View the back cover, a photo of the bonus Trading Arts figure, and screenshots on the main NCSX site.

NCS Game Notes
* The intro to the game shows the Square Enix logo before it fades into a cloud bank. The camera breaks through to take in an island and then a metropolis of towering buildings on the island. The view switches to a crowded park and then to a young boy named Walter Feng who's riding through a path and panting as his legs pump up and down on the pedals. He stops in front of a massive video screen which is advertising a bike - the same bike that he's riding. Two friends greet him and they all run to an area where one boy puts down a camera and sets it on auto timer to take a photo of themselves in a moment of calm. Immediately after the click of the shutter, a massive explosion thunders in the background and Wanzers enter the city and face off against helicopters that strafe low and attack the invading force. The camera focuses on Wanzers trudging though the city streets with their red visors weaving trails in the air and the three boys run away as OCU and USN forces battle. Walter remembers his bike and runs back to get it when a Wanzer skirts in and knocks him to the ground with a shock wave. His friends cry out "Walter" and one boy rushes in to cover the him as bullet shells drop from the Wanzer... camera out. A voice over begins which explains Walter's predicament, the situation in Front Mission 5, and the drama about to commence...

* Upon pressing START, the following options appear:

NEW GAME / Start a new adventure with Walter Feng
LOAD GAME / Resume game from memory card
CONTINUE / Reload save data from memory card
OPTIONS / Set sound, indicators, color schemes, toggle speech, etc
THEATER / View saved movie markers from memory card
FRONT MISSION ONLINE / View a preview of FMO with action sequences and English voice-overs

* Select NEW GAME and the chronology starts at Aug 22, 2086 14:09 at an OCU Residential Area known as Peseta City. Two soldier grunts are helping a third grunt escape from an area. One of the soldier helping his wounded counterpart is Walter Feng, with the patchy scar on his left side of his face. He receives a communications message and spies a group armed malcontents approaching the area where he and his two mates are hiding. As they near, Walter finds that his rifle is depleted and throws it away in disgust. With no weaponry in sight, he looks down and is about to give up the ghost when OCU robots march into the city from the other side and face the rowdy group of malcontents. After commanding them to surrender, the lead Wanzer eagle spies his comrades on the ground and fires warning shots into the air. The malcontents back away from the thunderous sounds and retreat quickly. Walter Feng stays to welcome his OCU Wanzer pilot mates and the lead eagle is one of his friends from childhood who still has the childhood photo from the cinematic intro pinned to the side of his Wanzer cockpit. The scene changes to OCU headquarters where the base is a beehive of activity. Walter and friend Randy O'Neill walk into the area with rucksacks in tow. They stop in front of a garage with Wanzer robots inside and walk in to take in the sights of massive robots in repose as men walk around.

* March 02, 2090 - Training Area, Fort Monus Base. Walter reports to the Wanzer training area where he learns elementary movement basics and attacks. After moving to the first designated area, he'll face a mech and fire at close range to do damage. The movement phase is shown on an isometric grid where two commands for movement (rotating blue square) and attack (rotating red square) are selected. During the movement phase, you'll have to select the target square and then click on the "RETURN" arrow on the bottom of the submenu to activate the movement.

* When an attack is being executed, the camera shifts to a close-up view of both Wanzers as the attacker pounds out the hurt on the target. Camera angles vary to show interesting perspectives and shots. If you're directly adjacent to a target, it will have the chance to counterattack your offensive with a close-range punch. As a Wanzer is damaged by gunfire and melee attacks, its armor will begin smoldering and smoking from the effects of busted up parts inside. Limbs may also go missing which limit the attacks that the Wanzer may carry out.

* The movement phase may be controlled through the d-pad or the L-analog while the R-analog spins the camera around the tactical map for a look-see at nooks and crannies. The SQUARE button brings up the weapon select menu, O summons the movement/attack options, and TRIANGLE brings up the status of the Wanzer. The "X" button reverts to the last menu selection screen.

* Three months after the training mission, Walter meets up with fellow cadets in the Briefing Room. To exit from the Briefing Room, hit the X button but the only other available locale that is open is the Operations Room. All of the other parts of the Command Center are off-limits at this juncture.

* To progress, talk to Randy thrice and you'll advance to a lecture where the cadets all congratulate each other in making the cut. Walter and Randy glad hand each other and they're soon apprised of a theater of conflict that they're about to be sent into. A map details the tactical overview and the location of the mission.

* June 10, 2090 - 20km SW of Peseta City. The first mission finds Walter and recent graduates all inside Wanzers amidst a desert setting. Randy seems dour and Walter looks at the photo of his three childhood friends pinned to the side of the Wanzer cockpit. As they begin their march into the OCU Huffman Border, mission objectives are outlined on a tactical map. Before entering the mission, your progress up to this point may be saved to memory card in case your first outing is a bust. Walter and fellow pilot Damon face off against a cadre of enemy mechs at a broken border wall. Walter will invariably trade punches with enemy Wanzers while Damon launches rockets at nearby foes. Walter and Damon each have two healing kits to repair Wanzer armor. The key to success in this mission is to protect Damon because his rockets are capable of hitting the fourth Wanzer who only closes in when his three fellows are destroyed. His range of movement is greater than Walter's so he can continually evade and gun if Damon is destroyed early in the level.

* More NCS Game Notes to follow.