Sora96's FRONT MISSION EVOLVED Review

[Sora96 17,256]

FRONT MISSION EVOLVED is a third-person shooter developed by Double Helix Games and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & PC in 2010. It is the final game in Square Enix's FRONT MISSION video game franchise but is also a reboot so the past games have very little to do with it. The game was produced by Shinji Hashimoto and written by Motomu Toriyama.

 

This is the only FRONT MISSION game I've ever played, so while I can't comment on past titles in the franchise I can say I fully enjoyed this game.

 

As expected, Toriyama puts out another great story. The setting is interesting as it uses our own world in 2171 and the main characters are from New York while some of the other main cast comes from Australia & Asia. Toriyama usually only writes for main series FINAL FANTASY games but this shows he can get out his comfort zone and write a very good story based on our very own world.

 

Visual Works CGI cutscenes are few but as always look amazing.

 

Graphically the game is nice, it's nothing ground-breaking even in 2010, if you want ground-breaking graphics from 2010 check out a little game Toriyama directed that sold 6.6 million copies worldwide. A few texture issues, but overall everything looks nice.

 

Gameplay is quite fun, weather you're using a Wanzer or controlling the main character personally. One of the best features of this title is the customization, customizing your Wanzer can be a lot of fun and it brings a lot of strategy to the table but it can also be daunting for some and if you get one thing wrong you could be in for a world of hurt. There's three difficulty modes in Easy, Normal and Hard but unfortunately you cannot change it after starting the game. In addition you can also easily replay every single mission in the game from the title screen which is a nice bonus and it will help you complete the side quests.

 

Music and sound effects are on point and the voice acting is generally good and the right voice actors have been chosen for each character but sometimes it can be a little lacking in emotion.

 

There's also multiplayer and DLC for said multiplayer, but of course no one plays the multiplayer now so I was unable to try it which will be a massive pain for trophy/achievement hunters as some trophies/achievement are for multiplayer.

 

The trophy/achievement list doesn't appear to be too challenging but you do have to complete the game on Hard and get the online trophies somehow.

 

In terms of challenge, it gets a lot harder on the final two missions but if you know what you're supposed to do you should be fine.

 

FRONT MISSION EVOLVED brings a great story from Motomu Toriyama and some fun gameplay, it's just a shame this is the end of the franchise rather than the reboot Shinji Hashimoto intended.

 

8/10

[Setrex 1,031]

Front Mission Evolved was a neat game though. Shame they won't make more Front Mission games.

[RobertOrri 202]

Front Mission Evolved was a neat game though. Shame they won't make more Front Mission games.

Don't know why you would edit out the Toriyama part, I agree.

Kinda funny how much focus there is on him in the review.

[Sora96 17,256]

Don't know why you would edit out the Toriyama part, I agree.

Kinda funny how much focus there is on him in the review.

 

How much focus? He's the writer of the game and he's my favourite director. And count it, I mentioned him four times. Firstly to say he was the writer, secondly when discussing the story, thirdly when discussing ground breaking graphics in 2010 and again in the wrap up.