Front Mission Evolved

Front Mission Evolved from 2010 marked a major turn for the series – instead of turn-based tactical battles, it offered real-time mech action combat from a third-person perspective. Development was handled by the American studio Double Helix Games, while Square Enix remained in the publisher role, which shows in the stronger focus on action and flashy combat typical of Western game design of the time.

The player pilots a wanzer directly in combat, shooting, dodging, and switching weapons on the move, instead of selecting actions from a menu as in the series' earlier turn-based entries. The game emphasizes extensive mech customization – you can change legs, weapons, armor, and add-ons, affecting both appearance and combat style on the battlefield. The story is set in a near future marked by a global conflict over rare resources and is noticeably more straightforward and less politically complex than the series' earlier entries, which relied mainly on tactics, diplomacy, and slowly building tension between factions. The campaign is rounded out by an online multiplayer mode focused on team wanzer battles, an element previously unseen in the series, and even the mission level design is built more like an action shooter with more open arenas rather than the tactical chessboard of previous entries. The over-the-shoulder camera and the emphasis on movement, cover, and dodging give the combat a completely different dynamic than the menu-based action selection fans of the series were used to until then, and as a result the pacing of individual missions is markedly faster and more dynamic than in any previous turn-based episode of the series.

Why play: A good choice for players who wanted to experience the Front Mission world as straightforward mech action without needing to master the intricate tactical system of the series' earlier entries.