I'm sure most of you know that I have been really excited about this release. After about 2 days of playing, I guess I'll take a stab at a review to try and get more A^P/SMA Members into this~
O'right here goes nothing.
Graphics: 7/10
The graphics of this game is not extraordinary, especially the characters themselves. They look more like PS2 characters than full HD ones. There are also quite a few odd looking textures when you look really close at the mechs and such. Since this is a mech game, I'm guessing the developers had less incentive to put in the small minor details and focused on the SFX and the look of the mechs. The Wanzers themselves are designed beautifully. Your typical Japanese style mecha full of unique looking weapons and parts which can range from curvy to boxy or bulky to nimble.
Music & Sound: 8.5/10
The music in the game is AMAZING. Being the first orchesrated music in the series really hit the spot. It feels great how the orchestra is slow and steady as you waltz on by casual and then picks up the pace to become a fast screeching of strings when enemies come into view. The Sound effects of the weapons are hard and solid. You may hear bullets ricochet off armor, but it still feels like a solid hit. The Wanzers themselves are given a "Personality" by emitting Transformer like groans and moans when hit.
Gameplay: 8/10
Many had doubts about bringing one of the best strategy games to the FPS genre, but DH Games somehow managed to pull it off. FME is very fun and addictive and is much faster-paced than it's predecessors. It's always satisfying to speed around corners'guns blazing, blowing off armor and macine parts in fiery explosions. The controls are easy to handle and the and the weapons are conveniently placed on all 4 shoulder buttons. Unlike Armored Core, the Dashing and Skating mechanic handles MUCH easier. It's easier to control and manuever while shooting an opponent and it dosent require god-like reflexes to make a hit and dodge attacks. Each Wanzer has 4 Parts, Torso, legs and 2 Arms. Each Part is Destroyable and Repairable. Destroying legs Reduces Movement speed. Destroying arms reduces accuracy and Destroying Torso kills your opponent. only the Torso Regenerates HP periodically.
Campaign: 6/10
The story in itself was not very impressive. The voice acting was subpar and the difficulty is not very high. The AI does know what it's doing though....Occasionally. Post-endgame, the Campaign is more or less used as training and testing out new Wanzer specs and customizations for Multiplayer.
Multiplayer: 9/10
This is where the game shines. The Multiplayer is very well done and addicitve. the max number of players on a map is 8, but this does not slow down gameplay. It actually helps, by forcing a team to play as a team, supporting each other to gain victory, where as in huge games like MAG's 256 player maps, players can go off on his/her own and do whatever and can still win witout contribution whatsoever. MP has 4 game modes and games take less than 3 minutes to start. The ranking up system is like CoD, where you unlock more and more parts with each lever. There is also something like a Prestige thing in the game called "Tour of Duty".
Customization: 9/10
The Customization possibilities in this game are insane. There are so many parts and weapons, it's possible to make over a hundred different combinations on your Wanzer. With a useful color scheme, you can paint your Wanzer any way you like, making a unique mech just for yourself. The customization in this game makes many RPGs S*** their pants. You can go lightweight and speed arounfd the map with hit and runs, or go heavy with slow but heavy armor, totting a shield that blocks nearly everything. You can even go Quad-Leg and become a walking weapons platform.
JJFatS Overall Score: 8/10
Calendar
