Front Mission Evolved

I am personally an avid FM fan and had this pre-oredered for the Xbox 360 for quite a while, and as of this review I have completed the game on Normal and Hard, and I am a Staff Sergeant 2 in Multiplayer.

Story/Characters/Cutscenes 2/5

The story (about 10 hours in length), though cliched, is truly weakened by how forced it feels--a little more exposition and well-placed dialogue explaining some of the under-lying themes/plot holes would have improved the otherwise average story I felt like I was watching a new addition to the Gundam series with no fight choreography. However, since Motomu Toriyama, the lead writer for Final Fantasy XIII wrote the story, it should come to no surprise that it has all the same issues as FFXIII's story; that being a lack of exposition manifested in unspoken themes and massive plot-holes. Additionally, The Character development was predictable, but the voice-acting, produced by Hydrogen Whiskey Studios, wasn't too bad. However, the dialogue provided to record was terrible--thank you Toriyama. The Cutscenes, also outsourced to Hydrogen Whiskey Studios, were quite good and went a long way to enjoying the otherwise below-average story.

Gameplay 4/5

Gameplay mechanics are tight, (Double-Helix did a great job) and the additional modes: On foot infiltration and Gunship Defense are well thought out and fairly fun (except on hard in which case they're a nuisance). I was very pleased to find no bugs in either of my two playthroughs, and quite frankly, a little shocked. It was quite refreshing as it has been too long since I have been able to say that. The gameplay, though not anything revolutionary, is the highlight of the game and makes the game worth buying for Hardcore FM fans and Hardcore Mech fans alike.

Customization 3/5

Customization mirrors that of FM, FM2, and FM4, so fans of the more open upgrade driven advancement in FM3 and FM5 will be disappointed. At different campaign levels and cash milestones more parts are available, and these new parts will yield the old parts obsolete (in most cases these new parts are upgrades to the previously purchased Wanzers). This doesn't bother me much, but I know this will be a concern to some FM fans and AC fans. An issue I have with the customization is the lack of strategy involved in the campaign and multiplayer as a result of customization restraints. For instance in FM4 and Evolved a Ballistics Wanzer could use a Recon Wanzers sensor backpack to extend the Ballistic Wanzers Range, and though the repair backpack makes a come-back, it comes at the cost of mobility as the roller-skating ability, though still accessible, is less maneuverable without the A.G.I.L.I.T.Y backpack. It feels like the strategic component is overall lacking in a series that has ever emphasized strategy.

Overall 3.5/5
For all its faults it was better than I expected. The story was written by Square-Enix, The voice acting and Cutscenes by Hydrogen Whiskey Studios, and the gameplay by Double-Helix, and despite this, the overall cohesion of the product is exceptional and exceeded my expectations. I truly enjoyed the full experience of it all despite it's shortcomings, so I recommend this for the true die-hard fan of the FM series and die-hard Mech Fans starved for more robotic slaughter, but everyone else should consider renting first.

-Tommy Race

While Front Mission is normally a mech-based Strategy RPG series, "Front Mission Evolved" is closer to games like Armored Core or Mechwarrior than its predecessors. It tries to keep some of the themes intact, and does a pretty good job about the setting and designs, but also seems divorced as a game. As an individual game, it does a fairly decent job of being entertaining.

Front Mission Evolved is a mech combat game combining action-heavy gameplay with some customization features. Players pilot "wanzers" (short for "wanderpanzer", meaning "walking tank), which are similar to any number of human-shaped giant robots. These mechs can be equipped with different weapons, armor types, backpacks, and so on. Like in the older games, there is a balance of weight and power versus the amount of weapons and ammo carried. However, the core gameplay itself is much different than previous Front Mission games. While these were strategy role-playing games, Front Mission Evolved prefers to let the player pilot a mech themselves.

Each Wanzer has four weapon slots: The right hand is used to hold a gun (usually a machine gun or shotgun), the left hand is used for melee attacks, and the two shoulders are used to hold missile or rocket launchers. The backpack slot is by default used for a jetpack (which allows hovering) but can be replaced with repair gear, extra ammo, jamming equipment, and so on. The game's combat is good, but also sort of boring: you move the reticle over the target, you pull the trigger, you move on. There's not a lot you can do that differs from the basic model.

As far as combat goes, the only real things that stand out as being markedly different from other action games is the gliding mechanic and locational damage. The former is a battlefield tactic; by using a jetpack as a sort of roller skate, the wanzer can be much more mobile than they would be by walking. This is an invaluable tactic, since walking out to shoot an enemy also leaves you exposed. Gliding makes it much safer to skate out, fire a missile, and skate back to cover. The latter refers to the fact that wanzers take damage in their arms and legs as well as their body. If a section is damaged enough, it becomes unusable. The player's mech will regenerate body health, but not limb health (which requires finding a repair kit). Enemy mechs are generally not worth crippling, since it's just as easy to hit their torso as it is to hit their limbs.

Front Mission is a decent game in terms of graphics, sound, gameplay, and so on. However, its biggest failing is that it doesn't really have anything that sets it apart. It's about the same as Armored Core, with perhaps a bit more customization. There haven't been many mech games recently, so it's sort of filling a niche, but the customization isn't good enough to actually fill mech enthusiasts' needs. It's the kind of game that's worth picking up if you liked Armored Core or Mech Assault, but only in the sense that you can chew through its content and its multiplayer and be done with it. There wasn't anything innately appealing about the game itself.

Rating: 6/10.

i agree with almost all of the reviews below. so i'm just adding my 2 cents here, at first i was turned off by the series leaving the strategy element behind. still bummed that they decided against it. i loved all of the f.m. before for the strategy element. I feel they made this into a semi generic shooter but what it does it does competently. its like most any other 3rd person shooter, except you "level up" your wanzer by buying new equipment. so you can have a shield, melee weapons, shotguns, bazookas, rocket launchers, homing missiles and other types of weapons. so you can make any combination that you like, which is a nice alternative to your usual 2 weapons on most shooters. all in all i enjoy this game and recommend it definitely for under $30 if you can find it cheap. only thing that i didn't really care for were the on foot parts, could have done without those. also the graphics hoover around early 360 graphics so not the prettiest but good enough.

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