Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Strategy / RPG
Publisher: Square-Enix
Developer: Square-Enix
ETA: TBA

Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly.

Enter E-Mail Address Below:

Front Mission Online

For the better part of a decade, the Front Mission series has been entertaining gamers that love both turn-based strategy and giant robots, neatly tucked in one package…well, it’s been doing this for Japanese gamers, anyway.  North American has largely gotten the shaft from the series’ publisher, Square, only having seen the games come out here in the last few years with one PSX game, and one other for the PS2.  But that’s all in the past, and Square has realized that man’s love for giant, heavily armed robots transcends borders, languages, and cultures.  That being said, the company is taking Front Mission to a new playfield on the PS2, which can only further prove this point with Front Mission Online.

When players log in, they will have the choice of fighting for either the O.C.U. (Oceania Cooperative Union), or the U.C.S. (Unified Continental States).  After picking a faction to side with, players can chose to enter battle all by themselves, or form a group of up to 10 wanzers (the name for the mechs in Front Mission), and fight on Huffman Island, a highly disputed piece of real estate that both factions desperately want control over.

To help teams coordinate their attacks, Square is implementing a voice chat system.  Hopefully there will be a robust “/ignore” system in place for this, so to better to block the 

legions of idiots out there that inevitably find their way to various online gaming communities.  The other question that remains to be answered is just how soloable the game will indeed be.  Square says that playing by one’s self is quite doable, so hopefully the publisher has learned a thing or two from the complaints of Final Fantasy XI players who were frustrated about the high levels of forced grouping which that online game had.  Regardless of whether you play with others or all by your lonesome, the game will also allow for quite a bit of mech customization so that players can get all glammed out with fancy schmancy gear. 

Advertisement

Most online games on consoles that involve giant robots tend to be action / FPS titles at the moment, which is fine.  However, it would be nice to use mechs in different genres of games now and then.  Hopefully we’ll see Front Mission Online come over this way sooner than later.  The game was recently released in Japan, with a monthly fee of 1344 yen, so hopefully localization for a North American release is well under way.

Mr. Nash

(July 22, 2005)