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Decorate your Front Mission Evolved robot with logos from ... Metal Gear?!
During Comic-Con, Square Enix revealed what Hideo Kojima and Yoji Shinkawa were up to when they visited the company last month: Metal Gear-themed decals for use in Front Mission Evolved. You won't exactly be able to make your Wanzer look like a Metal Gear, but you will be able to festoon it with logos from FOXHOUND, Militaires Sans Frontieres, and other in-game factions. Kojima even signed autographs at Square Enix's Comic-Con booth to celebrate the announcement. The surprise (!) brought with it another nice bonus: the stylish Front Mission Evolved trailer after the break.
Front Mission Evolved pushed back to September 28, 2010
When we announced Front Mission Evolved's September 14th launch date we joked that Square Enix had neglected to check the calendar. You know, because September 14 is also "International Halo: Reach Day," a notable religious holiday. Also there's another video game coming out that day. Now Front Mission Evolved has been pushed back two weeks, to September 28. The funny thing is, other high-profile games are arriving on that new launch date -- sometimes you just need to mecha decision, we guess. Update: Check out pre-order bonuses after the break.
Square Enix and Hideo Kojima collaborating on ... something
Extremely Twitter-happy Square Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto tweeted a picture of himself with Konami superstar Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear Solid art director Yoji Shinkawa today, cryptically noting (according to Andriasang's translation) that "A new promotion with Hideo Kojima is set. Details will be shared at a later date." Kojima and Square Enix have collaborated on a set of Peace Walker figurines under the company's Play Arts Kai line; in addition, Front Mission content is one of the many tie-ins included in Peace Walker. It's likely the next collaboration will be something similar. The picture was taken somewhere that Front Mission Evolved was being shown -- a game that Andriasang notes is being produced by Hashimoto -- so that could be a hint that a Metal Gear series cameo might occur in the upcoming mech game. Or it could be more photographs of the developers, as a little gift for the fans.
Front Mission Evolved shoots for September 14 release
Spring has turned to fall for Front MIssion Evolved, as Square Enix has announced the game will launch on September 14. The latest entry takes the SRPG franchise into a new direction: third-person shooter. Double Helix, of Silent Hill: Homecoming fame, is developing. Square Enix also announced that the PC version will be playable in stereoscopic 3D, which effectively swaps out the gameplay depth from the strategy games for visual depth. It's great we finally have a solid release date, Square Enix, but you probably should've checked the calendar before deciding on September 14. Just saying!
Square Enix details upcoming membership rewards
If you're in North America and you've been dutifully collecting Square Enix games, you may have some free stuff headed your way. The end of the current reward period for the Square Enix Members club is coming up on March 31, at which point Square Enix will ship out rewards depending on your "tier" rank -- a status awarded based on the number of games you've registered through the program. For the mere seconds of work we just spent registering a single game, we hit "bronze" status and earned a postcard set featuring Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Star Ocean The Last Hope International artwork. Silver members will get a desktop calendar with artwork from Final Fantasy XIV, Front Mission Evolved and other games; Gold members get a music compilation on CD; and Ultimate members will get an 8GB iPod Touch and a free Square Enix game to play on it!
Front Mission Evolved gears up for US release this spring
click to mech larger Square Enix's third-person action treatment of the Front Mission games -- classically a strategy RPG series -- failed to really wow us when we played it during last fall's Tokyo Game Show, but developer Double Helix (Silent Hill: Homecoming) has a few more weeks to tighten its bolts and lube its actuators. That's because Front Mission Evolved has been given orders to deploy here in the US this spring, which, according to our calendars, begins at the end of March. Here to tide us over is a batch of new screens from (presumably) the latest build of the game, which features on-foot combat in addition to its mechanized modes of transport. %Gallery-83717%
Hands-on: Front Mission Evolved
Many franchises attempt to break apart from familiar genres in an effort to expand their fan bases. Metroid went first-person, Halo went RTS and Square Enix's long-standing, tactical RPG franchise, Front Mission, has turned into a standard third-person action game.For players still clamoring to return to the world of MechAssault, Front Mission Evolved may help cater to their needs. While the game's current state looks pretty rough, the Robot vs. Other Giant Robot action is fun, fast and fulfilling. Front Mission Evolved features a limited array of weaponry, but its quick pace actually had me hooked while it lasted. If the action becomes a little too harsh -- and the game did pose a challenge during my brief demo with the Xbox 360 version -- tapping the 'Y' button slows down time and turns every weapon in your arsenal to an automatic victory cannon.There isn't much to the action: Run through a linear level and defeat the enemies that get in your way. It isn't the Citizen Kane of gaming, but the demo was entertaining. At least half of it was.%Gallery-70585%
Front Mission evolves in E3 debut trailer
Welcome to the new Square Enix, folks. We can see how the debut trailer for Front Mission Evolved is meant to appeal to the Western audience. Look at how cool, dark and brown the game is! Americans love that stuff! It certainly looks like Double Helix Games (Silent Hill Homecoming) is preparing the series for a Star Trek-esque reboot -- how will fans react? We'll have impressions from the E3 show floor and an interview with the game's producers later this week. Stay tuned.
Square Enix announces Front Mission Evolved, NIER
Square Enix's E3 lineup features two surprises, in addition to the expected Final Fantasy stuff: Front Mission Evolved and NIER. While we may have suspected that some kind of Front Mission game was coming, we wouldn't have guessed that it would be a third-person shooter instead of a strategy game, nor that it would be developed by a Western company (Silent Hill: Homecoming's Double Helix Games, specifically). The E3 lineup press release highlights SE's efforts to become a more "global" company, and it hardly gets more "global" than handing one of its existing IPs over to a Western developer to be made into a PS3/Xbox/PC shooter. NIER is a new PS3/360 action game developed by Bullet Witch/Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles maker cavia. Players control NIER, who fights in a "crumbling world" to find a cure for his daughter, who is infected with the "Black Scrawl virus." The announcement also provided a firm release date for DISSIDIA Final Fantasy and its PSP bundle: August 25. The first episode of the WiiWare Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was also dated -- for this Monday! See the whole announced lineup in our gallery. %Gallery-64503%
