By Jim Rossignol on May 31st, 2009 at 9:33 am.
Robots! Squenix seem to be making some serious inroads to newish (or at least refreshed) gaming territory, with their most recently announced title being a mech-based third person shooter called Front Mission Evolved, of this lineage. The robots in question are called “Wanzers”, which made me snigger a bit, but I’m sure they’ll satisfy a few robo-porn-hungry gamers out there. Clearly it’s going to be action-tastic, rather than a Battletech type robo-sim, but that could be okay. Not much other info at present, other than it’s being developed by Double Helix Games, a California-based spin off from Shiny Entertainment. Perhaps we’ll find out a bit more at E3. Early CGI robo-trailer beneath the click.
31/05/2009 at 09:59 Ashurbanipal says:
Front Mission! And on PC?!
That game was freaking awesome on the SNES. Well, the SNES emulator. I’m not sure if it was even released outside of Japan.
31/05/2009 at 10:00 markcocjin says:
Ah yes, leave it to the Japanese to give us some bizarre title that’s likely a literal Japanese translation. It makes no sense at all.
31/05/2009 at 10:06 Noc says:
Given that it’s a sequel, Markcocjin (or a reboot or what-have-you), the title makes rather more sense. It’s just missing the customary colon.
And it’s not like this isn’t a common western naming convention either. (See: Bionic Commando: Rearmed) Not that bizarre Japanese naming conventions aren’t bizarre, or that shoddy localizations aren’t shoddy . . . but I don’t think this is an example of either.
31/05/2009 at 10:12 StenL says:
Wanzer comes from Walking Panzer I believe. Shame they didn’t go with Walking Tank.
31/05/2009 at 10:13 Ashurbanipal says:
Noc,
I don’t know, but I think markcocjin could be more puzzled about what a front mission is supposed to mean.
“We being forerunner supervision for complete front mission of the basis of the enemy re-go!”
Presumably it’s suupposed to mean something like Frontal Assault or something.
31/05/2009 at 10:16 Noc says:
I assumed it just meant a mission that happened on a front. Since wars have fronts, and involve missions.
Or maybe I’m just thinking of the next WWII RTS, “Front of War.”
31/05/2009 at 10:33 Kits says:
Front Mission 3 is one of my favorite games, and can’t go wrong with the concept of fully customisable mechs..but I’m a little unsure about it going from a strategy game to a full blown shooter, I get the feeling it would detract quite a bit from what made the Front Mission games great.
Shame they arent giving us the latest playstation Front Mission instead, that looked fun.
31/05/2009 at 10:41 Hulk Hogan says:
Is it me or is Square-Enix becoming really awesome these days?
31/05/2009 at 10:45 Sinnerman says:
@Kits; The tabletop Battletech franchise eventually ended up as MechAssault which is an action game that was not universally loathed. You have to give those poor action gamers something to play as turn based tactics and fictional vehicle simulation fans are so spoilt for choice these days.
31/05/2009 at 10:58 Hulk Hogan says:
HEAR THAT SQUEENIX?! I SAID YOU’RE DOING GOOD WORK HERE BROTHER! I’D PAT YOU ON THE BACK IF MY GODLIKE STRENGTH WOULDN’T BREAK YOUR NERDY VIDEO GAME DEVELOPER SPINE! RELEASE HULK HOGAN RPG 2: WRATH OF THE SPIDER GOD OUTSIDE OF JAPAN!!!
31/05/2009 at 11:02 Psychopomp says:
>>recently announced title being a mech-based third person shooter
>>mech-based third person shooter
>>Third person shooter
Fail. This isn’t Front Mission.
Edit:”You have to give those poor action gamers something to play as turn based tactics and fictional vehicle simulation fans are so spoilt for choice these days.”
Please tell me that was a joke.
31/05/2009 at 11:03 blacktick says:
I love the FM games…can’t wait to play FM5 once the final translation patch is released. :D
But I smell a big pile of crap from this,though I hope I’m wrong.
At first I was excited about FM coming to pc,but then I read the word shooter and lost interest for the time being.
It actually sounds like armored core which sucked IMO.
Waiting for some gameplay videos before even considering to try this.
31/05/2009 at 11:05 Hulk Hogan says:
SOME CHOICE EXCERPTS
SOLDIER: YOU’RE FINALLY HERE HULK HOGAN!!! OUR WEAPONS ARE USELESS AGAINST THIS SPIDER-WIZARDS ONLY A BODY SLAM CAN SAVE US NOW!
