What is Single Player like?

[SYSTEM GLITCH]

I see lots of talk about dead multi-player, but that really doesn't appeal to me much. I am however, interested in the single-player missions and gameplay. Is the single-player worth it, how much customization do you get to do with the mech, and how long is the campaign?

I tend to compare all mech games to the original Armored Core on the PSX, and truth be told that game spoiled me, and none have lived up to its quality since. Every purchase I have made in the last ten years has been a disappointment, especially the other Armored Core sequels.

Good missions with large battlefields and tons of variety in weapons and mechs you can build, without being forced into a limited selection is ideal. I'm asking for too much, aren't I?

[Diend]

WE WANT WAR!
Joke aside its mediocre Arcade mech game. Finished it on ps3.
Only if you are hungry for this type. Worth the few bucks now.... (i myself have temptation)

Cool things:
Weapons - Two handed Rifles :)
Mechs
Skills


Not cool things:
Characters. Villain is good
Pick ups Health, ammo, boost recharge
You like mech A? Too bad because mech X is pow x2
Same with weapons
Few weapons types (differ only in pow)
Some mechs dont have upgrade (Mech X ver1,2,3 and Mech A is just A)
Some TF sounds :D
Weird boss battles
You get pissed

I also love AC :D Replaying it 2 months ago :)
Raven.... What is your wish?

You asking too much :)
Maybe try Mechwarrior or LOST PLANET 2 (if its alive)

Still its okay game for few bucks....

[SYSTEM GLITCH]

Maybe ill just play some more AC to get my fix. lol. I have it on my psp now and play it time to time.

[Bad_Conduct]

I'd compare it to MechAssault on Xbox. Which I did enjoy.
The story is a little over the top, but I won't complain. It has a "squaresoft" feel to it.

If you want something online that's a little faster than Mechwarrior, you might want to look at Hawken.

[Ibliss [IT]]

Single pl is nice but u can end that game in 25-30 h.... it's not a game 4 single player only..

[SYSTEM GLITCH]

Honestly 25-30 hours doesn't sound too bad. I'm starting to think I might give this game a try. No one has come close to saying it sucks, or the missions aren't fun. I think I can get over the lack of total customization.... that is my spoiled entitled self trying to cloud my vision.

[Skeleton Witch]

This isn't anywhere close to 25 hours single player.

Customization is almost completely pointless to have here, you'll only ever change parts because new parts are better than the last sets, it wouldn't be so bad if it affected anything other than movement speed and weapon loadout, but as it stands choosing a certain type of legs over another for example makes little difference as the wanzers will still handle exactly the same way, unlike, say, Armored Core games where mobility is deeply tied to what parts you have equipped as well as the physics engine, and of course; the player's understanding of those mechanics and his own skills. It's almost as if the only reason you can customize your wanzer is because you could in the older games.

And it doesn't help that for an arcade title, the pace itself is extremely slow, almost as if they wanted to make something akin to a simulation yet backpedalled on the idea and made it a mostly mindless third person shooter, the agility backpack does help things but is a bit of a crutch.

The writing is also very bad on top of that, think SyFy channel movie quality, at times it tries to do political and social commentaries where they don't fit, you have a Chinese character whose entire characterization is quoting Sun Tzu's Art of War everytime he opens his mouth, a pointless heroic sacrifice, subplots that are completely explained and resolved the very moment they are introduced, etc.

If you want a Front Mission action game, just stick to Gun Hazard on SFC/SNES, that one was actually quite fun.

[Gon]

It took me 10/11 hours to complete.
It played more-or-less like a typical FPS game.
The story is cheesy, but not the worst I've played.
Playing on normal it was mostly very easy.
Boss fights are unbalanced against you.
End boss fight is idiotic.
Customisation... Not a lot of point to it, but there is some variation.
You can replay missions/the game with your end-game mech. Hilarity ensues.

For the current price, I say go for it. Don't take it as a serious mech game and you'll probably have fun.

[Desinovita]

I'm on the mission before the last and I've clocked 5.7 hours as of now, and to be honest, it's nothing special. Story is boring, missions aren't great, and characters are cliche and dull. It sucks the MP is dead, but seeing as how I spent 3.50 on this I can't complain too much

[Grillmonger]

I also got this when it was on sale for $3.50, so for that price I am enjoying the hell out of it. A lot of people have pretty much covered the pros and cons, but here is what I think. The story isn't great, though a lot of the scenes are still fun to watch and put together well. Other scenes hard to stay awake. The graphics aren't bad for a 2010 release. The gameplay feels much like Armored Core: For Answer, just with clunkier mechs, and flight is not a key point like in AC. There is also missions on foot, which feels like Mass Effect a bit, but again just not quite as good. All in all though the game is still fun to play. Also it doesn't give you much choice in customizing your wanzer, the choices seem obvious, and as mentioned above if you want a strongest mechs you will often be using parts you don't want to. The missions were not very challenging on normal and I think I beat the campaign in like 7-8 hours on normal, now about to do a run on hard, then see if I can't pull together a small community, to see how the multiplayer is. Honestly though, I think Armored Core is better, specifically AC:For Answer which is my favorite, though like this game the online community is almost non-existent. I would not recommend buying this game at full price for the single player alone. I will give my opinions on the multiplayer after I get to it. Until then I would recommend not getting it until its on sale again.

[Horagen81]

to be honest Armor Core Nexus is better and you can feel that it had some influence on the game. but that is just my opinion :)
I can not play it for more then a 15 at a time because the fights gives me a headacke for some reason. hmm maybe I just getting old first dc online and now this game.

[Kurisu]

Playing this game is like watching a B-horror movie. You might get entertained at times, but it's still a B-horror movie.

Makes me rather feel sad because it could have been great. I am a great fan of Front Mission and this entry pretty much killed the series.

[Horagen81]

@Kurisu because it is FPS instead of turn-based combat if so then yes I agree as well... though much of the lore is there and the mechs look good I have to say I enjoy Front Mission 4 more then this one.

[BlackSilver]

They should have stuck with its roots and gone with the tactical squad gameplay like XCOM, or they could have made two separate games. I'm a couple of hours in the single player campaign, and dog damn it, the writing of this latest installment of the FM series sucks. What happened to the epic story telling Square I once knew? It's like they hired Stephenie Meyer to write for this game. FME is the mech version of Twilight. EDGE = sparkles omg.

Using google trends, you can see XCOM faired much better despite being the same genre as the Front Mission series, as well as having little to no story line.

http://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=%22front+mission%22%2C+%22xcom%22#q=%22front%20mission%22%2C%20%22xcom%22%2C%20%22xcom%20enemy%20unknown%22%2C%20%22front%20mission%20evolved%22

[BlackSilver]

An addendum, just finished the single player campaign. It was disaapointingly short, but tbh, I'm glad it was over. This is one of the weaker titles of Square, although I think they intended this to be a multiplayer fest rather than a single player with a tacked on multiplayer.

[Ishraqiyun]

It's not an amazing game, but they got the important things mostly right. The machines feels large and powerful. Destroying other Mechs is satisfying, but a bit too easy. I expect to fight less, stronger Mechs than numerous weak ones though.

The environments change well enough, but there is virtually no interactivity with the game world. The human sections, while not that special, do make you feel more vulnerable and are a pretty good break/contrast from the Mech fighting.

The bosses are too good at controlling their machines, and I struggle with the keyboard controls. Q and E do shoulder weapons, but it's hard to much else when you're locking them on etc.

The game is about total destruction, with a very minor focus on pickups.

I give it 7/10.