Front Mission 3

Front Mission 3 for PlayStation is a turn-based tactical role-playing game developed by Square and released in Japan in 1999, followed by North American and European releases in 2000. Known as Front Mission Third in Japan, it was the third numbered game in Square's mecha strategy series and the first Front Mission released outside Japan. The story places military technology, political conflict, and towering combat machines called Wanzers at the center of a near-future thriller, while its PlayStation presentation combines 3D battlefield maps, animated battles, dialogue scenes, and pre-rendered cinematics.

The adventure opens in October 2112 with Japanese wanzer test pilot Kazuki Takemura and his friend Ryogo Kusama caught up in an explosion at a Japan Defense Force installation. What begins as a delivery job rapidly turns into a flight from accusations of terrorism and a pursuit of the stolen MIDAS weapon. The cast crosses a tense Southeast Asian political landscape shaped by the Oceania Cooperative Union, the People's Republic of Da Han Zhong, the United States of the New Continent, and regional insurgencies. Rather than treating its giant machines as superhero hardware, the game frames Wanzers as configurable military equipment used in a conflict with personal and international consequences.

A decision near the beginning creates Front Mission 3's Double Feature Scenario. Going with Ryogo or declining his invitation leads to different campaign routes, supporting characters, and perspectives on the wider conspiracy. One route introduces USN-linked scientist Emma Klamsky, while the other brings Kazuki's sister Alisa and DHZ agent Liu Hei Fong into sharper focus. The two stories share some places and events, but they are built to be played as distinct campaigns rather than as a single short detour. This branching structure gives the PlayStation game two substantial narrative paths through the same unsettled world.

Missions play out on square-based maps in alternating player and enemy phases. Pilots spend Action Points to move, attack, or carry out other actions, then recover AP as turns pass. Objectives can involve eliminating opposition, protecting an ally, or reaching a particular goal, so positioning matters as much as raw firepower. Units may also use Links: with the right pilot skills and weapon setup, allied Wanzers can join an attack with supporting actions. Combat targets individual machine sections, making the condition of a torso, arms, legs, and weapons important, and the game also allows pilots to leave disabled machines or take over another wanzer under the right battlefield circumstances.

Between sorties, Front Mission 3 lets players assemble a squad and tune each Wanzer from purchasable parts and armaments. Chassis sections, defensive protection, weapons, mobility options, and other equipment shape a machine's role; remodeling can improve such qualities as armor coating, weapon accuracy, jumping ability, or movement on flat ground. Pilot development is tied to equipment use as well as combat: skills can be learned from installed parts and then assigned through a wanzer's battle computer. This makes the intermission screen more than a shop, since the choice of components influences both a unit's tactics and the abilities its pilot may acquire.

The PlayStation release also expands the series' fictional Network feature into an in-game computer system. Players can browse web-style pages, read and send email, inspect files, and uncover background material that adds context to the setting. Its Battle Simulator supplies repeatable virtual exercises for training pilot proficiencies outside the main story, while the world map gradually opens new destinations as the campaign advances. With its two-route campaign, detailed Wanzer workshop, and emphasis on turn-based squad combat, Front Mission 3 remains a defining PlayStation entry in Square's long-running Front Mission series.