front mission parts supplier

Tiewudi Heavy Industries Company (Chinese: 铁武帝重工公司; Pinyin: Tiě Wǔdì Zhònggōng Gōngsī) is a wanzer manufacturer of the D.H.Z. Most of their models only appear in Front Mission 3.

Aside from WAP parts, they also manufacture pharmaceuticals and military vehicles in the present as per their growing size and scope across the entire series

Type 81 85mm Electromagnetic Railgun (Front Mission Alternative) - according to FM Historica, its supposed to be manufactured by Jade Metal, but in-game, it"s manufactured jointly by Yagisawa Industries and Iguchi

Watch the scene that plays after the mission ends and Molly becomes a part ofthe Crows. Head back to Freedom City and do the usual. Go to the Military

After reuniting with Johnny, Matthew, and Howard, you will be at Soleit. Givethose three some new parts and weapons to play with. When ready, exit Soleit

Fragile Speedster: Glen"s Zenith was designed to be extremely fast and agile. Gameplay-wise, it had one of the game"s best movements and evasion, while having rather subpar health for a Zenith variant. Walter Feng was astonished by how fast it was when he first encountered it in Fort Monus (post-Mission 7).

Sword and Gun: Mechanically. In 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, Zenith Rev arms gave the "Double Assault" skill, which involved the user attacking with the weapons in both arms if one arm was holding a gun while the other was holding a melee weapon.

Artwork from 4The Giza was a wanzer model developed by the Leonora Enterprises. Giza wanzer and its variants were characterized by very high output. However, unlike most high-output models, Giza also had decent mobility and armour. This meant it was capable of supporting frontline allies, who, due to their positions, were the ones most likely to need emergency repair. Giza seemed to be widely employed by many military units, since the wanzer model was seen used by both OCU and USN troops on the Huffman Island. It was later also seen to be under control of pilots from many parts of the world.Meaningful Name: It"s named after the Egyptian city of Giza

Artwork from 2Walrus and its variants were well-rounded wanzers developed by the Leonora Enterprises. With the combination of agility and good durability, the wanzer model proved to be of value in the frontline as melee or assault units. It was deployed heavily by the Alordeshi military.

Close-Range Combatant: The Walrus wanzer was widely deployed by the Alordeshi Army during the Second Alordesh coup d"etat (2) as frontline Striker-class units.

More Dakka: In 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, the Kyojun gave Zoom I and ROF Up I - the two level 1 battle skills that could be used with machine guns for up to 6 chained attacks.

Although all Raven wanzers were destroyed by the end of the 2nd Huffman Conflict, one final model was recreated from the remains of the destroyed Ravens during the Santa Barbara attack (1st). G. Lycov, who had been captured by USN authorities, was forced to develop a stronger version of the advanced wanzer. Upon completing the new Raven, he escaped his captors and sought assistance from the OCU. Later, he delivered the newly completed Raven to Lisa Stanley of the OCU Ground Defense Force Intelligence Agency (GDFIA) during the Alordesh coup d"etat in 2102. While this Raven was not designed for Bioneural Device usage, it possessed a special computer part which functioned similarly to the B-Type BD.The Ace: Apparently. When Kevin Greenfield arrived on Santa Barbara, Winger and Gail gloated over their success with the BD Project and how powerful the Raven (one of the products from the project) was (1st, USN Mission 23).

BFG: At one point, the Brutal Wolf was equipped with a large rail cannon on its shoulder (Mission 27 of 5). In-game, it"s one of the most damaging weapons to have ever existed.

So far, the only known deployment of Kouten was by the Grimnir. Dr. Morgan Bernard piloted a Kouten when he led a group of Grimnir forces to attack the USN Radiation Research Complex in Alaska (Mission 25,5).BFG: This thing had four of these on its back.

