"Engage, outflank and blow 'em up!"

Front Mission had it's humble beginnings as a moderately successful game on the Japanese Super Famicom system. This strategy combat RPG was never ported to the U.S. due to what was most likely a general lack of interest. It had a lackluster sequel in which the gameplay format was changed to a side-scrolling shooter. As luck would have it, several years later Front Mission 3 was released for the Playstation and american fans got their first peek at it in the form of a demo that was packaged with the game Vagrant Story. The game ultimately received little attention and no praise from the media at all. The game was in fact almost impossible to find because, well... no stores carried it. It was as if this deep, engrossing game slipped completey under the radar... Squaresoft would not make that mistake again. Front Mission 4 was overhauled and uber-marketed, hyped up for the american market.

Front Mission 4's gameplay has been severely simplified over that of it's predecessor, which may or may not be a good thing in the eyes of players. Fear not, however, because for every element that was removed another was added. Battle sequences still take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to complete, though, so dont' be too afraid. For those of you unfamiliar with Front Mission, it has two main modes of play: battle and the upgrades you work on between battles. The battles take place on a grid environment, almost like a chess board in which your mechs (called Wanzers) engage the enemy wanzers in a turn-based strategy battle. The parts used to make up each wanzer determines how far it can move, how it attacks and how it fits into combat overall. In FM4 it is extremely important not only to have wanzers that are well-balanced for combat on their own, but you must edit your entire party so that they work well together out on the field. This is simple because the game makes it possible for you to create assault wanzers, snipers, missile-firing support units, melee units and just about anything else you can dream up. During battle damage done to the various parts of the wanzer can lead up to the destruction of that part, rendering it useless. A wanzer is finished when it's body HP is reduced to zero.

Strategy is incredibly important in every battle. It is critical that players learn the roles of the different types of machines and use this knowledge to outsmart the game's powerful A.I. Enemy units move and attack in formation, often trying to outflank or pincer attack your units, divide and conquer or gang up. Enemy units often change their movement to intercept yours, so you'd better do your homework. While some of FM3's better concepts, this game will not allow you to force an enemy unit to surrender or to steal his wanzer. Gone also, thank goodness, are the post-battle evaluations. Instead the amount of money you earn is simply determined by how many enemies you defeated with maintenance charges taken out for every broken wanzer part you leave unfixed before battle ends... included destroyed wanzers. This makes it a little easier to earn money. New to FM4 is the link system, which allows the player to 'link' his units together for consecutive attacks on the enemy. This means you can surround the enemy then annihilate him in one turn if you do it correctly... however there are many enemy units who can do this as well. Mix in different kinds of special abilities from a new computer system and four new kinds of backpacks and you've got a deep enough game for any hardcore strategy fan.

Between battles and during the storyline sequences of the game you will have the opportunity to purchase parts and upgrades for your wanzer and its computer. The upgrade process requires that you compare the attributes of a wanzer's arms, legs, body, backpack and weapons and try to keep the machine as balanced as possible while making it stronger. At times players will have to sacrifice HP for a higher hit rate or movement for a lower weight, which allows the machine to carry heavier weapons. Each part and weapon has both negative and positive effects to the wanzer and can ultimately affect what kind of abilities become available to the pilot. When upgrading the computer the player can use experience points to learn new battle abilities and upgrade certain key attributes. You can even customize the name and color of your wanzers in the shops. Unfortunately, once a weapon is equipped it cannot be removed unless it is replace. Luckily you will never want a wanzer with a bare-hand anyway. This can sometimes get in the way while shopping for new weapons.

I fear that in order to truly explain the depth of the gameplay would require much more space than this review offers. However I can say with confidence that strategy and RPG fans will not be disappointed. Shifting focus to the storyline, I can say this: It's engaging... but it's confusing and at points difficult to follow. The game takes place in an alternate future in which the world is made up of several conglomerate nations: The U.C.S. (The Americas) The O.C.U. (Asia) and the Zaftran Replublic (former Soviet Union) to name a few. It all begins when a German naval base is attacked by unidentified foreign wanzers. A council meets to discuss the incident and amont allegations and much bickering the british decide to send out the durandal (that's you) to investigate. During the course of the game all kinds of conspiracies and backstabbing and brainwashing and such are revealed, but little of it makes sense... most of the time I want to skip the dialogue and go straight to blowing up the enemy wanzers, because no matter what may be going on that is going to be next... bank on it. Of course, while the durandal are investigating all of this some rebellious young U.C.S. soldiers (that's also you) stumble onto a stash of gold belonging to the dictator of Venezuela and go around uncovering conspiracies of their own... while trying to evade their commanding officers. Eventually these two storylines intertwine... I don't care how, just so long as I get to fight some more battles and keep getting cool new guns for my wanzers.

This game marks a HUGE improvement over FM3 whose graphics were at best horrendous. Aside from cut scenes, which are a staple of gaming today and the pride of Square Enix, the game features tight in-game visuals with great effects. Everything looks good and the battles are seemless. Even the interludes in which characters are shown only in profile while speaking look good. The environments look great and the wanzer look truly polished. When the camera zooms in during a wanzer attack you can see every explosive detail seamlessly transitioned from the smaller overehead view. In addition, the explosions, high-quaility voice overs and other sounds are sure to knock your socks off, even in lieu of the repetitive albeit catchy "Front Mission Music" with which players will quickly become familiar.

Like FM3, this is a long game with alot to do. While the game offers little by way of replay value, it is more than worth having just for the first play-through. I don't imagine that many things change after having played the game once, but it might be worth going through again just to play around and change all the wazners or experiment with different combinations of parts and weapons. Truth be told, however, after fighting the countless campaign battles and the optional--but-necessary practice battles (the only way to earn money in a pinch) you just might be Front Missioned out for awhile.

Regardless of the sometimes tedious nature of the game's battle system it seems to keep everything fresh enough to glue me to my PS2 for two to four hours at a time. This is a solid game... solid gameplay, good look and feel, excellent production values and a complete overhaul from its predecessor keep it not only exciting, but fresh enough for veteran fans like myself. Even if you are not a Front Mission fan there has never been a better time to become one. I highly recommend this game to any strategy/rpg fans... I guarantee that once you sit down and play for a few hours you'll be hooked.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/04