INFORMATION
GAME: FRONT MISSION 3
COMAPNY: SQUARESOFT (March 21, 2000)
SYSTEM: SONY PLAYSTATION
The long awaited U.S. release of
Front Mission finally showed up in March of 2000. The Japanese turn-based
games is a most welcomed addition to the Sony Playstation.
THE STORY
Front
Mission 3 takes place in 2112, 10 years after the Front Mission 2. It all
started with an explosion in Yokosuka . . .
Kazuki Takemura and Ryogo Kusama are two
high school students who also double as Wantzer test pilots for Kirishima
Heavy Industries. While delivering the latest Wantzers to the Japanese
Self Defense Force in Yokosuka, a huge explosion rocks the base. Following
the mysterious explosion, Kazuki races to find his younger sister Arisa
who is employed on the base. He is helped by Ryogo and Emir Kramskoi, a
female scientist they met in a bar. However, they fail to find the missing
girl. Against their will, they are drawn into a global conspiracy from
which they could not escape . . .
THE GAME
In Front Mission 3 you have complete
control over the weapons, parts, items, and skills of your individual Wanzers
and pilots. Using the money earned by successfully completing missions,
selling captured enemy units you can customize your Panzers with a wide
variety of body parts, weapons, and (new to the series) computer upgrades
each with different hit points, attack and defense strengths, and weight.
You can build fast-moving units with short-range machine guns, close-combat
units that rely on their armor and fists, or long-range stand-off missile
units which can blast the enemy from a safe distance. Add battle computers
and repair kits and you get an idea of the complexity of the game. In addition,
your computers gain special attack skills as they increase in level.
Like Front Mission, and Final Fnatasy
Tactics, and Front Mission 2, Front Mission 3 is played on a large-scale
strategic map for choosing the next destination, a smaller scale tactical
map for moving units, and a close-up view battlefield for the one-on-one
duels between robots. Although you are always outnumbered, the AI of your
computer opponent is rather limited and you can usually out-maneuver the
computer with careful planning. This is one of the strongest points of
the game: you must choose the correct balance of robot types and use them
effectively to win.
Front Mission 3 is a "must play"
for diehard simulation fans who want a complex, challenging war game. Building
your own unique robot force is a lot of fun and the incredible variety
of weapons, parts and items, and pilot skills make each game different.
PANZERS, VANZERS, OR WANZERS....WHICH ONE?!
In Front Mission the mechs are called
Panzers and Vanzers. In Front Mission 2 they are mainly called Wanzers.
In Front Mission 3 the machienes are called Wanzers.
Pronounced: (van'-ser)
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