Artwork from EvolvedAlthough its appearance was far from intimidating, this war machine was strong in melee combat as well as long-range firefights when equipped with the appropriate weapons. Calm and its variants were characterized by above-average to high output and otherwise versatile capacities. Calm were seen used by both OCU and USN troops on the Huffman Island. It was also seen being deployed by the Venezuelan State Army (VSA) and Venezuelan Liberation Front, the guerrillas in USN Venezuela. Presumably due to its versatility, it was deployed widely in various roles, including melee fighters and assaults.Break Out the Museum Piece: Downplayed. In 4, dialogues implied that Calm was regarded as an outdated model by the time of 2096. The La Alianza still employed the model heavily anyway (due to their lack of resources), and they actually won the war.

Improbable Aiming Skills: Recson consistently had good performance in accuracy. Also in 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, the Recson M4F wanzer gave Zoom II, which increased accuracy by 50%.

Chekhov"s Gun: The Gracilis first appeared in the buildup to Mission 19 (5), where it was used merely as a bait to lure out Grimnir forces. It later played a crucial role in saving the day during the final arc.

Butt-Monkey: Somewhat. Unless piloted by a named character, Husky wanzers tended not to be given the chance to engage in badassery in cutscenes. Examples included Ivanovna and Vavilov effortlessly wiping the floor with a pair of La Alianza fighters piloting the Husky wanzer (4, post-Mission 21).

Artwork from 4The Uisk/Zelt wanzer was another prominent model developed by Sender. The Zelt was known for its high output, enabling it to be deployed as Missileer role, while the Uisk was more fast and agile (while still having decent output) and thus had seen use as Jammer-class units by the USN army on Huffman Island.Armor-Piercing Attack: In 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, the Uisk body gave the Enemy Def-C Null, which nullified the enemy"s armor.

Fragile Speedster: The Uisk variant used by the USN Army (5) was fast and evasive, while retaining the decent output that characterized the Zelt, enabling it to be assigned into Jammer-class roles. In 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, the Uisk legs gave the Evade +2, which boosted the user"s evasion temporarily.

Macross Missile Massacre: In 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, the Uisk arms gave the dreaded Salvo, which allowed the user to fire off all of the remaining ammos in their missile launcher in one go, resulting in this trope.

While its deployment status was not known clearly, numerous wanzer pilots had been seen equipping the leg parts of Desmatz on their wanzers, while using body and arms of other models. This was likely due to the fact that the main appeal of the Desmatz model is its high agility, which mainly lies in its legs.Animal Motifs: Desmatz variants tended to be named after arthropods, namely the Deathmantis and the Argiope (a genus of spiders).

Artwork from 3The Igel (German: Igel, "Hedgehog") and the Grille (German: Grille, "Cricket") were a series of wanzers developed by the German arms manufacturer Schnecke. Due to their precision-based actuator design and responsiveness of the recoil stabilizers in their arm parts, both lines boasted high accuracy ratings when using virtually any kind of ranged weapon. Thus, numerous armed forces have imported Igel and Grille models as Sniper-class units. The Igel line and its derivatives were considered the flagship line of Schnecke Corp., with it being commercially successful for more than two decades since its inception in the 2080s.

The popularity of the Igel Eins and Igel Zwei models led to the creation of derivative units equipped with shotgun weapon arm parts and tread-type legs. These derivatives, while not as popular as the standard bipedal model, saw uses in developing OCU member states such as Alordesh.

The Igel and Grille lines boasted several variants with a Horn designation (noted as "H" in the unit"s naming). The Horn variants were advanced models with slight internal and external changes to provide better overall combat performance than the standard ones, enabling them to fulfill more than just sniper roles. The "H" units were also commonly used by military commanders in the German Special Forces, the Blauer Nebel.The Ace: Among wanzers. It"s notable that in 5, the presence of Grille wanzers in the Cambodian coup d"etat forces was used to show that the said forces were using advanced gears they shouldn"t have (Mission 12), thus hinting at the fact that they were backed by the Grimnir.

