Armored Core: Last Raven is a mech combat game, the pilots are called Ravens, and is set about half a year after the events of Armored Core: Nexus. The three major corporations merged into the Alliance in order to rule the world - but a new faction, Vertex, challenges them. Smaller, independent gangs of Ravens called Warlords have grown more aggressive which does not help matters. 24 hours before Vertex plans to unleash full war on the Alliance - which is thought to have devastating consequences for the world - the player enters the scene in the shoes of a new Raven who eventually has to choose a side and play a major role in the conflict...
The game has a branching campaign structure and the progression depends on the player's choices. This leads to different missions to play and concludes in one of six endings. The missions, which are prefaced with voice-over briefings and emails to read, are action-oriented and straightforward; the player usually has to either defeat a number of enemies in the open, visit indoor levels or survive against a single, powerful Raven. The most important part is the mech customization in which the player can tune the performance of the robot and exchange parts. For the first time in the series, the outside parts (e.g. the head or the legs) have locational damage and can be destroyed during missions - for example, when an arm is destroyed the player can't use the equipped weapon anymore. Between story missions, the player can visit an arena and fight against other Ravens for training.
