PSP - Field Commander Recommended

Format
PSP
Publisher
Sony Online Entertainment
Developer
Sony Online Entertainment
Country of origin
US
Release date
Jun 30, 2006
Genre
Strategy RPG

Field Commander

By David Rasmussen
29th Dec 06

When I first looked over associate John Ko’s draft review of this game I thought he put quite abit of large worded expressions into this review which, in retrospect, should be the simpliest thing to write.
Basically if you have Field Commander on your rader there is only one real question you need to ask yourself. One question to cement the need to buy this game, or pass on it.
How much do you love Advanced Wars?

That is not a bad thing, as this game proves, but for the most part Field Commander is just a clone of Advanced Wars, more or less. However unlike Advanced Wars and it’s coloful Galactic Lucky Charms of military forces it seems the people behind the PSP’s Field Commander thrived for a more realistic feel by having bland armies by the name of ATLAS fighting vague terrorists groups with “colorful” enemies that command “colorful” forces with inventive names. That is one of the things that set the game apart, in that you have specific units to command with specific attributes and abilities as opposed to Advanced Wars where all the specific attributes and abilities were in the Commanders you picked (as opposed to the forces).

Another difference is that while Advanced Wars had a healthy pack of vechile options at the start you have a rather limited option here, with your arsenal slowly building as you unlock new vechiles with each completed mission. This is both good and bad. Good in that you have abit more incentive to get through that next map level in order to unlock new armament for your use, bad in that it takes awhile before you start to play with the really interesting stuff (but then again it took awhile before you could start playing with the really interesting stuff in Advanced Wars DS too so that’s par for the course).

Otherwise the two games are carbon copies from the way you move your forces to the way combat is carried out. Sure there are cosmetic differences here and there (for instance you can cripple uncaptured major cities and reduce the amount of time it takes to capture (but also end up reducing the amount of money you earn from it per round)) but these small additions can’t hide the fact that you are playing for the most part the same game as Advanced Wars. Field Commander just looks prettier.

Still, that is not to say that the game is bad. Far from it. Field Commander, for the PSP, is one of the best turn based strategy games you can get for the PSP right now. Heads and shoulders above less sterling PSP games like Lord of the Rings Tactics, Field Commander brings a real sense of strategy and technique as you face each enemy and each situation with a fresh page and new tactics that require you to really give each move a chess masters’ thought as you move your forces forward towards either destroying all opposition or capturing your enemies’ stronghold HQ (again another comparison to Advanced Wars).

The game is pretty, far prettier than it’s Advanced Wars counterpart. And there is a full clip of voice acting in this game to also note, and they actually do a decent enough job with that. Add to that the nice arsenal which does serve to entertain and the successful Advanced Wars game mechanics that keep you blasting enemy forces and capturing resources for hours on end and you have yourself a nice game.

The game is, though, not as full as Advanced Wars DS. In exchange for the amped graphics and so forth you’ll find the game lacks in the massive amount of playable maps that Advanced Wars DS sports. And while this game does feature a map editor for custom maps it doesn’t offer any really major sized ultra maps ala Advanced Wars DS from what I’ve seen of it. Finally I miss the shop that Advanced Wars DS had which offered purchasable maps and commanders. That would have been a far better extra over the kinda bland extra this game sports. Still, at the end of the day when you consider picking up a solidly done turn based game on the PSP then you can’t go wrong with this one. A must have for those people who have either played and loved Advanced Wars or is just looking for a better “mousetrap” of a turn based strategy that is ahead of lesser games out on the PSP now. Recommended for any PSP owner looking for an interesting game for his/her travel case to keep them occupied for hours on end.
And I don’t think I can emphasis that anymore so no need for the breakdown this one time out. Nuff said!

-- David Rasmussen 29th Dec 06

PSP Field Commander Images