Improbable Aiming Skills: Its arms were said to be stable, giving it high accuracy. Also in 3, where battle skills were granted by wanzer parts, the Grille wanzer gave Zoom III, which increased accuracy by 100%.

Despite finding success in developing the Gepard, Schnecke used custom-made parts to develop the machine and thus, mass-production would have been too costly. In an attempt to bring it to mass-production, the arms manufacturer developed several more prototypes along the way. As of 2096 (the start of 4), nine prototype models were developed with the last two being seen in combat: the Gepard Acht and the Gepard Neun. Both of these wanzers were piloted by Rolf Wagner of the German Blauer Nebel special forces. The final prototype had its left arm part changed to one with claw-shaped hand manipulators, and was equipped with a small machine gun compartment for defense.The Ace: Among wanzers.

Artwork from 4The Zhuk (Russian: Жук, Bug) was a mobile weapon model developed secretly by the Demitri Corps. It was a large-sized four-legged machine, equipped with a devastating cannon, machine gun and two missile launchers. Its first known deployment was on the Zaftran special forces sent to support Venezuelan independence from the USN. assigned to Colonel Anizka Ivanovna Aleksandrov, commander of the said special forces. The Zhuk proved to be formidable in battle, being able to rout entire platoons of USN wanzers during the fight in Caracas (4, buildup to Mission 14).Awesome, but Impractical: Apparently. Based on what Ivanovna said, the Zhuk was specifically made for the commander of the team, such as herself. This suggested it was likely too expensive to produce en masse.

Secret Character: Oh yes, a slightly downgraded but still powerful boss Wanzer available as a secret unlock in 5"s campaign. Provided you know who to talk to & what to answer during which intermission.

Square Enix brings us a set of four model kits of the mighty fighting mecha that appeared in "Front Mission"! These Structure Arts model kits are in 1/72-scale, making them perfect for dioramas. Each one features four hard points on its shoulders and lower arms for attachment of armaments and shields; utility parts are also included so they can carry separate weapons. They"re molded in color, so you can assemble and display them as they are, or paint them to your liking; you can also combine their parts to create your own original fighting machine! Order yours today!

Includes: extra face parts (x2), knuckle (x2), rod (x2), machine gun, shoulder armed grenade launcher, shoulder armed Gatling gun, turbo backpack, utility parts

Front Mission 3, also known in Japan as Front Mission Third,tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation developed by and published by Square Co., Ltd., released in Japan in 1999, and North America and Europe in 2000. Front Mission 3 is the third main entry and the fifth entry overall in the Front Mission titles, Front Mission 3 is part of a serialized storyline that follows the stories of various characters and their struggles involving mecha known as wanzers.

The mechanics of Front Mission 3 are a radical departure from Front Mission 3. The game progresses in a linear manner: watch cut-scene events, complete missions, set up wanzers during intermissions, and sortie for the next mission. The player travels to locations on a world map. As the player progresses through the plot, new locations are revealed on the world map. Towns and cities act as intermission points where the player can organize and set up their units for the upcoming mission. New to Front Mission 3 is the Double Feature Scenario – this allows the player to experience two different scenarios that exist independently of one another within the game"s storyline.

Front Mission 3 missions are traditional tactical RPG fare, ranging from destroying all enemy targets to protecting a certain allied target. Where the game differs significantly from its predecessors lies mainly through a new combat feature – the ability to attack the pilots themselves. During any attack, the pilot can be damaged or forcefully ejected from their machines. The player can also have a pilot eject from their unit to fight on foot, or hijack another machine on the battlefield. The game also changes how skills are learned; instead of gaining experience to improve a pilot"s proficiencies, they are now learned by equipping wanzer parts and using them in battle. When certain conditions are met, there is a random chance that a pilot may learn a new skill from one of their wanzer parts, which can be programmed into the wanzer"s battle computer. Many gameplay features from Front Mission 2 have also been removed, greatly simplifying the overall structure of mission play. Missions are now much smaller in scale, limiting the amount of strategic options the player can use.

