Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 2

Genre: RPG

Number of Players: 1
Known in Japan as: Front Mission Fourth

When the name Square-Enix is mentioned, obviously the first thing that just about everyone will think of will be Final Fantasy. Everyone has their favorite game in the series of course, some preferring FFVIII, the game that introduced quite a few people to the series while others are fans of the Tactics series. For me, it still has to be Final Fantasy VI that is my favorite, but people tend to forget about some of the companies other games. Okay, maybe there are times where that is intentional, like with The Bouncer, but Square-Enix has done a number of fantastic RPG's over the years. One that has more or less been lost in the shuffle is Front Mission. Japan has enjoyed a good number of these games for years, but it wasn't until the third game that US fans ever saw the series. It's been a number of years, but Front Mission is back once again, this time on the PlayStation 2, meaning of course many improvements.

Front Mission 4 takes you into the world of two different groups of Wanzer pilots. The first group we meet are members of Durandal, a group of skilled international pilots that operate as more or less a freelance organization. Elsa, a young French woman, is the newest recruit, but her time to prove what she's really capable of is at hand. An unknown force is attacking German installations, and Durandal has been asked to investigate the incidents. It appears though that the attacks are leading to something much bigger, but discovering who is behind them is going to be the most difficult part as the group faces when deepening mysteries and efforts from higher up to keep the truth under wraps.

Meanwhile, in South America, a young Wanzer pilot named Darril is out on patrol with his men, Chaeffer and Renges. All members of the U.C.S Army, the group is in the right place, but perhaps at the wrong time. A cargo plane crashes and in the wreckage they discover a horde of gold belonging to the countries president. The trio decides that the best course of action is to steal the gold and go AWOL. But, their actions aren't without consequence, and soon they find themselves running from the military, and the president is determined to retrieve his ill-gotten loot at any cost.

Front Mission 4 isn't in the same vein of role-playing game as what some might be used to. Although there are many similar elements, FM4 also has thing involved that make it more of a combination between an RPG and a turn-based strategy game. For fans of Square-Enix titles, the game that is going to be the closest to how FM4 plays would be the Final Fantasy Tactics series. You won't be spending time physically running from place to place or getting involved in random battles though as everything is preordained for you. That's not to say though that FM4 is any less a good game, it just plays differently.

For combat, you will have a field where you will first need to set you units at. You will gain access to more and more mechas to add into combat as the game progresses and new characters are brought into the story. Unlike Tactics though, where turns are based on speed, Front Mission separates them by player and enemy phases. Usually, the player is first and you can move your units, attack enemies, or repair battle damaged mechas. Your range of course is limited as is your area of fire. Each mecha is also divided up into parts, right and left arms, legs and then the body. Combat will damage these areas, though with most weapons, you can't select what you'd like to target. For example, firing a machine gun will hit all areas, but all of these bullets more than likely won't hit. If the arms take enough damage, a weapon that is equipped will be rendered useless. If you take out the legs, the movement will be limited to one square per turn, and if the body is destroyed, that unit will leave combat for the remainder of combat. This is just the start though.

Each unit has a certain number of AP, or action points, that can be used each turn. Movement will take them as well as attacking. Let's say you finish moving and still have a remaining 8 AP. The weapon you want to attack with has an AP rating of 4, so you can attack twice that turn. You can also change weapons assuming of course you have more than one equipped. You also will need to be wary of obstructions, like buildings, in your line of fire as well as the conditions as both time of day and even weather have a bearing on combat.

As you can experience, you will gain points to upgrade your skills. There are a number of abilities that each pilot can obtain. You can increase your accuracy; add special attacks, counterattacks, and a wealth of other options. Special attacks however need to be equipped, and these take up your ability slots, so careful planning is crucial. You can change these however if you so desire. You also will gain the option to support and defend your units. So, if two units, A and B for example, a linked and A attacks an enemy, there are conditions that will allow B to also join in that turn, thus increasing the damage. This same process works for defending, but you never have to worry about always recalling what units are linked. The game will always show you what units are linked and this will give you a better opportunity to get them aligned in the proper fashion to increase your chances at victory.

Winning also will reward you with money. With this, you can buy new parts, weapons, items, and even complete Wanzers. You can customize each of them, right down to the color as a matter of fact. However, each Wanzer has a weight limit associated with it as well. So, you may very well be able to add more than one weapon on to them, but if it exceeds your weight limit, you won't be able to use it. This can make things a little tricky, but it also makes perfect sense.

Visually, there are a few different aspects the game uses. The main story part of the game is usually done as a still image of the area that you're in. You have a list of places that you can move to, but these are also all still. The characters aren't actually seen in a full body shot, but instead as profile shots. Other parts will have action sequences done in a graphic style that is very much like everything else in the game. These usually focus around the mechas and arriving in some new area. The battle stages the mechas are a bit smaller, but the fields themselves are huge. Battle also will provide cut scenes of the action, but these can also be skipped if you get tired to seeing them.

Going back to Final Fantasy Tactics, FM4 uses something that was included with the Advanced version of the series. There are times when combat is long, and instead of sticking you there for the duration, you can save in the middle of battle and return again when you have the time. This is always a nice option, especially with turn based strategy titles.

The thing that may turn some away from the game however is that at times there is a high learning curve, even with the tutorials that are present. It can take bit while to get accustomed to how linking works, and that can cause frustration early on. Customizing also can be a lengthy process, especially since you have to back out of menus to change which pilot you are working on, and this alone can eat up a good deal of time. While working with the Durandal side, it took me at least 30 minutes to work on the available units that I had, and even then I was completely happy with how things were, but I decided to head into battle anyway. Of course, I did learn that I should have spent a little more time working on the units, but I was anxious to get into the heat of battle once again.

Despite a few minor annoyances though, Front Mission 4 is a breath of fresh air in a world filled with RPG's that tend to be very much like all of the others that are out on the market these days. Having two different story lines present definitely adds to the overall playability, and it keeps things from getting too stagnant too quickly. And yes, they will become intertwined at some point down the road. The mecha genre when it comes to game really works much better in turn-based strategy as opposed to boring action titles in my opinion, and of course having the RPG elements as well, you have the best of both worlds in one game. Front Mission 4 may not be for those with a short attention span or lack of patience, but for those that love this type of genre, it's going to provide hours of rewarding gameplay.

-mike-