Front Mission

[FelixWrong]

It's a very ignored game series made by Square Enix, the game is usually SRPG but they also switch genres, the newest genre switch is Front Mission Evolved which is a TPS, it is also the first spinoff of the series to arrive in America. Only Front Mission 1, 3, and 4 were released in America, get them if you are interested. The game is about many wars that take place in the future where the common weapon of war are these rather short and weak mechs called Wanzers(Short for Wandering Panzer.) All of these war lead to a secret, but im not spoiling them. The main plot that was used in many of the games is a war between the super nations OCU(Oceania Community Union) and the USN(United States of the New Continent) over a small island that is rich in resources. If you play Front Mission 1st you can choose your side and the main character will differ, if you choose OCU you play as the mercenary Roid Clive but if you choose the USN you play as Kevin Greenfield who was recently kicked out of the Blackhounds team. If you have a copy of Front Mission 5 and want a translation patch or just want to learn more about the series visit http://frontmission.info/

[Geremy-Tibbles]

Very VERY good Tactics game involves mechs. I'd recommend it for anyone on this board who's a fan of tactics games.

The newest game slated to come out is more like a slow Armored Core by the looks of it. Hopefully it'll be good, but the departure from the norm is making me uneasy.

I've only ever played Front Mission 1 and 3, but haven't heard much about 4 or 5.

[FelixWrong]

Very VERY good Tactics game involves mechs. I'd recommend it for anyone on this board who's a fan of tactics games.

The newest game slated to come out is more like a slow Armored Core by the looks of it. Hopefully it'll be good, but the departure from the norm is making me uneasy.

I've only ever played Front Mission 1 and 3, but haven't heard much about 4 or 5.

4 is out on the ps2 but 5 is MUCH better in terms of gameplay, customization(25 wanzers with appearance changing upgrades.), and storyline, but if you want to play FM5 in english you need an import copy, a DVD-R disc, and swap magic. Rip an iso from the import, patch it, and write it back onto the DVD-R. More instructions are on Front Mission info.org and find instructions for the swap magic somewhere else. I won't recommend this if you don't like grinding, because in order to get certain wanzers such as the Zenith DV(translated as Zenislev in Front Mission 3.) and Grille Sechs(translated as Grezex in Front Mission 3.) you need to grind for hours in the survival simulator on hard mode.

[Red Comet90]

Your best bet of playing an amazing Front Mission game is to try and find Front Mission 3. That game is amazing from start to finish and the fact that it has two separate story lines which split like 5 to 10 minutes into the game gives it lots of replay value and that's not considering just how much you can do and how enjoyable the whole ride is. Still one of the best PS1 games in my opinion.

[J-Lead]

I loved the hell out of Front Mission 4, and regret the fact that I could not play 5, but the more I look at Evolved and it's static use of a third person camera, the more I realize that it has no excuse to not have an optional cockpit view in addition to it's third person perspective. Seriously, all it takes for me to enjoy a mech shooter is a cockpit view...

[bluemax151]

Your best bet of playing an amazing Front Mission game is to try and find Front Mission 3.

I've played pretty much every Front Mission (yes even alternative ugh) and I'd have to agree with this statement. It doesn't boil down to any specific aspect(s) of the game but overall it's the most enjoyable of the bunch that are turn based strat games.

I'm sure it helps that I love when my units perform body smash or salvo though

[raijinz]

I can't comment on the new game yet, coz my PS3 has died of a Yellow Light of Death for the second time.

When I'm finally back on track, I will get the game so I can make a more informed opinion on it (even though the odds aren't good that I'll like it).

I've played 3 (my fav), 4 and 5 (even though I couldn't fully understand it!). I really think SquareEnix don't treat the Front Mission franchise with the respect it deserves.

[bluemax151]

I've only played it a little bit but Front Mission Evolved hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. I could see were maybe the game design aspect isn't all that great and may lead to a lot of grief and exploit abuse.