There are some returning features from Front Mission 2 that are used for mission play though, namely Action Points (AP) and Links. Action Points (AP) is a feature that dictates how much actions can be done with each unit. Actions such as moving and attacking require a certain amount of AP to use. At the end of a full turn, which is one Player Phase and Enemy Phase, a set amount of AP is replenished. A unit"s AP amount value depends on how many combat ranks its pilot has earned; these are earned by destroying enemy units. Links is a unique ability that allows multiple units to provide offensive support to each other during Player Phase battles. Links operates differently in Front Mission 3; a unit"s pilot must have a Link-class skill and the appropriate weapons (which also acts as their linked actions) equipped. Once this condition is met, a linked battle will commence if the skill activates. Up to three units can be linked together to form one "link".

Other returning features that appear in mission play include mission rankings and mission branching. As in Front Mission Alternative, players are graded on how well or poorly they clear missions. While there are incentives to perform well, the game does not reward the player with new parts or weapons as it did in Alternative. Mission branching returns and now allow players to choose what type of mission to play next. Aside from these, the Network feature from Front Mission 2 returns and is greatly expanded upon. Players can now browse through the pseudo-Internet, send and receive e-mail messages, tinker with online files and wallpapers, or use the new Battle Simulator feature. The Battle Simulator is a game mode where the player can participate in VR training exercises. These drills can be used to increase the fighting proficiencies of the player"s pilots and can be taken as many times as needed. Lastly, players can strengthen their parts with the return of the remodeling feature. Through this, the player can augment a wanzer"s armor coating (known as "Def-C"), the accuracy of its weapons, increase its jumping power to scale buildings, or equip it with rollers to dash on flat surfaces quickly.

Set in October 2112, the story of Front Mission 3 takes place in Southeast Asia, revolving around the cold war between the Oceania Cooperative Union (OCU) and the People"s Republic of Da Han Zhong (DHZ). Since the People"s Republic of Alordesh won their independence from the O.C.U. in 2102, member-states within the union also formed their own separatist movements. Countries such as Indonesia and Singapore began voicing their anti-OCU sentiments, both through peaceful and non-peaceful means. In 2106, pro-nationalist forces in the Philippines wage war on the government and their OCU handlers. Desperate to maintain stability in the region, the O.C.U. Central Parliament allows the United States of the New Continent (USN) to send in peacekeeping forces to resolve these conflicts. Eventually, the supranational union is pushed to the breaking point in 2112 when a mysterious explosion occurs at a Japanese Defense Force (JDF) base in Japan.

There are two plots of Front Mission 3, and both revolve around Japanese wanzer test pilots Kazuki Takemura and Ryogo Kusama. Through a decision made early in the game, the player can play either the DHZ scenario or the USN scenario. The DHZ scenario stars Japanese scientist Aliciana "Alisa" Takemura, while the USN scenario revolves around scientist Emir "Emma" Klamsky.

Front Mission 3 was developed by Development Division 6 of Square, led by Toshirou Tsuchida.Front Mission 3 was the first game produced in-house by Square, who had bought out and incorporated original developer G-Craft.PlayStation to polish and improve on the gameplay experience.Akihiro Yamada acted as one of the game"s artists.Front Mission series, the team consciously drew their inspirations from sources other than traditional mecha anime and manga.Front Mission title to release outside Japan.

The game"s musical score, Front Mission 3 Original Soundtrack, was composed and arranged by Koji Hayama, Hayato Matsuo, and SHIGEKI. It was produced by Hayama and Matsuo. The soundtrack was released on September 22, 1999, by DigiCube and has not had a re-release since. It bears the catalog number SSCX-10035.

