Back To The Front

The Front Mission franchise has had rough times this side of the Pacific. The first game to get a North American release was Front Mission 3, a game who's greatest accomplishment was getting a North American release. Seriously, these geniuses made a flamethrower that functioned precisely the same as the machine gun weapons. Also, it contained the blatant impossibility of the Philippines ever having a space program. The giant robots and lasers I was fine with, but that broke my willing suspension of disbelief. Front Mission 4 also got a US release and was, in my opinion, one of the best strategy-RPGs I've ever played (though, to be honest, I haven't played very many). But it sold poorly, because most people were trying to figure out where Front Missions 1-3 were. Front Mission 5 never made it over here (though from what I've read, good riddance).

Square-Enix has decided that the best way to get Americans behind the Front Mission series is to make an action game made by a western developer. Surely nothing can go wrong with this concept. So now we're getting Front Mission: Evolved, from a long line of games which have evolved. I don't quite understand where this idea came from, but putting "Evolve" or some variation thereof is the modern gaming equivalent of putting "eXtreme" at the end of a title back in the late 90's. Games that have evolved include every racing franchise that has been and ever will be, Halo, and E.V.O. Maybe they'll make a kick-ass action game out of this and properly bring the Front Mission franchise to American audiences, or they could botch it and ruin the whole thing. Of course, one could argue that action games featuring giant, customizable robots already exist, they're called Armored Core. Frankly, my money is on us seeing militarized giant robots in real life before American audiences embrace Front Mission.