Front Mission 4

"An extremely boring Strategy-RPG wanna-be"

I don't know why I even bother with Square anymore. Perhaps a part of me still has hope that they'll repeat the Final Fantasy Tactics phenomenon, especially when they release strategy-RPGs like Front Mission 4... Well, the fact is, the mechanics and the AI in this game have to be among the worst ever seen in the genre.

For those new to Front Mission, the premise is that the warfare of the future is engaged into mainly by five-story tall robots called "Wanzers". It has a skin-deep militaristic and realistic feel to it that is soon dispelled by greatly implausible events and character choices, a truly pathetic AI and FMV sequences that are more meant to look "kewl" than actually cause suspension of disbelief. ( I mean, did the extremely heavy wanzers need to be dropped from high altitude by airborne craft in the intro FMV? Can't they simply disembark on the ground like realistic war machines would?) Although the ages of the characters range from old generals in their fifthies to rookie twenty-something wanzer pilots, they all behave like impulsive, stupid, hormone-driven teenagers that weren't spanked enough as children. Any suspension of disbelief and respect you had for the plot is vaporized when you see old men getting angry at some petty, absolutely trivial matter, or flipping out and charging forward with their glorious five robots to "invade" a fully fortified military base with over 30 units stationed inside. And you know what is even sadder? Since it's the atrocious AI controlling those 30 units, they somehow manage to lose. I mean, really... Supposedly you are doing battle against seasoned, intelligent enemy generals. But enemy units won't move until you get close enough to them, they come at you one at a time and for some reason, they never use repair items of any sort like the essential repair backpack that you, the player, have to use every turn to survive. The idea was supposedly to convey the feel of war here, but all they manage is to give you the sensation that you're fighting an opponent of animal intelligence at best. No, I was too generous, not even packs of wolves manage to be so tactically inept. And this from the company who designed the superb AI of Final Fantasy Tactics...

It sometimes leads to paradoxes, even. At some time, your group is being pursued by faster enemy wanzers. You have no choice but to stand your ground and fight, you are informed at the beginning of the mission. But when the mission does start, the enemy wanzers do not move at all. You have to go back there and attack them, one at a time. But hey, haven't we stopped because we could not outrun them? If they are going to just stand there doing nothing, why don't we keep running away?

Even if the AI was acceptable, the game mechanics of Front Mission 4 are very dull. There are several weapon types to choose from, ranging from shotguns to missile launchers, not to mention fully customizable body parts like arms, legs and torsos of different properties (HP, accuracy bonus, movement rate, evasion, power output...). But no matter how you customize your units, you never get the sensation that you're building a combined arms force, they don't seem to fulfill especific roles in battle. You could equip everyone with machine guns, or everyone with sniper rifles, or any combination of weaponry in the vast arsenal, without any significant variation in the performance of your force. There are a lot fo weapons, but they all feel the same. Another questionable feature in the engine is the repair backpack. You can repair your wanzers in mid-battle as many times as necessary, at no cost. That's right, you have infinite regenerative abilities (and for some reason your opponents are never equipped with those). Since you'll be doing battle against one or two enemies at a time, (while all the others stand doing nothing waiting for their turn to be destroyed) their damage output never exceeds your regenerative capability. You are never at risk, there's no challenge to speak of in this game. The battles may last in excess of two hours(!!!), consisting in you tediously advancing at a slug's pace, destroying the 30 or so enemy units one at a time. Those guys redefine the meaning of the word "chore".

Square may be known for it's habit of making collections of cool FMV sequences and then creating some lackluster game-play engine and plot to tie it all together, but this time not even the graphics stand out. They aren't bad; had the game been good, it wouldn't even matter, but since it is not, not even those among us who buy games solely for the graphics will find anything of value here. The soundtrack is pretty standard as well, not bad, not good... Square usually produces great music (although with a tendency for melodramatic tunes), but this time, not even that. Avoid.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 08/02/04