Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness

"A Front Mission at the 2089 Border? This is Madness!"

Square Enix's Front Mission series continues to live on after a successful, Japanese-only release of Front Mission 5: Scars of the War in December 2005. Regarded as one of the best and longest running strategy RPG series, Front Mission has recently given attention to the Nintendo DS. A port of Front Mission First, renamed Front Mission for the North American version, was released in October 2007. Shortly after the North American release, series visionary Toshiro Tsuchida announced that Front Mission 2089 for the mobile phones would be ported to the Nintendo DS. Released in May 2008 in Japan as Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness, this installment lives up to the Front Mission name.

Graphics: 7/10

Coming from the mobile phones, Front Mission 2089 suffered from outdated visuals and poor image resolution. As one can imagine, screen size is another potential issue when playing mobile phone games. With the jump to the Nintendo DS, the game has received a noticeable boost and looks as good as the DS port of Front Mission First. From the redrawn backgrounds to the added special effects, Border of Madness certainly looks better than the original mobile phone version. While being graphically equal to Front Mission First in most aspects, Border of Madness does have its differences.

The first and most noticeable difference is the character art. The artwork moves away from the realistic drawings seen in the later installments and opts for a realistic anime style. When characters talk, the player can see them in full body as opposed to just their face. Each character has a diverse range of looks and body motions, which helps the player to understand them at the personal level. The second noticeable difference is the inclusion of still frames, drawn much like a graphic novel. While rarely shown in the game, they do a good job of conveying the atmosphere during cutscenes.

Smaller differences include a completely new interface designed for the Nintendo DS touch screen and redrawn parts. The new interface for customization is much more fluid and cohesive than the one seen in Front Mission First. Furthermore, complaints about the option size in Front Mission First have been fixed with larger option boxes and such. Certainly, more could have been done with Border of Madness' graphics engine. However, taking into account the low-key Japanese release and the budget given to the developers, the graphics upgrade is reasonably acceptable.

Plot: 9/10

Part of the beauty behind the Front Mission series is in its usage of two distinct narratives, the standalone and world, to truly breathe realism into the game world. The standalone narrative covers a core group of characters and their experiences, ending when the game is completed. The world narrative covers the events surrounding that core group and is on-going, but this narrative was finally concluded in Front Mission 5: Scars of the War. Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness follows this storytelling style and executes it well.

The standalone narrative covers the experiences of a mercenary codenamed Storm and his mercenary outfit. In the year 2089, tensions and skirmishes are on the rise in Huffman Island. Shared by the Oceania Cooperative Union(O.C.U.) and the United States of the New Continent(U.S.N.), Huffman Island has been a hot spot for conflict. Both world powers resort to hiring mercenaries to keep the peace by the border at Mail River, located at the center of the island.

Working for the O.C.U. military, Storm and his outfit are assigned a plethora of jobs around Huffman over the year. As they battle with rival mercenary outfits and U.S.N. forces, Storm and his comrades encounter a mercenary outfit only known as the Vampires. Piloting wanzers, Front Mission-speak for mecha, of unknown origins, the Vampires leave a path of destruction to both the O.C.U. and U.S.N. wherever they go. At the same time, numerous mercenaries are mysteriously disappearing with no trace of their whereabouts.

With fears that they are the next to disappear, Storm's outfit begins to investigate these disappearances and the Vampires themselves. During their investigations, they attract the attention of the Central Intelligence Unit(C.I.U.), the O.C.U. government's intelligence organization. As the two groups collaborate, they discover that Huffman Island holds more secrets than they could imagine. In an interesting move, it appears that the final segment of Border of Madness was taken from Front Mission 2089-II for the mobile phones.

According to the art book, Front Mission World Historica: Report of Conflicts 1970-2121, Front Mission 2089-II's ending leads right into the beginning of Front Mission First. The original Front Mission 2089 does not lead into Front Mission First, but rather into Front Mission 2089-II. Though it feels like the Front Mission 2089-II segments were tacked on, the transition between the two installments is surprisingly smooth and hardly noticeable. Regardless, it is a pleasant surprise that Front Mission 2089-II was not forgotten.

Standalone narrative aside, the world narrative for Border of Madness looks at the events leading up to the 2nd Huffman Conflict seen in Front Mission First. Though the events that triggered the 2nd Huffman Conflict are well documented in the other installments, Border of Madness covers the true catalysts behind that war. Plot materials referenced come mostly from Front Mission First, though there are some for Front Mission 2. Furthermore, Border of Madness hints at the main conflict seen in Front Mission 5: Scars of the War.

Front Mission fans can spot a number of familiar faces from Front Mission First and 2 throughout the game. These include Dr. Brown and Thomas Norland of Front Mission First and 2, respectively. In addition, those who had the chance to play Front Mission 2089-II know who Tornado and Sana are. With the exception of Tornado and Sana, who appeared in the original Front Mission 2089, the stories of the Front Mission characters are further fleshed out.

Apart from the narratives, character development is surprisingly strong. As Border of Madness covers one whole year from 2089 to 2090, the core characters develop in a realistic manner. The crew of Storm, Rain, Champ, Oddeye, and Gray seem to be based off of the typical stereotypes, but these notions are shattered as they develop. The antagonists, the Vampires, are poorly developed in comparison. Most are merely plot fodder and only a few receive any character development. It's the only major flaw to an otherwise excellent plot with well-executed standalone and world narratives.