TUTORIAL: TO BODY SLAM THE SPIDER WIZARDS DO A BODY SLAM IN REAL LIFE IT WILL REGISTER IN GAME I PROMISE
TUT: HAHAHA YOU ACTUALLY TRIED IT YOU BROKE SOME BONES I BET OR KILLED A SIBLING.
NOT SO DEAD SOLDIER: HULK HOGAN I CANT GO ON A SPIDER-STING-RAY STINGER IS LODGED IN MY HEART
OPTION 1: REMOVE STINGER AND FORCE HEAL SOLDIER (MOVE TOWARDS GOOD
OPTION 2: FART IN SOLDIERS FACE IN POUR SALT ON HIS WOUNDS (MOVE TOWARDS BEING AN ASSHOLE)
31/05/2009 at 11:11 Psychopomp says:
“ONLY A BODY SLAM CAN SAVE US NOW!”
I demand that be a title bar.
31/05/2009 at 11:13 Jim Rossignol says:
StenL: Yes, very funny.
31/05/2009 at 11:19 Nick says:
I was happy till I saw the bit about it being a third person action game.
Here I was hoping for another turn based strategy game for the PC.
31/05/2009 at 11:32 Andrew Dunn says:
Wanzer.
31/05/2009 at 11:33 Sinnerman says:
@Psychopomp; I’m using irony to stay positive and upbeat, sir. I wouldn’t want to be the one to give the RPS greek chorus another chance to do the AIM chant.
31/05/2009 at 11:35 Daniel Purvis says:
I was addicted to Front Mission 3 on PS1 and be damned if this news doesn’t make me excited.
31/05/2009 at 11:36 Psychopomp says:
@Sinner
OK, fair enough.
You never know :D
31/05/2009 at 11:39 Riaktion says:
When I saw this headline it took me a second to click it on it as I my greasy fingers struggled to manipulate the touch pad on the laptop quick enough. I own front mission 3 for the PSone and although I haven’t finished it, really enjoyed it, and thus was hoping for some more turn based action.. however on reading we have a third person action game. Of course its probably not going to be awful or anything, but I wanted a modern turn based version of this game seen as the PS2 version never got released over here. Ah well… maybe one day it will be available..
31/05/2009 at 11:39 Hulk Hogan says:
If you play the game on a really really weak machine it’ll be so slow you’ll feel like you’re playing a TBS.
31/05/2009 at 11:41 Jim Rossignol says:
Some sites were reporting this as a strategy, but it says “third person shooter” on Squenix’s release etc.
31/05/2009 at 11:41 Dominic White says:
Just reminding people that the pronounciation of Wanzer is meant to be German, so it’s more ‘Vahnzer’, which sounds pretty hardcore.
Anyway, the Front Mission series is pretty awesome. Relatively low-tech mech warfare. Even the SNES action spinoff Gun Hazard (now THERE’s a silly name for you) was pretty great.
Front Mission 5 never got an official English translation though, but it’s currently in the final phases of fan-translation, so fans will be able to play that soon as well.
http://www.frontmission.info/
Good on Square for branching out, at least. Just hope that the team they gave the lisence to has the skills.
@Kobzon – even the Japanese-only Front Mission Online MMO was more Mechwarrior than Armored Core. The setting pretty much demands it, as it’s meant to be only near-future tech.
31/05/2009 at 11:44 Jim Rossignol says:
“Just reminding people that the pronounciation of Wanzer is meant to be German.”
I know how I’ll be pronouncing it.
31/05/2009 at 11:46 Nick says:
The only one I played was on the DS, it was great.. assuming it was a re-release of one of the snes ones that never got translated. I assume/hope the second DS Front Mission will get an official release for the DS in english as well.
31/05/2009 at 12:07 PHeMoX says:
“I assumed it just meant a mission that happened on a front. Since wars have fronts, and involve missions.”
Makes sense, but the literal Japanese translation definitely means Frontal Assault Evolved. Of course, Front Mission Evolved sounds a tiny bit better even.
@Jim Rossignol: Yeah, whilst blowing them apart. Another Wanker down! :P
31/05/2009 at 12:24 Zerimski says:
A quick look at Double Helix’s pedigree will do nothing to allay the fears of the fans.
