I can shed some light on the game, been playing it since jan, feel free to post your questions.
1.) is the framerate bad?
yes it is bad, it feels like the low 20s when there's too much shit on the screen. It's never really bad until it's unplayable though. I guess it depends if you are used to sub 20 fps gaming. it's not blighttown level bad though that's for sure.
2.) is the game balanced?
it's pretty balanced so far, you get 3 types of defenses, there isn't an overwhelming weapon or armor that breaks the game, most parts however are pretty useless since they are either obsolete or just isn't that good.
3.) how indepth is the customization?
as said there are 3 type of defenses/attacks: Kinetic, Chemical and Thermal
There's no armor in the game that excels at all defenses, so there is no one size fit all solution to all approaches.
you can however, mix and match to balance things out. ie: Get a good Kinetic defense body, use a good Chemical defense hand, use good thermal defense legs..etc
there are 4 types of legs: L/M/H Biped, L/H Reverse joints, Quads and Tank, each leg type behaves differently and has unique properties. ie: Reverse joints has exceptional jumping ability, Quads can float in the air longer, tanks does not need to setup/mount to use heavy weaponary...etc
There are tons of weapons to mess around with, and i must stress that you play the game online, because you can buy weapons that can "grow", you can sorta grind weapons to an enhanced version. Sadly, you can't tune body parts, only weapons.
There are your handheld weapons, there are also weapons you need to "mount" or go into a stationary state to use them, these weapons boast supreme firepower but also leaves you vulnerable. You actually go into first person mode when mounting these weapons, making it easier to pick off people at a distance.
There are tons of stats and attributes to mess around with, each and every stat has a profound impact on the way your mech performs. You can have a mech that specialize on something but you can also make a mech that's ok at everything.
4.) how's the pace of the game?
it's of moderate pace, really depend on your build. It can be awkward coming from AC4 because the controls are unnatural. Boost is changed to toggle type, you can't hold boost to ascent continously or tap boost to jump. If you want to get over an obstacle, you will have to scale it by jump climbing it (boost drive).
Wall jumping (boost drive) is a new mechanic in the game, you can bounce off any direction from walls, it takes very little energy and is encouraged to do so for flanking maneuvers. This is where the game gets very fast pace.
There's Boost Glide, which is pretty much the overboost from previous games, but you can Boost Glide at any direction except backwards.
There's High Boost, which is the quick boost from the AC4 games, it consumes much more energy, so you can't really chain boost for long. it's not AC4 level craziness.
There's no quick 360 boost turns like the ones in AC4 though, but you can drift turn, this can only be done on the ground.
5.) is it anything like chromehounds?
absolutely not, this is every bit Armored Core.
6.) how's the co-op?
you can play co-op on everything, this include story missions, order missions and online conquests. The thing that's great about co-op is that you don't need to wait for people to join, you can just hire a mercenary to help out. There's a mercenary system (man of honor) in the game that people just hang around to be called for the next assignment.
7.) how's the single player game?
there are only 10 story missions, and 80+ order missions. Story missions are quite lengthy and mutli sectioned, order missions are side quests that's only there for you to grind for money and learn abit about the game world. It takes a good 10 hours, i think to finish them, really depend on your skill though. There are achievements in story missions that'll unlock some parts early or give extra cash.
but overall, you can get everything except 1 part by leveling up your team level.
8.) gameplay videos?
http://www.youtube.com/user/MindFlowgraph
9.) trailers?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RW_uWI8hOz8#t=110s
