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Coming Soon > PlayStation Game Cheats > PlayStation Reviews > Staff Review | |
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| Playability: Front Mission 3 is first and foremost a strategy game. In battle it reflects games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Vandal Hearts, etc. Basically what you get is a fully rotating 3-D environment that serves as the groundwork for your mech battles. Battles are fought out in a grid like environment where you and your opponents can only move a certain amount of "squares". Your range of movement of consists of a number of variables: how heavy you mech is, how mobile and how good are the jump-packs. While some Wanzers can only move two spaces at a time others have the ability to move up to 8…but more on all of this in a bit. FM3 starts you out controlling the games main character named Kazuki. You can also go in and rename him to anything that you choose at this point. Interestingly if you do decide to go in and rename him (first and last), it will also change the last name of your (his?) adopted sister…pretty neat. As an employee of Kirishima Industries your job is to test out new Wanzers. Today it seems you have been given a new prototype Wanzer to put through the paces…this one seems particularly focused for military combat usage. Hmmm, wonder what's up with that? The game then shifts into a nice little tutorial/test mode where you are given a quick (very basic) walkthru on how to move a Wanzer around the playing field and how to engage in battle. After you complete this little exercise events in the story begin to unfold rather quickly and you are also introduced to another lead character named Ryogo who has been your friend since Jr. High. It is at this time that the story branches and depending on which option you choose (go outside with Ryogo or go home and go to sleep) you will either follow the Alisa storyline (your sister) or the Emma storyline (which is more difficult and longer of the two). If you decide to spiral into the Emma plot there are also several branching paths within that storyline as well. From here you are pretty much in the thick of combat and getting absorbed into the brilliant story. The battles take a nice steady progressive move forward in difficulty for each battle. There was rarely ever a time where I was completely outgunned or outnumbered in a battle. Now that is not say that the encounters are easy…they're not! If you don't go into battle with Wanzers that are set-up correctly or if you have good set-ups but move around like an idiot you are going to get whacked big time in this game. Setting up you Wanzer is both a thing of beauty and a pain in the ass. There are so many menus, sub-menu's and options available to you that at first it is almost overwhelming. There are also a good number of parts and pieces to equip due to the sheer number of different Wanzers available throughout the game. Luckily to help gamers better understand both the set-up/menu portion and the actual battle portion of the title there is a sweet in-game tutorial and a nice testing area that you can access to see how if your recently configured Wanzer is up to your expectations. While you are in battle there are many options available to you during each move. You can choose to attack (most Wanzers have a long range and a short range weapon), use an item (to repair a damaged part), Eject (yikes!), view your Wanzer's status or just simply move and pass until the next turn. Strategically it is normally wise to position your Wanzer's that have long range attacks towards the rear and the more "beefy" and powerful ones up front. Various methods can then be deployed where you swarm a single Wanzer or evenly distribute you pain and suffering over the entire enemy line…your call. To make the game even more realistic and absorbing is the fact that there is an in-game "network" that you have access to. From the network you can enter into a ton of different Forums that provide all sorts of information throughout the game. Since the web is always changing you need to visit it frequently or you may miss something. The are also sites (such as military, school and industry) where you will be required to enter a password to access some of the more confidential items on that server. To pick-up these passwords you will need to regularly check your email box. Yep, that's right…you can also send and receive emails during the course of the game. The web can also be used to buy and equip your Wanzers with all sorts of parts and items. Whatever you do, make sure you visit the Network on a regular basis or you simply will not get the full effect of the game. There are only a few things that I could really find wrong with Front Mission 2. The first is that due to the extreme complexity of the game (mostly in the beginning) this title may only appeal to the more hardcore strategy gamers out there instead of reaching a wider audience which it greatly deserves. Another little gripe is the lack of diversity in the mission battles. For the most part, winning a battle consists of going in and destroying everyone (or getting them to surrender). To help break things up there are a few survival missions and specific targets to destroy. While this isn't really a bad thing because the battles are so awesome, a little more variety would have been even better. Finally there is the matter of human vs. Wanzer. There will be times when you are forced to eject from your mech and you will be face to metal with a giant Wanzer with only a hand pistol for defense. It would only seem logical to me that if a human gets hit with say a Wanzer shotgun blast he should be blown into tiny bloody chunks on the first shot right? I mean the damn shotgun shell would have to be practically the size of the human in the first place…but alas humans seem able to take at least 3 shots before going down. Kind of unrealistic...perhaps they wear some sort of special armor or force field or something. Square rates that duration of the game at over 100 hours and I have absolutely no reason at all to doubt them. I have already logged over 50 fun filled hours of time on the Emma missions and still have a ways to go. Then of course I will need to go back and finish off the other branching story paths that took place in the Emma missions, and then go back and play through the Alisa story, which is completely different. Ah…so many missions so little time. Game Options: This is a 1 disk game for 1 Player. It is compatible with the standard (digital) joypad and the analog stick controls of the dual shock joypad. Games can be saved via memory card (2 blocks per save). |
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