Yukiyoshi Ike Sato of Front Mission 2.Final Fantasy Tactics, but cited the graphics transitions between overhead play and individual battles as spotty.Front Mission 3"s deep, strategic gameplay makes up for most any of the flaws. Chances are you"ll be having so much fun with the strategic combat that you may not even pay attention to the story, or find yourself booting up the combat simulator more often than you advance the plot."Front Mission 3 is sure to attract RPG and strategy enthusiasts alike."

Front Mission 3 has been re-released a number of times in Japan. In 2000, the game re-released as part of Square"s Millennium Collection, and included collectable goods such as a keychain penlight, key fobs, and a wallet and chain.PSone Books line of best-sellers.Front Mission History compilation in 2003.

Dengeki PlayStation Editorial, LogicGate, ed. (March 2007). Front Mission World Historica - Report of Conflicts 1970-2121 (in Japanese). MediaWorks. ISBN 978-4-8402-3663-8.

McNamara, Andy; Reppen, Erik; Fitzloff, Jay (April 2000). "Front Mission 3". FuncoLand. Archived from the original on December 6, 2000. Retrieved January 18, 2021.

Sato, Yukiyoshi Ike (December 15, 1999). "Front Mission 3 Review [Import] [date mislabeled as "May 9, 2000"]". Red Ventures. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2021.

Alley, Jake (October 10, 2000). "Front Mission 3 - Review". RPGamer. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2021.

Winkler, Chris (August 3, 2006). "Front Mission Series Goes Ultimate Hits In Japan". RPGFan. Emerald Shield Media LLC. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2008.

Front Mission 3, like other games in the Front Mission Series is a turn-based strategy game featuring real-time environments, CG movies, mechanized robots and strategic battles. The game contains two independent storylines with different situations, environments and unique characters made up of different set of allies and enemies. The majority of the game takes place on the battlefield where Kazuki and his allies are controlled in an overhead view 3D environment. The game is tactical and nature, so the player chooses his unit and assigns where it will be moved and what action it will perfom. Typical actions include attacking with a shoulder weapon (missiles or gernades), attacking with a weapon held in the hand (ranged and melee), using items, guarding against future attack and simply ending the turn. As chaarcters fire weapons back and forth at each other, they will inflict damage to different parts of the wanzer. Areas that can be damaged and destroyed/disabled include arms, legs, and body. Complete damage to the body will "destroy" the wanzer in battle, whereas disabling other parts will merely render it less effective. Each weapon has a damage type which includes (I) "Impact", (F) "Flame" and (P) "Piercing". In practice these types function as weapon "elements" which can be reduced with the proper armor coating, however it usually renders it vulnerable to another damage type. Typically Anti-I defense is very weak against Class-P attack and defending against that is weak from Class-F and defending against that is weak from Class-I. Each weapon carried by the wanzers is also classified as either Ranged, Melee, Shield or Missile . Each pilot can have a proficiency in these skills, making the usage of some weapons by them more effective than others. Pilots also learn special skills during battle, these are activated by experience points, and amount of weapon usage. Special abilities are very dependent on the types of actions being performed and items equipped, so for example the ability "Double Shot" requires a weapon equipped in each hand of the same weapon class.

Between combat missions, Kazuki is able to save his game as well as explore the "network". The network is a virtual internet, allowing connections to the (completely fictional) websites of organizations involved in the Front Mission 3 plot. While exploration on the network is not required, it"s exploration will uncover clues to some of the game"s backstory as well as open up the opportunity to develop email contacts, obtain additional funds and unlock new wanzer gear.

Between certain missions, Kazuki will enter a town. These are represented by a simple graphical menu of different locations. Areas that can be visited typically include Pubs, Wanzer Equipment Shops, Wanzer Parts Shops and specific locations. Wanzers are mix-and-matchable so that feet from one model can be attached to another and different weapons carried. Different wanzer parts each have unique values for HP, accuracy, movement and armor. However each part and weapon has a "weight" value, which is determined by each individual Wanzer model"s engine (as well as additional parts). A wanzer is always unable to carry more than it"s maximum weight. Towns are also where Kazuki will often meet new characters and have conversations to uncover the plot.