31/05/2009 at 13:05 destroy.all.monsters says:
I view this with great trepidation. I was extremely disappointed when neither FM5 or Online were released here – and what this appears to be is a half-baked Armored Core clone. So the question is – why?
A re-release of FM1 and FM3 for the PSP might make more sense if they’re trying to hook the US market.
31/05/2009 at 13:58 demonarm says:
@Dominic White
Just a shame “Wanze” is german for “bug”.
31/05/2009 at 14:13 Psychopomp says:
@Demonarm
Oh god
You have no idea how much I lol’d.
31/05/2009 at 14:51 feffrey says:
You had me at robots.
Yes I am this desperate for robots, and I can’t get my dose of robots in Eve sadly.
(the pos fuel “robotics” does not count)
31/05/2009 at 15:11 Little Green Man says:
Actually with German “z” is pronounced with a “t” so it would sound more like Vantsehr (slight “teh” sound before the ser part).
31/05/2009 at 15:26 Derek K. says:
I am of two minds about this.
Front Mission: AWESOME.
Shooter: Aren’t there enough mech shooter franchises to milk? Keep my damn Wanzers turn based!
We’ll see.
31/05/2009 at 15:32 sigma83 says:
Forget this guff, where’s my MechWarrior???????
31/05/2009 at 15:36 linfosoma says:
Well, the first Front Mission came out for the SNES and it was a turn-based strategy game.
There was a second FM for the same console which was an awesome 2D platform action game so I guess that what Im trying to say is that this is not that far away from the game´s origins.
Is it confirmed that it´s coming to PC?
31/05/2009 at 15:44 sigma83 says:
linfosoma: The trailer above had the PC logo on it.
31/05/2009 at 16:49 Cabbs says:
I had no idea that the Frontline franchise even existed. But the last first/third-person shooty-robot game I ever played was Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries.
Aside from the token shooty-robot sections of various other not-strictly-shooty-robot games (FEAR 2, quake 4 etc), my shooty-robot quota has not been met in a number of years.
So I approve of this shooty-robot game.
31/05/2009 at 17:46 RamblingThoughts says:
Last mech game I played was MW 4 as well. For some reason I don’t get the sense of scale of piloting a two story death robot in strictly shooty robot games like I do in the non-strictly shooty robot games. MW 4 felt like playing Quake 3 where you have to pretend the objects in the world are large scaled things.
I haven’t played Shogo or UT3 Titan mode but I imagine the illusion of scale in those games would work better for me than pure mech games.
31/05/2009 at 17:52 Heliocentric says:
What a bunch of
wanzerscurr’s, thats right pirate slang, in a robot game.31/05/2009 at 18:35 Derek K. says:
Front Mission 3 and 4 were turn based. FM DS was turn based, even tho it was a remake. FM 5 is, I believe, turn based. So the weight of history is on turn based.
Y’all go play Armored Core, or Chromehounds, or Mech Assault or whatever for fps.
31/05/2009 at 18:39 Vinraith says:
A non-TBS Front Mission? What’s the point of that?
31/05/2009 at 18:41 pkt-zer0 says:
Well, Front Mission: Gun Hazard was nice, so this could work out well enough.
31/05/2009 at 19:33 ChaosTheory says:
Derek K:
Front Mission 3 and 4 were turn based. FM DS was turn based, even tho it was a remake. FM 5 is, I believe, turn based. So the weight of history is on turn based.
Front Mission Online, however, was a Third Person Action Shooter, AND on PC, so it’s not like this is completely without president.
Granted, I would have preferred a TBS game, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep an eye out for this one.
31/05/2009 at 20:43 Guhndahb says:
I so miss “Battletech type robo-sim”s :(
31/05/2009 at 21:16 KP says:
Guhndahb:
They’re still out there if you’re looking hard enough. :)
http://mektek.net/ Assault Tech 1
http://www.virtualcommander.com/ Battletech Simulator
Also I loved the Front Mission games. I played them “co-op” with a friend. We’d split up the units and discuss our strategy, it was so fun.
31/05/2009 at 21:26 sigma83 says:
Personally I felt MW4 had insufficient scale because of the tech limitations. Fighting in an open desert doesn’t do much for the sense of being huge; crushing tanks underfoot as you rumble through city streets’ll do that though.
31/05/2009 at 21:35 Cedge says:
Arg. Damn it all. This is being developed by the same American hacks who butchered Silent Hill, with the wretched Silent Hill: Homecoming. So, apparently, they’re attempting to build a reputation as a Western developer who gets handed very, very intrinsically Japanese properties to work with, and then proceeds to ruin them.
