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The Lowdown
Pros: Two player tag battles and the ability to play as Alphonse.
Cons: In essence it's a watered down action RPG.
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
 Purchase
at Lik-Sang
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Full Metal Alchemist 2 just hit US shores with a bonus DVD featuring 2
never before seen episodes. Not to be outdone Full Metal Alchemist 3
launched in Japan just two weeks later. FMA 3, like the other two games,
opts to forget the main story line and add in a whole extra episode.
This time Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse meet a mysterious girl
named Sophie who has a haunting past. As she's about to be frozen by a
group of new villains, Edward jumps in. He's easily bested by Leonard
who has the power to create icicles. It's Sophie that saves Edward when
she emits a huge light that can be seen throughout the metropolis Ed, Al
and Winry are in. Fans of the series will enjoy newly animated scenes
and the familiar Japanese voice cast from the anime.If you've played
Full Metal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixir, you have a fairly
good idea of how Full Metal Alchemist 3 plays. Racjin, still has the
game designed as an action RPG. You use square to perform a melee
attack, normally a flurry of punches and kicks. Triangle does a more
damaging attack, where Ed will launch a foe straight up in the air with
an open metal blade uppercut. Holding back or pressing forward on the
analog stick while pressing triangle can give different moves, like
having Ed lunge towards an enemy. Circle is used for alchemy, where Ed
or Al can call upon a wave of earth to appear. Charging circle for
different spells is gone, instead you just hold L2 to open up an alchemy
menu with different spell options.
The idea of interactive environments hasn't left the series. Ed can
still transmute an ordinary crate into a giant spring or a pile of metal
girders to a house full of explosive mice. Most of the alchemy tricks
introduced in FMA 2 return in FMA 3. Because of this transmutation isn't
as interesting as it was originally, but it still needs to be mastered
to finish the game. With the new character switch system, Alphonse
can be used to transmute objects with different results. A handy indicator
right next to the object will indicate what the result will be for Ed or
Alphonse. For instance a giant barrel can be transmuted
into a wind cannon by Ed or an ax by Al. The system gives players a
couple more options, but it's not something to tax your brain over.
Whatever you transmute is going to be helpful.
Besides having different magic tricks both of the brothers are useful
in different situations. Since Alphonse is encased in armor he can walk
right through flames that would damage Ed. Even though Edward is flesh
and blood his small stature is quite useful. He can craw into vents
Metal Gear Solid style and edge up against a wall to cross narrow
platforms. The game encourages you to switch characters in combat too
because only the character you control will increase their special
attack gauge. Unlike a lot of action games, the special attack meter
takes awhile to fill up. When it is full you can press circle + triangle
to unleash an ultimate attack. Edward can call up huge fists made of
earth and Alphonse transmutes a giant column that is used to hit
surrounding enemies. Special attacks clear the screen of your basic foe
and nearly obliterate boss monsters.
The two player system was touted as the main new feature in Full
Metal Alchemist 3, but it's nothing to write home about. You can't play
with someone else during story mode. Only vertically split screen tag
battles allow a second person to join in. Tag battles are pretty much an
arena fight where you and a friend (or a computer partner) enter a
constant battle. Your fighting performance is scored and high scores can
unlock gallery pictures. What is neat about the tag battle is you can
play other characters besides Edward and Alphonse. Roy Mustang and Riza
Hawkeye are also playable with another character we won't spoil. It's a
first to be able to play as them. Tag battle is a good addition, but the
question remains why not make the story mode two players too?
It's not like Racjin was busy making new graphics or game elements
for FMA 3. Almost all of the concepts from FMA 3 are from Curse of the
Crimson Elixir. The alchemy transmutations, background objects and even
some of the levels are cutouts from the last game. Just how many times
do Ed and Al need to enter an underground sewer anyway? Racjin thinks
once just isn't enough. FMA 3 is really more like Full Metal Alchemist
2.5 with a new story. Thankfully, the story is all new with a bunch of
all new animated scenes. While it may please Full Metal Alchemist fans,
there's a lot of room for presentation improvement on Racjin's side.
If you've pushed through the first and second games you know what to
expect in Full Metal Alchemist 3. It's an action RPG that caters to fans
of the series, even though it's not a stellar game.
If you're trying to comprehend the story you're out of luck. The
game doesn't have furigana over kanji. Although, you can easily play the
game without understanding Japanese at all. The controls are simple
enough to pick up. If you know katakana playing the title will be even
easier, since you can read most of the keywords and item names.
US Bound?
It's a shoe in for a US release, probably in summer 2006.
Overall
Even though it's far from perfect, fans of the series can't go wrong
with purchasing Full Metal Alchemist 3.
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