From Square Enix. Introducing Structure Arts, Square Enix"s first-ever plastic model kit series! The first wave includes the iconic Zenith, Giza, Drake and Numsekar designs from the Front Mission franchise. Built at 1/72 scale the Front Mission Structure Arts models are great additions to any military miniature figures and diorama displays of the same scale. Torso, arms, lower body, backpack and hand-held weapons are cross compatible between all the models in the series. Each model has a total of four hardpoints on the shoulders and arms and utility pieces, allowing you to attach weapons or shields to create your own perfect loadout! Build it as-is or paint it whatever color you please, try various ways of assembly, customize the pieces to create your own original unit, set up a diorama - with so many options to choose from, we hope you find your own way of enjoying these. Accessories: Zenith: Extra head x1, rifle x1, shotgun x1, machine gun x1, knuckle x2, turbo backpack x1, utility parts set Giza: Extra head x1, machine gun x2, shotgun x1, shield x1, repair backpack x1, utility parts set Drake: Extra head x1, bazooka x1, machine gun x1, missile launcher x1, item backpack x1, utility parts set Numsekar: Extra face parts x2, Knuckle x2, Rod x2, Machine gun x1, Shoulder weapon grenade launcher x1, Shoulder weapon gatling gun x1, Turbo backpack x1, Utility parts set included in each box: Exclusive Front Mission 1ST: Ziege rifle

Here is a list of all items found during each mission in the game (If anyone can confirm if those items are random, please tell me). There are many items that you can"t find in towns like the Ziege Gun or the Dasler II. Most of the other items can be found either in the city you just came from or in the next one.

*: The Dragon Hand and Harpoon Bolt are add-ons, they"re not Missile Launchers, but they"re as destructive as a Ziege Gun. They can be accessed using PAR codes, but if anyone finds a normal way to reach them in Mission 26, you get a Shyster Cookie :P.

And beneath it all, Front Mission is an undeniably superb strategy game. The battlefield mechanics are simple. During the player phase, you select your units one at a time, moving them and then opting to either attack (if in range), or use an item. Then, after the enemy phase, the cycle begins again. There"s nothing sophisticated here, like managing initiative, or moving after you attack, or using action points or anything like that. No, the challenge, and the difficulty (which can be fairly steep), arise from negotiating the terrain, which provides varying degrees of cover, and from learning to make effective use of your pilots, and their skills and wanzer configurations.

Which means that the time you spend in the hangar, buying new parts, and assembling perfect fighting machines, specially tailored to each member of your team, is every bit as important as the time you spend out in the field. It has to be said that the interface design doesn"t make this part of the game particularly easy, since it"s not always easy to compare your new parts with old ones. Moreover, picking the right wanzer parts and configurations, and matching them to your pilots and their skills is overwhelming enough as it is. But with effort and determination, would-be wanzer captains will soon start to get a feel for what works on the field of battle, and that"s when the game really clicks.

They"ll also enjoy a load of other stuff, like the ability to participate in and gamble on one-on-one arena encounters, to earn money for parts. Or, since the game is modelled on the PSone re-release of the SNES original, the ability to play through a second single-player campaign (which tells the story from the side of the USNC, unlike the original campaign, which features the OCU). Indeed, Front Mission fans will also relish the many minor DS-exclusives too, such as playable characters from later games, along with new parts, new weapons, new areas, and new missions.

Not a ton to talk about here, but here"s why Aim-Body is better than RoF III. Let"s say a gun has 12 bursts in every attack, and, for the purposes of this thought exercise, let"s say that the bursts are evenly distributed over the four body parts. Therefore, for each normal attack, an average of three attacks hit the body. If RoF III triggers, that means the number of bursts is doubled, so six attacks would be expected to hit the body. Aim-Body, on the other hand, directs every attack at the body, meaning that all twelve shot will strike the body. Now, I don"t think the distribution of shots is quite that even, but unless shots are more than twice as likely to hit the body as other parts, Aim-Body comes out ahead.

