7 best mech games like Armored Core to play in 2024, from Titanfall 2 to MechWarrior

7 best mech games like Armored Core to play in 2024, from Titanfall 2 to MechWarrior
Image via FromSoftware

Written by 

Jack Roberts

Last updated 

5th Apr 2024 14:20

If you're looking for some of the best mech games like Armored Core 6 to help you find even more gargantuan robot rumbles to enjoy, then you've come to the right place.

The name of the game in Armored Core 6 is all about fast-paced combat, big mechs, and offering a challenge - and it's already receiving some significant patches to improve its gameplay. So, we have outlined some games that offer at least one of the above, but hopefully all three.

Best mech games like Armored Core to play in 2024

7 - 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

13 Sentinels Aegis Rim gameplay
Click to enlarge

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim details & key features:

  • Platforms: PS4, Nintendo Switch
  • Release date: 2019
  • Key features:
    • Fantastic narrative
    • RTS battles
    • Beautiful art

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a bit different from most of the games on this list, with most of the gameplay resembling a side-scrolling visual novel. However, mechs are core to the story and the combat sections, with more into RTS gameplay where you battle kaiju.

The game follows 13 characters between different time periods, ranging from 1945 all the way up to 2105, and in between. There are lots of twists and turns, with the story being told non-linearly, but it results in some beautiful and impactful moments that will stick with you well after the credits.

6 - Front Mission 1st: Remake

A mech being customised in Front Mission 1st Remake, one of the best games like Armored Core
Click to enlarge
Image via Forever Entertainment

Front Mission 1st: Remake details & key features:

  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch
  • Release date: 2022
  • Key features:
    • Tactics-based combat
    • Intricate mech management
    • Remade graphics for a classic title of the genre

If you’re looking for a more tactical approach to the mech genre, then Front Mission 1st is probably the most accessible. As a remake of the first title from 1995, you can even take your mech missions on the go with the Nintendo Switch.

What makes Front Mission particularly unique, and one of the best mech games like Armored Core, is that it places the mech at the forefront of the game, with each component from head to legs, having its health bar that needs to be managed.

So, as you’re taking damage, you need to consider what you’re willing to lose to win a firefight.

5 - Into the Breach

A battle sequence in Into the Beach. It shows the mech fighting enemies from a top-down perspective
Click to enlarge
Image via Subset Games

Into the Breach details & key features

  • Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
  • Release date: 2018
  • Key features: 
    • Isometric game
    • Strategic, turn-based gameplay
    • Indie developed

Into the Breach takes a more tactical approach to the mech genre by creating an isometric strategy game with turn-based combat. In this game, you will be playing with three mechs on the grid and fighting off hoards of monsters in the future.

Into the Breach is an absolute indie darling that strives to capture the essence of traditional mech games while also developing an intricate turn-based strategy game. With its release on mobile and console platforms, this is one game like Armored Core that you won't want to miss.

4 - Nier: Automata

2B stares at a colossal mech in Nier Automata, one of the best games like Armored Core
Click to enlarge
Image via PlatinumGames

Nier: Automata details & key features:

Nier: Automata may not be the first game that comes to mind when you think of Armored Core, but it certainly shares a lot of similarities with the series. For one, you’re playing as Androids that are sent down to Earth to defeat their robotic alien adversaries.

However, among the intimate combat on the ground, you’ll also be suiting up on occasion in your flying mechs to take down larger enemies and endure a series of bullet-hell sequences that will keep you on your toes.

If you thought Neon Genesis Evangelion was the only mecha medium to send you on an existential journey, just wait until you play Nier Automata.

3 - Daemon X Machina

A mech ready for battle in Daemon X Machina, one of the best games like Armored Core
Click to enlarge
Marvelous First Studio

Daemon X Machina details & key features:

  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
  • Release date: 2019
  • Key features:
    • Anime aesthetic and stylised graphics
    • Intricate mech management
    • Traditional mech gameplay

When it comes to emulating the conventions of the traditional mecha genre, Daemon X Machina is probably the closest you’ll get on a handheld console for the current generation and a beautiful one at that.

The best part of Daemon X Machina is the mech management, from upgrading your weapons and armour to finding a feature that just looks too good not to equip. Despite not being the longest game, you’ll certainly have plenty of time to get to know your mech and what does and doesn’t work for you mechanically.

Additionally, it is probably the closest mech game on this list to the original Armored Core titles, allowing you to boost and drift through dense cityscapes as you take on your enemies and avoid their projectiles.

2 - MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries

The first person mech perspective in MechWarriors 5: Mercenaries, one of the best games like Armored Core
Click to enlarge
Image via Piranha Games

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries details & key features:

As the most recent in the MechWarrior series following a nearly twenty-year gap, MechWarrior is one of the earlier indications that the mech genre was steadily returning in the run-up to Armored Core 6’s announcement.

Taking a first-person approach to place you in the mech allows you to feel the scale of the machine you will be piloting. While it is always nice to see what your mech looks like after you’ve customised it, there is something to be said for the immersion it emphasises as you march through a dense forest.

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What is the best game like Armored Core to play in 2024?

1 - Titanfall 2

Key art of the mechs in Titanfall 2, one of the best games like Armored Core
Click to enlarge
Image via Respawn Entertainment

Titanfall 2 details & key features:

When it comes to a definitive mech-based game, Titanfall 2 may just be the experience you have been looking for. By blending the traditional FPS combat you’re used to, with the unrelenting force of the larger mechs, Titanfall 2 knows how to capture a tone.

There is nothing more satisfying than climbing into your mech and feeling the full power of its potential. Going from being a traditional man-on-the-ground to the weighty mech with its oversized weapons is as fluid as it is satisfying.

As the game that helped spawn the likes of Apex Legends, Titanfall 2's influence is highly understated, and a game that you should not miss if you need to scratch that Armored Core itch.

Those are our picks for the best mech games like Armored Core that you should check out this year. If you need some more titles similar to your favourite games, be sure to check out our lists homepage for guides like the best games like Baldur's Gate 3 or the best games like Alan Wake.

Jack Roberts
About the author
Jack Roberts
Jack is a Guides Writer at GGRecon. With a BA (Hons) & MA in English and Creative Writing, he was also the Gaming Editor for The Indiependent. When not pondering which game has the best cup of coffee (and drinking far too much of it himself), he can often be found playing Dead by Daylight, Street Fighter or making yet another build in Bloodborne.
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