Front Mission Evolved

Each stage has twenty blinking red pylons to find and destroy and three hidden emblems, and these somewhat tiresome treasure-hunts form the only other objectives as you move through a level. A lack of set-pieces means there's little showmanship to obscure the straightforwardness and, in time, the action grows repetitive. Boss fights, supposedly the high point of each act, fail to inspire, fights descending into a simplistic trading of blows, drawn out by respawning health pick-ups in the area.

To break up this monotonous rhythm, Double Helix has introduced a smattering of on-foot sections. These portions of the game are far weaker than the main attraction, the combat tedious and unrefined, and while they upset the repetition of the main game they do nothing to embellish it. More enjoyable are the sections in which you take down targets from the seat of a transport plane while being flown into a drop zone, Halo-style, but they're short-lived.

The story, always an integral part of the Front Mission experience, is passable. But despite being dressed up in the series' terminology and mythology, it fails to match the pace and excitement of previous titles. The voice acting is sub-par and the dialogue routinely terrible.

The Wanzer customisation is better. Each target you eliminate during a mission earns you credits that can be used to swap out Wanzer parts in the intermission. Almost every part of your Wanzer can be customized, with different body parts offering varied statistical benefits.

Every time you buy a new part it's only 'loaned' to you, so if you buy a new set of Wanzer legs and then change your mind and want a different pair, you need only pay the difference to swap them; you keep no inventory. It's a matter of maximising your total earnings in the game to create the most efficient and deadly machine you can.

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The total weight of your Wanzer must never exceed its power output, so you must decide whether you want to take a slow but powerful Wanzer into a level or a lightweight but relatively weak one. There are four weapon points on your machine but, while it's theoretically possible to take a Wanzer into battle with a weapon attached to each arm and shoulder, the balance between weight and power output is such that you'll have a hard job doing so and being in any way manoeuvrable.

Wanzer customisation comes into its own when you take the game online for Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes. As you raise through the ranks offered by the game's simplistic levelling, so new parts become available and the range of tactical configurations escalates. The option to modify the colour scheme of your Wanzer may not offer Forza levels of artistic potential, but ensures that everyone has the opportunity to stand out on the battlefield.

It's an untruth to describe the latest Front Mission as an evolution of what's gone before. It is, at best, a sidestep, one that neither advances its series nor the genre into which it has lunged.

It's far from a disaster and there's substantial enjoyment to be had in the game's early moments. But a lack of variety and some awkward, ineffective attempts to break the monotony will fail to win the game the audience Square Enix is so to desperate find, at the cost of losing the one they once had.