There are very few companies (if any) that have the same amazing track record as Square. The company manages to kick out a game every couple of months that consistently hits the high-quality mark, without it ever seeming like they actually are kicking them out. With the company"s latest strategy RPG, they yet again show that equally blended strategy and role-playing elements can pay off. Front Mission 3 contains the same amazing attraction that kept gamers glued to their TV"s with Final Fantasy Tactics. Sure, the story may be a little too politically driven for the casual RPG gamer, but when you factor in Japan"s greatest gift to the world, you can just focus on the on-screen action.

That"s right, I"m talking about mechas. Big, lumbering, loaded to the gills with all kinds of weapons, badass, 100-ton machines of justice abound here, and I couldn"t be happier. Front Mission 3 is a mech fanboy"s wet dream. It"s chock full of mech-on-mech action (get your mind out of the gutter ¿ pervert), combined with Square"s great eye for pacing and story, and topped off with a thick icing of sweet, sweet graphic goodness. Trust me, if you can"t find something to like about this game, you"re nuts.

So what"s the hook? There"s always a hook with Square games. Whether it is the amazing CG, thrilling story, or tight control, something will grab you. Well, Front Mission 3"s hook is the gameplay, or rather the insane amount of it. Square promises over 150 hours of gameplay, and it"s all amazingly packed into 1 CD. Now before you start freaking out, let me explain. Early on in the game (very early in fact, shortly after a great tutorial), you"re given a choice: do you do with a friend or not? The decision you make will spiral you down into one of two stories, and while the two parts do cross throughout the game, the real meat of the story will take place in each of the two scenarios, and to get the big picture, you"ll have to play both parts.

First and foremost, Front Mission 3 is all about strategy. You"re constantly weighing your options in the hopes of striking some sort of balance between available resources, your mechs" (called Wanzers) strengths and weaknesses, and the enemy"s strengths and weaknesses. While it may seem this constant monitoring of what"s on hand would be tedious, it"s actually quite intuitive, and fits in perfectly with the robot-oriented world. Each of the Wanzers body parts (arms, legs, and torso) has a separate amount of HP, and can be upgraded with more, as well as enhanced with all the usual powerups (defense, strength, speed, etc.). There"s literally an upgrade or option for even the most anal and detail-crazed gamer out there. In fact, FM3 offers a whole virtual Internet that could have been a game in and of itself. There"s a whole other set of unlockable wallpapers (for your virtual desktop, of course), vehicles, side stories, even the most powerful Wanzer in the game is buried somewhere in the game"s Internet. Hell, you can even bookmark certain "pages" and the whole thing is done in a sort of 3D/2D hybrid interface. Sound cool? It is.

Story aside, if you play Front Mission 3 for any extended period of time, you"ll soon discover one of the greatest turn-based combat systems in games today. Not because of the actual combat itself necessarily (which is as fantastic to watch as it is to execute), but because of the ease in which it"s pulled off. Weapon switches, targeting, movement, attacks, counter attacks and more. They"re all executed seamlessly through the interface, and in an intuitive way that I haven"t seen done since Final Fantasy tactics. Other developers take note this is how you organize an incredibly deep system into an easy-to-use interface. Like so many games of it"s ilk, FM3 is easy to pick up, but quickly opens itself up to reveal a much deeper core than first seen.

All of the Wanzers, including enemies have separate parts with separate HP levels, bring an enemy"s right arm HP to 0, and you"ll see it blow or fall off, revealing sparking and smoldering wires dangling from where the appendage used rest. It"s a great effect, and goes a long way towards making these machines look more like extensions of human pilots than slow, clumsy robots.