![]() Planned in 1994 and authored by the series’ writers, these expanded universe supplements explore the civilian perspective, showing a more personal, character-driven side of the story. The films, novels, mangas, and radio dramas are noteworthy as they have helped Front Mission achieve success in other media, effectively creating a second “home” away from the games. Front Mission has spawned action figures, art books, data books, game controllers, films, novels, mangas, mouse pads, posters, radio dramas, soundtracks, and even vinyl records. Like most successful video game series, Front Mission also has its own line of merchandise. What could have been a great re-imagining of Front Mission: Gun Hazard turned out to be another generic third-person shooter with mecha elements. While the story removal is a debatable issue due to Motomu Toriyama’s poor writing skills (all other Front Mission stories have been penned by talented writers with film and TV credentials), the game design removals aren’t. Furthermore, a significant portion of the story was removed for the final product. Double Helix mentioned in interviews that many features were cut out of the game these include online co-op play for the story campaign, the ability to freely board and disembark from wanzers, more environmental interactivity, and a more involved multi-player mode. It’s a shame that Front Mission Evolved turned out the way it did because the game had signs of greatness in it. As better parts are rewarded for continuous play, new players are at a disadvantage against those who have already invested time into multi-player. Additionally, the game balancing for online play is missing. With only four (five through downloadable content) standalone game modes, a 4-on-4 maximum player cap, and a randomized matchmaking system that prevents players from creating their own teams, Front Mission Evolvedquickly becomes a tedious chore to play online. While there is a robust, Call of Duty-style progression system to encourage players to invest more time in it, the multi-player mode doesn’t have lasting power. ![]() The level design stays largely the same, and there’s very little need to experiment with different setups to beat the campaign.įront Mission Evolved‘s multiplayer mode also suffers from the same problems. The problem is, all of them aren’t developed enough to differentiate the game from a typical third-person shooter. The constant change between the three modes is nice and keeps the game from getting stale. Gunship mode is a new addition to the Front Mission fold playing out like a rail shooter, players control a large gunship and must clear the battlefield of enemies. For example, there are no customization elements in infantry mode. Wanzer and infantry modes play identically the same, with minor differences. In the single-player campaign, the player switches between three modes of play: wanzer, infantry, and gunship. Likewise, the voice acting isn’t very good and feels very stiff in execution.įront Mission Evolved takes inspiration from Front Mission: Gun Hazard and Front Mission Online for its single-player and multiplayer modes respectively. The sound effects are also good, but the Transformers-like sounds that play when wanzers move feels very out of place in Front Mission. On the other hand, Garry Schyman’s musical score is a nice fit for Front Mission Evolved‘s atmosphere. For a mid-generation PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title, it looks very outdated and looks like it belongs on the PlayStation 2. It’s great if you’re yearning for a throwback to the arcade days, but not so much from a technical standpoint. This extends to the wanzer and character designs, which are less gritty and more cartoony than other Front Missiontitles. The main protagonist is a USN engineer named Dylan Ramsey, who gets caught up in the ensuing chaos.įront Mission Evolved‘s visuals have a very arcade-like feel, through the use of bright, uncomplicated color palletes. The story revolves around the destruction of a USN orbital elevator, which leads to a new war between the OCU and the USN. Set away from the original storyline in 2171, Front Mission Evolved is a story reboot. No one from PDD6 other than Shinji Hashimoto, the producer, was involved in its development. Square Enix’s role in Front Mission Evolved involved story elements, but in a rather surprising move, this was handed over to Motomu Toriyama of Final Fantasy XIII fame. Game design and development was handled by Double Helix in USA. The music was scored by Garry Schyman of Bioshock fame. Art direction was handled by Imaginary Friends Studios in Singapore. This was the first entry that was developed via an East-to-West collaboration. Officially unveiled in 2009 and released in 2010, Front Mission Evolved is a third-person shooter spin-off released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PCs.
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