Pity, as I love Front Mission. As if the disappointments of Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Online not making it westward weren’t enough, now the series is at the mercy of these guys. Blah.
By the way, for accuracy’s sake, Double Helix isn’t really a “spin-off” of (the once-great) Shiny. It’s the result of a full merger between Shiny, and The Collective. Just to be precise.
31/05/2009 at 21:39 mandrill says:
@ChaosTheory: So this has the endorsement of Barak ‘The One’ Obama? Maybe its a cover for a secret US military program to test out software for controlling giant robot tanks, piloted remotely by unsuspecting gamers. Maybe, but I doubt it.
31/05/2009 at 21:52 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
I thought Wanzer meant “Wanderung Panzer.”
31/05/2009 at 21:58 JKjoker says:
why are square and capcom so interested in pc these days after writing us off all these years ? ps3 and xbox not working out for them ? i smell a conspiracy!
31/05/2009 at 22:19 destroy.all.monsters says:
From what I’ve read FM DS did pretty well so they knew there was a western market. I suppose they figured that since Armored Core did well they should go that direction? It’d be nice if we could get a statement from one of the FM heads at Squeenix.
31/05/2009 at 22:48 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
@destroy.all.monsters
It’d be nice if they brought FM5 over one of these days. Even as a PSN download. (I’d probably cave in on my no-consoles budget policy and buy a PS3 for that.)
31/05/2009 at 23:05 Dominic White says:
Dorian: The FM5 fan-translation is about 95% complete already. You can download and patch a PS2 copy, if you’re willing to play without the dialogue around the bases between missions. The final patch is due out in a month or two.
31/05/2009 at 23:19 Hulk Hogan says:
Cedge: They handed it off to one of those devs who specialise in ruining sequals?
Fuck. It’s going to be like Front Mission fan fiction.
01/06/2009 at 00:36 Erlam says:
Am I the only one who wants a damn FPS mech game? I want to know what it looks like inside an Urbanmech while I fight my way through legions of Vultures.
Sadface.
Also, I know I’m probably one of the only people in the world who’d care, but that assault rifle clip would hold about 8 rounds given the size of those shell casings…
01/06/2009 at 01:02 Guhndahb says:
@KP: Thanks KP, I’ll definitely have a look. I adored them going all the way back to Mechwarrior in 1989.
01/06/2009 at 01:04 Heliocentric says:
Urbanmech? *shudders* just play the Wall-E game, if i had an fps mech game that would entail being able to get out of a mech, wire the surrounding terrain with explosives and blow up the enemy salvage vehicle while it tries to take your mech and them calling in artillary to destroy the rest of the local forces, get back in my mech and wipe out the other local support units and then retreat back into enemy territory away from the collapsing enemy front line.
01/06/2009 at 01:22 Max says:
I liked the Frontmission on SNES, but I don’t see what that has to do with this game. I have no reason to expect anything exciting from it.
Frankly I’m amazed that they’re releasing it on PC at all. It sounds like a generic console shooter through and through.
01/06/2009 at 01:31 Psychopomp says:
At first I was thinking “Oh shit,” about Double Helix making it.
Then it hit me.
Front Mission doesn’t have a decade of story, hints, and wild mass guessing to shit all over.
01/06/2009 at 08:29 Cedge says:
@Erlam:
Check out Gundam Operation: Troy on the Xbox 360. It’s basically Battlefield: Gundam.
It’s currently Japan-only, but it’s still supposedly scheduled for a release outside of Japan, as “Mobile Ops: The One Year War.”
01/06/2009 at 13:04 Mort says:
Hmmm I have problems with the japanese take on giant robots in games (save those cool platformers in the SNES). I much prefer the western approach, and I do miss a good Mechwarrior or Heavy Gear game :’(.
However, since this is being developed by a western studio, I´ll give them some credit and hope they won´t end up making it more consolistic than it has to be.
01/06/2009 at 13:58 Dominic White says:
I take it you’ve never played a Front Mission game before, Mort? They’re quite low-tech, set in the nearish future. There’s a lot of depth and detail, and an excellent mech-lab, and no screaming attack names or flying kung-fu. It’s all very Battletech.
You guys need to stop turning their nose up at anything vaguely Japanese, because misconceptions and assumptions are often wildly innacurate.