[Outlaw]

The gameplay was fun, but the story was pretty rough and by the end felt more like Front Mission fan fiction than a real FM story.

The multiplayer could use a bit of a rebalance. All the explosive weapons (bazooka, missile, rocket, etc.) are a little overpowered and carry too much ammo for their damage output. Also, as stated in other reviews, the gap between low and high rank parts in multiplayer could be narrowed a little; and new players are well advised to use the prebuilts in the beginning as they have parts and weapons otherwise not yet available.

I honestly hope they come out with a patch to address these issues because even with them it's still fun to play and it's easy to see hints of potential.

[Bonesy!]

A preemptive menu patch is out from the frontmission.info folks for Front Mission 2, if anyone's impatient/interested.

[sheryl_baver]

Has anyone tried the Ultimate Hits Edition? I heard that it has better gameplay..

[RGM-79 GM]

The gameplay was fun, but the story was pretty rough and by the end felt more like Front Mission fan fiction than a real FM story.

I don't know about you guys but when I played the story mode in FME I couldn't help but see several of the characters as rehashed Gundam characters. I'm probably looking into it too much but I couldn't help it.

Dylan=OYW Amuro
Adela=OYW Sayla
Captain Hamilton=Ryu
General Mosley=Revil
Amy=OYW Frau
Werner=CCA Char
Marcus=Jerid
Alan Ramsey=Tem Ray
Not a character but as my brother said before he bought it, E.D.G.E. system=E.X.A.M system.

[raijinz]

Finally got the game this Xmas, and I can honestly that I DON'T HATE this game (mostly).

Granted, it's a barely passable 3rd person shooter, but it more or less ticks the boxes it's supposed to.

I'm only half-way through, but the story is as generic as they come, even with

Spoiler

the death of Hamilton/the commanding officer/Black guy

. Ramsey is a douche, Amy is geeky Moeblob, Adela is so Tsuntede (spelling?), and Mosley is a southern MGS Big Boss without the eyepatch.

The cutscenes are average, with lots of explosions and Wanzer skating but the facial expressions are stupid looking and do nothing to endear me to the characters. And why do some of the patterns and tattoos on some characters look so pixelated? Is this PS2? Who the heck are Double Helix anyway?!

*quick heads up, I HATE that they don't pronounce Wanzer like "Vanzer". It's a German word dammit!*

All that being said, I like that you can go back and redo missions with later weapons/parts. I'll go into more details later.

I actually had an idea that Squenix could've done this game more like Final Fantasy 12, where everything is realtime, but you could pick actions from a menu...

[quasadra]

here is some answer to your question

1. its spelled Tsundere.

2. Double Helix previous games are Silent Hill 5, GI Joe...

its not the worst game in the world. just barely playable for a Front Mission fan. unless PDD6 puts out a Front Mission 6, and considering the current financial state SE is in, i think this is the last we will see of Front Mission.

[yazi88]

Heads up guys, Front Mission 3 is out on PSN, play it on your PS3 or PSP to experience this classic yet awesome game.

[NastyNate]

I recently got front mission evolved and I am currently playing through the campaign. It is turning out to be one of the best mech games I have ever played. Will post more soon!

[Bonesy!]

Picked FM5 up again, I just barely got my first sniper so I'm not really all that far in, probably about Mission 4 I wanna say.

[raijinz]

I'm a ways into the game but now I'm stuck on a boss fight (a one on one). I haven't come back to the game for about a month, too busy playing games I ACTUALLY enjoy playing with my mates.

Damn you Squenix! Couldn't they have taken a bit more care with this game? (I'll get back to it eventually...)

[NastyNate]

I really enjoy this game. Some of the boss battles are really tuff but that is part of the fun. I found that if a boss is too tuff that means I need to change the layout of my wanzer. Like machine gun to bazoka or vise virca.

[NastyNate]

I just posted my a video review of Front Mission Evolved. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kVu26Qn ... ideo_title

this is my first video so of course I hope to get better.