Front Mission Evolved

For all the mech trappings and cliched MW storyline ( almost identical to Lost Planet), this is a fairly brief, very average console ported third person shooter. For those expecting to balance ballistic vs beam weapons, heatsinks vs hot climates, chassis vs speed vs armour, or just for those wanting to load up as many LBX autocannons as possible for one hit close-up kills, you'll have to wait.

Bearing more resemblance to Gears, the small mechs in Front Mission Evolved have few variants, sniper, light scout and a few varieties of assault, with appropriate kit to match; missiles, sniper rifles (read Gauss) or machine guns, and close up melee weapons. Occasionally you have to use a 4 legged mech, which can generate more power, and looking similar to Mr.Waternoose from Monsters Inc.

Some can hover, all strafe well and dodge melee attacks and most can rollerskate; yes, Mechs on speed (but no martinis on trays). When appropriate, you have the mech equivalent of bullet time, the screen goes red, action slows and you appear to kick mech butt with a little more enthusiasm.

The customisation screen is primitive, a hierarchical system, using the ESC key or mouse button to move up and down menu levels. You can't drag and drop parts or select body parts and it isn't clear what each subcategory is for. Weight doesn't factor into design, nor heat (though weapons do overheat), power just limiting which parts can be fitted. Backpacks allow extra power, repair, agility and weapon customisation slots enable special abilities, which trigger at intervals, like EMP blasts, reduced missile lock time, incendiary shells, etc.

It was awkward enough for me not to bother trying to customise anything until the last few bosses, just picking one of the prebuilt versions. After that, some fiddling allowed completion of the game with a high end variant that unbalances replay of early levels, but is suitable for hunting down the sensor and symbol collectibles scattered around the levels, or going back to get more cash for mech upgrades, left conveniently lying around the maps.

Campaign gameplay leans more to a slow paced FPS than a strategic mech game. Whilst cover is important, damage is less relevant since the torso recharges (the only piece that has to be destroyed) and the green boxes on the maps repair damage to all parts; no need to find a repair bay to hide in during battle. Targetting is also forgettable, since shooting the legs away from a mech doesn't destroy it. There were flashes of inspiration during the campaign, some skirmishes on the maps were enjoyable, but the monotonous bosses, some taking a leaf from Capcom's oversized baddies catalog, and the dire on foot sections served to break the momentum gained from the good parts. At 17 or so brief levels, it also felt a little on the short side. On-line multiplayer apparently is better, though not tried it yet.

In all, very average gaming, for the undemanding.

Running on: Win7 x64 | 4GB RAM | AMD PHENOM 9750 QCORE 2.40Ghz | ATI RADEON HD 4800

Graphics / Visuals: 3/5
Sound / Music / Voice Acting: 3.5/5
Gameplay: 3/5

I came to this game knowing nothing about the whole Front Mission franchise, which apparently spans manga, live-action films and numerous other computer games. My main reason for buying though, was that it reminded me of the old Heavy Gear and (to a much lesser extent) MechWarrior PC games (in fact, the 'Wanzers' work in basically the same way as a 'Gear') so if you find giant robot action enjoyable, there might be something here for you, albeit in a watered-down, console-friendly form.

According to Steam, it took me 9 hours to finish.

so this game. First of all the replay value is huge! You'll come back for more everytime. Its good for a quick fix OR to jump in for hours on end. The game system of upgrading your mech is Rad! and to top it off by the end of the game you can go back to previous levels with your newly upgraded mech and reach all those hidden areas you couldnt get at the start. That might sound boring but its so inticing because the better you do in each level the more money you get which will allow you to upgrade your mech more! Its very cool. Some people just love destroying stuff and I know I do but my favorite thing is being able to go back and destroy stuff EVN BETTWER and absolutly demolish the enemys a second time. THis is a real "God Complex" game for you will feel like a God. Loved it in every sense.

Top it off the story is awesome. The main character is actually an overactor tho, which is really funny, cause hes a computer generated charater, so an overacting character is just... interesting? Thas the only thing thats a little ...off... but other than that great battles, great cut scenes, awesome graphics, dont know what else to say othr than I wish I could play it more now that Iv played it 3 times thru!! lol