"Just an average strategy game"

Front Mission 4 is the 4th in a series of games but only the 2nd to appear in the US. The series focuses on technology and use of “Wanzers” which are large, piloted robots used for combat.

Game Play 5/10

The game consists of battles based on a strategy format. Your group of Wanzers must defeat the enemy and complete various objectives in order to successfully win the battle. You choose commands from a menu for your Wanzers to move, attack, use items, repair, etc. It is turn-based and some battles can end up taking over an hour to complete. The story of the game progresses in between battles by interaction with other characters. You do not physically control a character and there are no environments to explore. Rather, you go to different destinations and talk with characters by selecting them from a menu on screen. This has been the same format for all Front Mission games. Based on what the PS2 is capable of this is disappointing that the series has not advanced into more interactive game play. It feels somewhat limited to only read what characters say in a text box with only their face next to it. There are voice-overs that go along with the text, but this all makes game play a bit slow and difficult to progress through.

Also in between battles, you have the opportunity to customize your group's Wanzers. You must purchase parts and utilize them to build a squad of your desire. There is a lot of variation available in Front Mission 4 for your Wanzers. This can vary from large, tank-like Wanzers to small, agile Wanzers. The pilots for your Wanzers possess skills they can utilize in battle. This opens up a bit more creativity and variation by assigning which skills for pilots to use in battle.

During battle, you must move and command your units to complete your objective. This is truly a strategy game and it is not possible to simply use brute force to win battles. Balancing offense and defense is key to winning and this makes Front Mission 4 quite a challenging game. Turns move very slowly during battle and actions seem to take forever. Combined with slow intermissions between battles, this overall makes Front Mission 4 very sluggish and difficult to stay awake through.

Despite the broad range of customization for your Wanzers and various methods you can utilize to win battles, the lack of truly interactive game play and the failure of Square Enix to advance this series into PS2 capabilities makes Front Mission 4 far from great. There's truly a contradiction of freedom to modify your characters and Wanzers and the lack of freedom to advance the storyline. You must simply just sit back, read and hear the story unfold and win some battles. That's it.

Story 8/10

Front Mission 4 focuses on the storyline of two characters, Darril & Elsa. The game consists of two separate storylines, one regarding each character, which take place in different parts of the world. Both are involved in war conflicts that escalate and eventually, Darril and Elsa's stories intertwine. How they connect and what happens afterwards makes the story interesting. However, following two separate plot lines somewhat detaches the player from the game and makes it more difficult to relate and engage themselves with characters.

Sound/Music 3/10

We run into a little trouble in this department. Music throughout the game is cheesy and sometimes overdramatic. Rather than hearing well-composed and thoughtful music, you are stuck with a game full of music that one guy on a keyboard could do. Sound effects also fall far from impressive. The noises made by missile launches, gunfire, explosions, and impacts are very generic and sound very cheap. The sound of gunfire hitting an enemy Wanzer sounds very similar to what I think BB's shooting at sheet metal would sound like. Judging what other PS2 games can produce as far as sound goes, this game doesn't live up to potential. After all that, I still haven't even gotten to the voice acting. This is the first of the series to have voice acting. There's not much else to say except it's not timed very well and pointless to have in this game.

Graphics 6/10

Square Enix always produces great CG scenes and they do not falter in Front Mission 4 either. The opening sequence is visually appealing but sets an unachievable expectation regarding game play. During the actual game, backgrounds and environments look pretty good, but it's difficult to fully see the detail of the Wanzers. This is especially true during battle; the camera is zoomed very far away which makes it difficult to fully see your units. Other than that, everything is pretty run of the mill and does not blow me away. It's a good thing the CG sequences are appealing because if not, this game would nothing to fend for itself as far as graphics go.

Replay Value & Play Time 7/10

I can see Front Mission 4 sometimes taking over 20 hours to complete. The individual battles are what take up so much time. Some can certainly take over an hour to finish, and due to the difficulty of some battles, you may need to repeat them. There really aren't too many secrets to find, but the different strategies and customizations for Wanzers allow you to replay this game with a different challenge.

Summary 6/10

Front Mission 4 is simply a PS2 version of the Front Mission series. It doesn't depart from the same aspects as previous games and thus limits this game's appeal. For those of you that have played Front Mission 3 on Playstation and enjoyed it, you won't be disappointed by Front Mission 4, but may question what advances were even made between changing systems. Chances are by now you won't have a chance to rent this game, therefore, only buy this game used if you enjoy turn-based strategy games. If you do, then I hope you don't mind bearing through the useless time between battles to enjoy the story.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/08

Game Release: Front Mission 4 (US, 06/15/04)