head to head
vs
Armored CorevsDesperados III
Armored Core leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Desperados III leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Armored CoreDesperados III
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 6
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 3
Desperados III leans harder on variance: Guard patrol overlap creates some hidden-state uncertainty early on
Optimization7 vs 8
Desperados III leans harder on optimization: Finding the ideal simultaneous action sequence per map is the core puzzle
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.