Front Mission 4

Retr0gamer

Bought this ages ago but haven't had the chance to play it until recently because of the lego build quality of the PS2. In other words i had to buy another one.

Any way I loved Front Mission 3. The games was huge and had that addictive one more go factor. Many a time I would be saying 'lets just see what the next map looks like' and before long it would be about 2am. So I was kinda looking forward to playing this game despite it getting only fair reviews.

What strikes you first is the new graphics engine. Despite it being very grey it does give the game a realistic military look. The mechs look gorgeous and the animation is perfect. They aren't the lubbering slow behemoths from FM3. The game engine cutscenes look great especially the opening which is up there with some of the best that the metal gear games can offer. Sound effects are great as well. Very meaty explosions and ricochet effects. The voice overs in different european accents are so bad as to be hilarious. the storyline is absolutely ridiculous and takes itself way too seriously but then again it is front mission which is reknowned for silly storylines. The real meat is the gameplay.

And this is where the game disappoints. Early engagements feel like they are in familiar FM territory. However latter on the maps become far too big. Also repairing mechs (i refuse to use the word wanzer) in the game is made far too easy with the inclusion of repair backpacks that can repair mechs for negligible penalties. In other FM games you had to use Very expensive items and hinder a mech with an item carrying backpack. I didn't bother using any items in FM3. These two factors have the effect of drawing out battles. You spend ages trudging to one side of a map to another and then sit around for ages healing before attacking the stupid unmoving AI units. In FM3 a long battle would be 30 turns. Battles in FM4 can be 100 turns and upwards and most turns usually involve sitting around healing. Another annoying thing is the lack of customisation of mechs. Despite there being a large variety of mech parts and weapons you are limited to how a character sets up their mech. Stingey weight and power limits mean some parts are useless. Also pilots gain a set range of abilities from there computers. They always get abilities that enhance and complement only the weapon type they start out with. They become useless if equipped with another type of weapon. The game is still fun but it just could have been so much better.

Another really annoying thing about this game is its size. FM3 was huge. It had 2 storylines. One storyline had 59 missions, the other had 65+ and probably 80+ because it had different routes. FM4 has two storylines but the game switches between them and this equates to a paltry 29 missions with some bonus simulator missions.

Overall with Disgaea, La Pucelle and Phantom Brave on the PS2 and a whole host of great GBA turn based strategy games you can do better than buy this game. Its still fun at times but is seriously out classed.

Yet another disappointment from Square-Enix 6/10