The tactical RPG . . . you’re either a fan of this turn-based role-playing strategy genre or don’t care for it at all but the fact that this genre still has a following says a lot.  Thanks to the PS2’s entertaining La Pucelle Tactics and the excellent Gladius for the Xbox there’s a new gaming alternative for hardcore gamers to try out.  Joining the ranks is Future Tactics: The Uprising, a game that offers a little something unique.  Will this be the game that will win tactical RPG fans over?  Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

The Uprising tells the story of a band of human resistance fighters that live in a nightmarish future where human civilization as we know it is reduced to practically nothing thanks to an alien invasion.  As a result of all the destruction and death, surviving humans are forced to move from place to place in fear that these aliens, known as Creatures here, would kill them.  The story is seen mostly through the eyes of a man named Low and his little sister Pepper.  Having learned survival and combat skills from their father, we participate in the story that unfolds.  Sadly, while this is a good setup for a really good story, it hardly gets any interesting even after the game’s first two chapters that deal with Low and Pepper loosing their father.

Okay, so already you get an idea that the game isn’t perfect and I’ve got more to gripe about but we’ll get to it in a minute.  The game just happens to possess a few features that make this game quite unique and, for the most part, they’re done excellently.  You start the game playing as Low and his old man as you go up against one tough boss Creature and what might seem like an endless supply of weak dynamite-carrying Creatures.  You can move around the massive environment somewhat freely as long as it’s within the specified boundary that limits you from crossing rows of small green spheres.  The game also gives you to option to look around in first-person mode, attack and finish a turn.

The battles that take place within the map are indeed turn-based in nature.  When you’re within view of an enemy, you can switch the quick menu to a targeting icon that quickly becomes an aiming reticule.  Aiming can be a bit tricky and just a bit difficult to get over an enemy and when you manage to target them with line of sight weapons you must make two lines cross close to the center of the crosshair for maximum damage.  How close the lines are to the center determines the aiming percentage.  Ninety-five percent and higher leads to a double shot that really does some damage.  When you’re finished you end your specific character’s turn by resting, healing or putting up a shield.  Make plenty of damage or defeat a number of enemies and your experience goes up and thus upgrades your shooting ability and aim.  The nice part is that if you die in battle, you get to keep all the new experience gained during that lost fight.

On to the bad parts then because Future Tactics has many of them.  The battles, while interesting and occasionally fun once you have other characters in your party, become repetitive very quickly.  This repetitive cycle becomes almost too unbearable because the game doesn’t really throw anything interestingly new at gamers.  The turn-based action can also become really tedious since enemies sometimes seem to take so long to make a move and when they do move its also just as slow.  How slow, you might ask?  Slow enough that I had time to make a salad and make fresh squeezed lemonade and come back just in time for my turn.  Yes, it can be that frustratingly slow and that’s bad since many of the battles are pretty fun.

Because the game’s battles move slowly, the story takes a backseat and thus doesn’t give gamers a real incentive to continue playing.  What actually does help things a bit is the fact that you can play this game against a friend (or a group of ten in total if you’re into System Link play).  This actually does work far better than the Story mode because the single-player mode possesses the most unintelligent enemies.  At least a friend can think up better strategies that could give you quite a challenge.

I have to admit that I was drawn to the game’s graphics, particularly the high-polygon characters that look straight out of a bizarrely drawn Cartoon Network original animated series.  They’re colorful and move like a cartoon both during cut scenes and during the gameplay.  In fact, everything about the game’s visual presentation screams out cartoon . . . as does the animated violence.  This actually isn’t bad at all and it would have been enjoyable had the environments been more detailed and not incredibly plain.  The environments are boring to look at even though you can alter it thanks in part to Red Faction-like Geo-Mod technology that allows you to leave craters or even destroy village houses.

Sound-wise, the game’s voice acting is handled fairly well and the accents lead you to believe that the game takes place in England’s distant future.  You’ll hear your characters during the battle but only if you just happen to get a ninety-five or higher aiming percentage.  The game’s score is composed of lively beats and flute playing when it’s the good guy’s turn to make a move and a comically dramatic tempo for the bad guys.  It’s played throughout the whole game so expect to hear it over and over again.  Fortunately for us, it doesn’t get annoying.  There’s also sound effects but they’re generic and, well, boring.

Future Tactics: The Uprising is often enjoyable and actually unique in its own way but its repetitive nature and slow turned-based movements will just leave you too frustrated to continue playing.   There’s not even a compelling story to drive gamers into seeing this through to the very end and that’s really a shame since the game does have its shining moments of agreeable scenarios.  Still, at its bargain price, this is a good way to introduce the tactical RPG genre to younger gamers.   

Gameplay: 6.0
As far as tactical RPGs are concerned, Future Tactics gameplay is interestingly distinctive and is easy to get into from the very beginning.  The aiming mechanics are a bit tricky at first but before long its not hard to get headshots at about a ninety or higher percent aim.  Still, the battles quickly become repetitive and really boring considering the game seldom changes the take-out-the-big-boss formula.

Graphics: 7.2
While it might not have the sharpest or most beautifully rendered graphics for a Xbox title, Future Tactics a lively and unique look that actually works.  The cartoon quality makes for some interesting looking characters that move and react in true animated fashion during cut scenes and during the game’s many battles.  Sadly, the environments look very dull despite the fact that you can blow boulders to pieces or even blow a crater on the ground and use it as cover.

Sound: 7.0
The dialogue might not be the best but the English accents are done accurately.  The game’s score is decent enough, although extremely repetitive but it doesn’t become too tiresome.   The poor sound effects are the biggest disappointment since good effects would have gone hand-in-hand with the cartoon visuals.

Difficulty: Medium
Despite the unintelligent enemy AI there’s some challenge to be found on the battlefield.  One really intense battle comes in the game’s second Episode where Low and Pepper must deal with a catapult that seems to toss an endless supply of Creatures at them.  The challenge doesn’t come from the fact that they are overwhelmed by the number of enemies but the fact that they can move quite a distance on the map itself.  For the most part, though, taking out the much weaker enemy is not hard at all.

Concept: 6.8
The aliens-versus-human resistance theme isn’t a new game concept but at least its introduced properly.  The aliens, though, don’t feel as menacing as they should, though, and the story doesn’t raise any eyebrows or keep gamers interested for very long.  The fact that there are up to eighteen characters to take control of and the fact that you get to keep your newly gained experience even after you died in the battle that gained you the experience doesn’t save the game from repetitiveness but its well appreciated nonetheless

Multiplayer: 6.5
Quite possibly the only thing that will keep gamers from continuing to play this game, the multiplayer mode is fit for up to two players using a single Xbox and up to ten using System Link.  The game allows you to play as any of the 18 heroes or take up the role of the aliens and that’s pretty sweet.  It’s the basic deathmatch-styled multiplayer battle but its fun since battling against a friend is a lot better than taking on unintelligent computer-controlled characters.  The game is also Xbox Live Aware -- meaning the game will recognize that you’re a Xbox Live gamer and keep you updated.  Too bad, this would have made a decent Xbox Live multiplayer game.

Overall: 6.7
Xbox gamers looking for a fantastic tactical RPG will be let down by Future Tactics: The Uprising.  This is actually too bad since the genre isn’t exactly crowded.  The game has many enjoyable moments and I did like the characters, but it isn’t enough to save a game that just outstays its welcome.  Still, if you have young gamer in your house that you’d love to introduce this genre to then you might want to consider this one (it’s even priced just right).