01/06/2009 at 14:22 Rei Onryou says:
Wanzers: Like angry houses. With legs.
01/06/2009 at 15:57 Markoff Chaney says:
Excellent news indeed, assuming we get a nice tactical SRPG like the originals. Front Mission 3 is one of the standouts from my PS1 collection. Oh wait, it’s a third person shooter that shares a naming convention with an awesome tactical RPG with over a decade long pedigree? It’s like there’s a joke somewhere in there waiting to get out, but I’m not the one laughing…
01/06/2009 at 17:14 Serondal says:
lmao, I just talked to someone named Mr Wanzer at work! SO aparently this is now a real name as well as a fantasy robot tank.
I approve of 3rd person shooty game as long as the game is semi-simulation like. I did enjoy those Mech-warrior games on X-box (can’t remember what they called them MechStorm or something?) They weren’t as good as REAL mechwarrior games but they weren’t so bad either.
Like as said above Front Mission is not Gundam Wing , the robots don’t fly around and stuff.
01/06/2009 at 18:11 Psychopomp says:
I agree with Dominic.
01/06/2009 at 18:54 Wooly says:
A question: did the old SNES Front Mission ever get translated into English? If so, it sounds like something I may have to check out.
01/06/2009 at 21:08 Yawners says:
They ripped off the Starcraft 2 building a marine trailer and poorly.
02/06/2009 at 03:49 D says:
Front Mission evolved = Front Mission Armored Core? I do like Front Mission, I do like Armored Core, but two good things combined usually makes something horrible. I pray this isn’t the case for FM Evolved.
04/06/2009 at 01:45 destroy.all.monsters says:
to Wooly: yes there’s been a romhack for it for ages as a download. Plus the current DS version is essentially the same as the SNES version with few things added.
18/06/2009 at 12:29 Diogo Ribeiro says:
Late for the party as always, but I just wanted to say I have a fair share of expectations for this. While Front Mission has been mostly known for its turn-based combat model, there have been action titles in the series. Front Mission Online being one, the other being an oft neglected – due to its Japan-only release, but there’s an awesome translation patch for the curious – side-scrolling RPG/Shooter/Platformer thingamajing called Front Mission: Gun Hazard.
I’m probably in the minority but I think Gun Hazard remains one of the best in the series. It’s an example of the odd one out, the spin-off if you will, that was actually far better than the original FM for the Super NES. The characters were more well-rounded, the story – while typically shrouded in the pitfalls of the genre and the studio (think emo ecoterrorists/freedom fighters against shadow corporations in the style of Final Fantasies but with less posturing) – was far more interesting, and combat was certainly meatier: not only because of the more arcade nature of the game, but also due to some well put together set-pieces and variety of mechs and weapons. And ultragigantor bosses, natch.
If this comes any close to it, I’ll be a happy man.
26/06/2009 at 16:30 LeatherNeck says:
@ Dorian
It was Wanderung Panzer or WanderPanzer, can’t remember at this point, but gets shortened to Wanzer somewhere along the way. Wandering Tank. Anyhow…
I got both excited and punched in the gut on what details are out for this at the moment. First, I’m excited about a new Front Mission as I haven’t played a Front Mission since FM4 on the PS2 (iirc), which I thought was not as good as FM3, but definitely still better than Armored Core.
I’ll say I did enjoy Mech Assault, even though I loved MechWarrior much better. The AC on PSOne and Sega Saturn (Wasn’t AC, but called something else even though it was AC) as it become more of the same. So, I will at least rent it even if it’s not TBS even though I’d prefer it to be.
As far as having a developer that is meh at best working on it? Well, I’m just hoping it’s the exception rather than the rule on these guys and we get a nice little gem of a game. If not, well we at least expected it to suck.
26/09/2009 at 14:00 Gamernator says:
Even if this is already a dead thread. Since the SNES-Versions received realy good fan-translations I’ve quite big expectations for this game. The actual trailer shows decent action scenes and mentions the elevator to to space. So chances are high, its plot and gameplay is heavily related to FM Gun Hazard for the Super NES. In my opinion the japan exclusive Gun Hazard isn’t only the most underrated but in general one of the finest video games ever created. Thanks to the fans for emulating and translating this masterpeace and THANKS to Square-Enix for releasing the next entry officially worldwide and even officially to all systems. Like I said before, my expectations are big :-)