Videos: Front Mission Evolved E3 Multiplayer Footage
Posted on : 16-06-2010 | By : Cacophanus | In : Videos
Hardware: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
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Over at Gametrailers they’ve managed to capture some surprisingly steady hand camera footage for a multiplayer game in Front Mission Evolved. Much like the older videos, it seems the mecha handling still has no real discernible weight. As such there’s no penalty with momentum between dashes, which makes the movement look very jerky. On the one hand the reasoning behind this choice is pretty obvious; as it means more gamers will have an easier time with the mecha handling learning curve but the downside to all this is that the mecha control will plateau very quickly in terms of player skill (something not entirely ideal for a game with online multiplayer). Naturally, we’ll reserve judgment on our review come September but these videos do continue to fill our robotic hearts with a palpable sense of foreboding.
[flash http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=700049]
I think it will be interesting to see how FM Evolved plays out, and whether or not it used FM Online (seems unlikely) as a starting point of the sorts. A little surprised that broken parts don’t affect gameplay, so I’m hoping that this was just for the E3 demo.
Front Mission Devolved
Yeah I was just talking about this on Tolls article, the background looks very bland and im still getting this clunky feeling, like dumb robots bouncing around kind of feeling.
Looking at the other mecha influenced games, this is really starting to look even more weak to me now.
This is before I even see AC5 gameplay, which I think will just blow this out of the water.
I’ll wait until it comes out, and then after playing decide whether it’s crap or not.
Sounds old fashioned, but that’s just me.
Speaking of FRONT MISSION though…I came across a four volume manga based on FM, which was published by Square Enix. I don’t remember the title offhand, but it looked pretty interesting.
Does anyone on the dev team know that Wanzers dont use jetpacks and boosters to dash around but the wheels housed in their “feet”.I seems like a senseless (but nitpicky) break from the source material.Oh, and before anyone says anything I do know abut the jetpack in Front Mission 4.
The wanzers still use their rollers to “roller dash” around. Check out the other FME videos at Square Enix’s E3 virtual booth if you want to see them.
Boosters aren’t really out of place in FM though. The prototype wanzers, or WAWs, in FM Alternative used boosters to jump and move a bit. There were also advanced WAWs that used boosters exclusively to travel (one even had semi-flight capability) at high speeds. They’re also in the main numbered games, albeit used to jump around tall buildings.
The mecha in Front Mission: Gun Hazard also use boosters and verniers to a large degree, but Gun Hazard isn’t really considered a part of the “real” Front Mission series. Although Gun Hazard did have its plot revolve around a space elevator, just like Front Mission Evolved.
I’d actually be interested in seeing some of the mecha from Gun Hazard again, myself–while the player only attains some very Valken-esque suits (appropriate for what is essentially an unofficial Assault Suits Valken sequel) a lot of the enemies use much more streamlined wanzers, which we see have at least a limited capacity for ranged flight. It’s not something that would fit in with the mainline Front Mission games, but if Evolved wants to split the difference to experiment with new gameplay elements a tiny bit, I don’t mind. Sometimes you have to break a few rules to make a game better as a whole.
Yeah I saw the trailers where they did roller dash whihc seems even more like an oversite since (from what I’ve seen) they are 1.A hell of a lot smoother in movement and 2.not using boosters/jets/rockets/etc.I do admit that they do have boosters in the main series but like you said they’re only seen for jumping and even then (atleast to my knowledge) none of the characters actually addresses their existance.
In series lore and when FM Evolved is taking place (2171), roller dash should be more refined and faster. FM Online took place in 2090 and back then, wanzers could at least travel at 120 km/h minimum. I recall the fastest models clocked 200 km/h with roller dash in FM Online. The beefed up speed from the new E3 videos seem just fine really.
On the booster thing, it has been used other than jumping and for actual movement like I mentioned. Advanced WAWs in FM Alternative (which is set in the 2030s) use it for high-speed travel (one can fly to some extent). The most advanced WAPs (wanzers standardized) in the main series are booster-powered too. One even manages to attain full-flight, going over speeds of 800 km/h.
The reason why you probably haven’t seen them it is because they’re in the FMs that never made it out of Japan: FM 2089, Online, 5: Scars of the War, etc.
I own Scars of The War
I have to agree that this is looking a bit iffy. I loved the Front Mission games before, but I just can’t say that this one looks like much of a mecha game. It honestly just seems like a third person shooter with boosting. And the boosting is bad here. I mean, come on, dead stop after boosting in mid air? I guess the Wanzers are pretty heavy, but there should still be a tiny bit of momentum. Are there boosters on the front stopping all the momentum that I can’t see from the video?
Looking at the footage again, I think the game looks worse than it probably would if it had been played by someone with a bit more experience. A few movies of other games from the E3 show floor (Vanquish, for example) vary wildly in quality depending on how much time the player had been allowed to play before being filmed, and a similar situation might apply here.
That’s not to say that all of the mechanics on display here look entirely terrific, and I would prefer the boost function to have a bit more heft and inertia to it, but the video is clearly of someone who is learning the control scheme as he goes, and thus isn’t exactly flattering.
I’m still hoping Double Helix can pull it together, despite what it currently looks like. I’m trying to remember that mecha games, more than any genre, require a period of cockpit-time before the game can really be “understood”.
Normally I’m not a stickler for details, but the way the physics engine seems to take a coffee break whenever the boosters are engaged sticks out very awkwardly.
If the mechanics are really this straightforward, equipment and Wanzer construction had better play a HUGE part in performance. I’d prefer people playing “builds” against each other over what could just be a straight skill challenge; slower reaction times can painfully undermine clever tactical decision-making in most online shooters.
The footage actually reminds me of Mega Man Legends, of all things. The dashing looks functionally the same, as does the turning and shooting (though you can’t dash sideways in MML).
“Plays like a robot man” is one micron better than “plays like a generic soldier,” but let’s hope this E3 build is just made fancy for showgoers. Ugh…