The Front Mission franchise is somewhat unknown and underrated in the west, even though it is blessed by such a highly prolific company. With only Front Mission 3 being previously released on our shores a few years ago, fans of the series, or the entire genre itself, should be pleased to know that the latest offering is being translated. Having been treated to the delights of Disgaea fairly recently, no doubt PS2 owners will be familiar with the Strategy Role Playing game. Yet whilst Disgaea and Front Mission 4 are both strategy games and both are on the Playstation 2, the similarities pretty much end there. Away from the franchise, the level of strategy on display here can be more closely compared to that of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Front Mission has always been a franchise with a large focus on strategy and a fairly serious storyline to boot – thankfully, this latest addition is no different. The storyline features two scenarios, the first putting you in control of Elsa who has just joined the Durandal, an EC (Square's version of the EU) British-run Wanzer Tactics research group. Meanwhile in Germany, a military base is attacked and destroyed. Durandal is called by the EC general assembly to assist the German investigation. There, we meet Wagner, who is the lead soldier of Germany's special Ops. He seems slightly suspect, and drives Durandal away from the scene. The second scenario is led by Daril, a US soldier from the USN (North and South of America) army, discovers a slush fund from the renegade Venezuelan president and decides to find out what exactly the president plans to do with it. Unsurprisingly, given the current state of console technology, voice acting has now been introduced for the first time in the series. It's English language only and won't win many Oscars - it's generally not bad and won't put you off the game. It's a much better attempt than the excruciating example of ‘how not to act’ featured in Disgaea. The accents are just about convincing, however Japanese actors would've been the preferred option.

Much like other SRPGs, commands can be given to your party members on the battle grid, such as to attack, provide air support and use items, which all consume a certain number of AP points. Each Wanzer (human deployed mechas) also has a HP value assigned to each of its parts, those being the body, arms and legs. Destroying a certain part will result in that Wanzer's incapability to perform an action with the corresponding part, for example if its legs are destroyed, it can no longer move around on the grid, or if both of its arms are obliterated, it cannot attack. The Repair type Wanzers in your party have the ability to repair and restore Wanzer parts, much like the clerics or white mages who can restore health in your typical RPG, however if the body's HP declines, then the Wanzer itself is completely destroyed and removed from the grid. After winning in battle, you receive EP points for your troubles, which can be spent on upgrading abilities and stats. FM4's level up system is different to FM3's. Whereas before, growing stronger was a case of how you performed in battle and which equipment you used, now it is possible to spend EP points on upgrading your ranks, with new abilities becoming available for purchase at higher ranks. This is the best system yet. Not only has the level up system been changed, but also modifications have been made to certain gameplay elements, such as various weapon range changes, bazooka damage mods and radar jamming backpacks. The biggest addition to the battle system, however, must be the new Link attacks (team combos), which are fully customisable and vital in defeating enemies as fast as possible.

Earning money can also buy you new parts for your highly customisable Wanzer. Altering your Wanzer's armour type to combat the enemy's weapon type is the key to victory, allowing you to succeed even if the odds are stacked against you. Until you reach the later parts of the game, you are forced to customise your Wanzers to suit each and every battle. With plenty of options in customisation, you'll be spending quite a bit of time in this department, but is that really a good thing? With the in game battles being highly addictive and brain taxing, the staggering amount of customisation forced upon you can be very tiresome and can truly test your patience. Even though you may be eager to move on in the story, you're constantly forced to change each and every Wanzer in your party (throughout the two scenarios) otherwise victory may be difficult, or sometimes impossible.

As mentioned before, the emphasis on strategy is strong, unlike the simple, stat-fest Nippon Ichi games, your battle actions require heavy thought as a single mistake can have large negative repercussions for the rest of the battle, almost like chess. The battle fields are quite varied, with terrain, weather and obstacles all playing a part in the outcome of your actions. Those new to the genre or those looking for another SRPG after playing Disgaea should be warned that the difficulty found in FM4 is high. Some missions may be completed on the first attempt, whilst some others will take a few tries, making this a game suited more to veterans than first timers. Yet, it is the very challenging nature of this game that results in it being such a rewarding experience that is also thoroughly addictive. This quality isn't new to the series though, as fans will be familiar with this experience and will know what to expect. Uncharacteristically for Square-Enix, no use of CGI animation has been implemented, only scenes using the in game engine, which looks great. Admittedly, the game can look dull at times with the same dark colours used constantly through-out. In game battles can look unspectacular, even during skill activation - no longer are you presented with eye pleasing effects like FM3's. Thankfully, the soundtrack is typically well composed by Hidenori Iwasaki (FF:Crystal Chronicles). A score of atmospheric
tunes, not too dissimilar in character to those of Metal Gear Solid, sets the tone of the military action nicely.

The length of battles will increase as you progress along in the game, whether this is a good thing may be down to personal preference however failing a mission after much hardship can be somewhat daunting and frustrating to say the least. Since strategy is so important that you have to learn to change your battle plans all the time, then it is hard to recommend this game to those just not willing to to persevere with a game that demands so much from you. Strategy-lite RPGs such as Disgaea can be recommended to just about anybody but Front Mission 4 falls into the slightly more niche side of the genre, and should only be played if you have your thinking cap on. If not then perhaps a game such as La Pucelle may be more bearable to play.

With all the changes and additions made, this is the most balanced game in the series, and undoubtedly the best. With around 70-80 hours worth of gameplay on offer, it won't suck you in the same way as Disgaea's all out design, however it does still prove to be the most engrossingly tactical strategy game for the PS2, and will keep you busy until Square-Enix attempt to radically revamp the series with Front Mission Online.