Gameplay: 8/10

The Front Mission series is much like other strategy RPG offerings, but it has its own twists to an otherwise predictable formula. Each player-controlled unit pilots a wanzer which has 4 separate parts. The body keeps the wanzer operational, the arms are for equipping and using weapons, and the legs grant movement and evasive capabilities. Destruction of each part significantly cripples the wanzer and destroying the body removes it from the battlefield completely. While destroying the body is top priority, it is often beneficial to remove the arms and legs beforehand.

The majority of key factors regarding mission play are in static values, meaning that the Front Mission series leans more towards strategy than the RPG aspect. The RPG aspect refers to the ability for units to learn new combat abilities and gaining levels for fighting enemies. It also refers to traditional RPG elements such as buying gear at shops or talking to people during intermissions. Of these features, the customization aspect is the main factor that attracts fans to the series, with the ability to create wanzer setups out of any combination of parts.

To summarize Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness is as simple as stating Front Mission First with extras. This is indeed true as the core foundation is still very much based off of that installment. That is, Border of Madness progresses in a linear fashion from the intermissions to mission play. It would be wrong, however, to suggest that not much has changed from Front Mission First. There are enough changes to the game mechanics that Border of Madness is a new game to some extent.

First, game mechanics from the other Front Mission installments are implemented in the game. Armor coating from Front Mission 2 and up makes a return as all weapons are classified under one of three attack elements. Likewise, Links from Front Mission 4 and up are back in a simplified form; up to 2 units can gang up and attack an enemy. The Job system, part sorting, and part optimization via Remodeling from Front Mission 5: Scars of the War are also implemented.

Apart from the added mechanics, a number of game mechanics from Front Mission First were changed. Weapons are more balanced than before, such as shotguns being multiple-hit weapons or rifles being exclusively for long-range attacks. To make melee weapons more attractive, the infamous Hard Blow(an attack with a wanzer's bare arms), renamed Arm Punch in Border of Madness, has been toned down. Knuckles, pile bunkers, and swords from Front Mission 2 and up are back to give more variety to melee weapons.

In regards to missions, most are still of the destroy-all-enemies material. In a unique twist, many missions have a reconnaissance element to them. For example, one mission involves escorting a group of wanzers to a building. Once the wanzers enter the building, the player must protect it from enemy reinforcements. After the wanzers retrieve some documents, the player's objective is to protect them as they retreat. This mission style resembles Front Mission 2's, where players must meet many objectives to clear missions.

Outside of missions, game progression is relatively the same. Players have intermissions at bases, where they can do various things. Players can talk to people, customize their wanzers, fight in an Arena for additional funds, and get briefing information for the next missions. One new addition to note is the inclusion of mission branching, which leads to different cutscenes and missions encountered. This pretty much summarizes Border of Madness in a nutshell.

In regards to controls and interfaces, they are much more user-friendly than in Front Mission First. The larger options in the interfaces make it easy for players to access options with the stylus. Part sorting makes it possible for players to quickly find what they need without having to scroll through large lists. The inclusion of a true tutorial system allows newcomers to digest the game mechanics at their own leisure without feeling lost in mission play.

Sound: 6/10

The aural aspects of Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness are the game's weakest. To put it shortly, the game uses a mixture of music tracks found in Front Mission First, 2, 3, 4, and Online. While the tracks themselves are not exactly gag-worthy, they are poorly placed and there is no unifying music feel as a result. A simple session from the base to the hangar, involving Front Mission 2's Tension and Front Mission 3's Network tracks, is more than enough evidence for such. Likewise, many tracks are remixed for Border of Madness but sound even worse than the original tracks themselves. Sound effects fare better as they remain unchanged from Front Mission First. It makes one wonder what the developers were thinking when planning out the game's aural presentation.

Difficulty: 7/10

Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness is a reasonably balanced game with some faults. Difficulty progression is relatively constant, but there are times where difficulty either drops or spikes instantly. For example, one mission early on demands that all units are using up-to-date equipment just to survive. The mission after that, though, is quite easy to clear with the up-to-date equipment. Briefings, a feature from Front Mission First, do help in predicting the difficulty of the upcoming missions. The game's learning curve is reasonable, but it is made easier with the tutorials system in place. Players must still pay attention to how the mechanics work to progress and complete the game though.

Lastly, weapon and class balancing is much better with the plethora of changes and additions made to the game. With the Job classes of Assault, Gunner, Launcher, and Striker, all characters specialize only in one Job. Experience acquisition has been rebalanced in favor of specialists, who amass very little experience in areas outside their expertise. Similarly, weapons are more balanced in that more types are useable as opposed to Front Mission First. With the added game mechanics, melee weapons are more effective while long-ranged weapons are less effective. Short-ranged weapons are still quite powerful, but are no longer restricted to just machine guns.

Fun Factor: 8/10

Like Front Mission First, Border of Madness is good in short bursts and has its moments of fun. The game is quite long at over 50 missions and the mission branches do warrant at least a second playthrough. Upon game completion, New Game+ and difficulty settings become accessible. Much like in Front Mission First, a bunch of new material can be procured only during the second playthrough and above. One last note is that Border of Madness drops the multiplayer support, but this is not really important to enjoying the game.

Overall: 8/10

Apart from its faults, Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness is a solid game that is worthy of carrying the Front Mission name. The revamped visuals and new artwork style is a nice change of pace from the realistic portrayals of the other installments. The standalone and world narratives are well-executed and add more depth to the Front Mission universe. The new additions and changes to game mechanics transforms the game into something more than just another Front Mission First. The aural presentation is questionable and definitely could use more thought and planning behind it. In conclusion, Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness is a game that series fans should check out and play.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/05/08

Game Release: Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness (JP, 05/29/08)