a feature reserved for RPGs (and PSone survival/horror games), the endings don't just tell another side of the story – they also require the player to complete the game in multiple ways. Without giving too much away, think of Tekken and how choosing a different fighter results in a different ending. In this game it's not who you're playing as that matters, but who you are fighting against.

As you know, the game's strategic facets come from mech customization, which takes place before combat ignites. Parts must be purchased, and they don't come cheap. Individual areas can be altered – leaving them at the default setting might seem like the easy way around a lengthy process, but doing so will eventually lead to your mech's demise.

But tweaking it doesn't always help when the enemy tailors its attacks to your mech's strongest and weakest features! It's a bit much to handle during the initial levels, when you're just beginning to figure everything out. Those who mastered the strategy-filled PSP edition, Formula Front: Extreme Battle, will have an easier time jumping in. However, there is one noteworthy difference: once the right mech combination had been found, Formula Front practically did the work for you. In Last Raven, you have to do most everything yourself.

There's a new body damage system in town, where specific parts of the mech will continue working after they have been damaged. This doesn't extend the length or enhance the difficulty as much as I had hoped, but it's another creative, necessary addition that enhances the game's realism (if mechs really existed). Battle damage is impressive – players will notice a downgrade in performance if their mech takes too hard of a beating. Overheating is another issue, and could cause your suit to lose its abilities while it recovers.

This series hasn't gotten much of a graphical upgrade since its first few PS2 offerings. The backgrounds and environments are nice, and the frame rate is the most consistent yet. Most players won't even think about the frame rate, as it's generally something that only comes to mind when it's flawed. That said, while the graphics get the job done, they are anything but the best the PS2 can do, especially when you consider that this is its swan song year (the last few seasons before PS3 is released).

Last Raven is your last chance to experience the world of Armored Core on the PS2. Even if the MSRP weren't $29.99, you'd have a ridiculously hard time trying to find a more complete mobile suit package. The gameplay (battles), pre-gameplay (customization), flashy graphics, and adrenaline-filled soundtrack are some of the best this series has had to offer.

Gameplay: 8.0
Hardcore mech action for ravenous gamers looking for a lasting experience. Armored Core: Last Raven has the custom-madness of other recent AC games, plus the fly, dive, shoot, and run excitement that made the original AC titles a success. When I started playing all I wanted to do was jump into a mech and obliterate every enemy in sight. You can do that for a while, but eventually the game will catch up. Then it’s time to overcome the horrible gaming disorder known as CI (customization intimidation) and take the time to experiment with the system.

Graphics: 7.0
Sharp and explosive, Armored Core is a good-looking game … that runs on old technology.

Sound: 7.5
Big, boisterous sounds over a catchy soundtrack.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Tough-as-nails? Not for an Armored Core master, but newcomers could feel a little overwhelmed by the depth involved in the customization scheme. What about gamers who already love to customize? I assume most of you had the game pre-ordered months ago. But if not, here it is – the mother of all tweak-heavy mech games.

Concept: 7.4
Outside of RPGs and fighting games, multiple endings aren’t my thing. Thus, the idea of playing through Last Raven multiple times to see more than one finale wasn’t appealing to me. Luckily the gameplay is exciting, lengthy, and once you get over the initial hump (learning how to customize), Last Raven’s replay value multiplies. Die-hard fans will end up playing through the game multiple times, and see the other endings whether they were trying to or not.

Overall: 7.9
A fine culmination to a healthy PS2 run. Armored Core: Last Raven rejuvenates the series’ strengths by making the action gameplay as (if not more) important than the strategic element of tweaking your mechs to perfect. The game also throws a bit of a surprise out by tailoring its own strategy to that of the player. Its AI isn’t perfect – sometimes it feels downright cheap (and frustrating, and all the nightmares that come with a game that always seems to be one step ahead of you). But this game wasn’t built for the average player. It was built for those of us who played the previous Armored Core titles, whether on PS2 or PSone, and will surely fulfill the desires of those seeking one last hurrah before the game moves on to PlayStation 3.