A week of new Ace Combat 6 info

Day 4: A look back at the world's premier aerial shooter
Words: Brett Elston



Air Combat (PlayStation - 1995)
You are the team leader of an elite corps of mercenaries - fighter
pilots hired to strike where NATO air forces have failed.

It's the summer of 1995. The whole world is eyeballing Sony's
PlayStation, a machine that's supposed to somehow topple videogame
giants Sega and Nintendo. While Sega digs its own grave with a rocket-
powered backhoe, Nintendo sticks to its guns in all the wrong ways,
leaving Sony with a free, open road to success. Part of that initial
success was, without a doubt, Namco's trio of excellent launch titles
- Ridge Racer, Tekken and the original Air Combat.

The first game in the series lacks the polish and shine of the PS2 and
even PSP entries, but there's no denying how thrilling the game was
back in the day. As far as consoles were concerned, this was the first
true realization of jet warfare. You could roam 360 degrees in pursuit
of targets. A hangar of 15 custom-painted aircraft was at your
disposal (provided you had the cash), each one handling differently
and specifically to the plane's real-world design. Taking an A-10 out
for a spin shouldn't be the same as an F-22, and here it wasn't. You
could feel the tank killer's massive, unstoppable girth barely
floating through the air - it was a truly perfect flying experience
for the time. Today, not so much. It's aged as poorly as all the other
32- and 64-bit games, so going back to check it out may or may not
spin your turbines (actually, it won't). But for flight fans, the mix
of arcade fun and just-enough realism would prove potent enough to
last for more than a decade.



Sure, there's barely any story and the plot has nothing to do with any
of the other games in the series, but the goal here was to prove that
(semi) realistic dogfighting was possible on a console. Yeah we know,
jets can't hold 50 missiles at a time or even pull off some of the
aerial stunts these planes do (cutting out of a loop in the wrong
direction, for one), but at the time, this was it.

After the first game, the series was renamed Ace Combat in the US and
began its relative, kinda-sorta continuity that players enjoy today.
Air Combat was also the name of both arcade games that preceded the PS
version - the very first hit arcades in the early '90s and lacked a
great many features that its sequel, Air Combat 22 introduced.

Defining moment
There are two missions near the end of the game that really brought
the sensation of piloting a winged bullet into your hands. The first
has you screaming down a highway and eventually through a red
suspension bridge that leads to the enemy. Blasting across this Golden
Gate look-alike was something we just couldn't do on another system at
the time. Then, one mission later, you're carving a path through a
narrow ravine, unable to ascend beyond the top due to overwhelming SAM
fire. So sweet.




Ace Combat 2 (PlayStation - 1997)
The situation is tense and we have no time to lose. The fate of the
free world is in your hands.

This is exactly what a sequel should be. Nearly twice as many
missions, more jets, wingman control, better graphics, branching paths
and multiple endings awaited those who suited up for another bout in
the sky. Everything from buildings to lighting to the jets themselves
looked and sounded better, and the music was just as exciting as the
previous game. As impressive as the first was, Ace Combat 2 was that
astounding all over again.

The series' overly involved storyline began to take shape here too.
This is the first glimpse at Usea, the battleground for all of Ace
Combat 2 and a continent housing the soon-to-be villainous Erusean
populace. Across the ocean lies the Osean continent, an area that'll
soon be embroiled in war due to aggressive movements from neighboring
Yuktobania.



As fans of the series, we're happy to hear about the exploits of a
fictional globe and its power-hungry warlords, but sometimes you don't
need a history lesson to want to blast jets out of the sky. At least
most games jump from one area of the world to the next, rarely
visiting the same country or continent twice.

Defining moment
Ace 2, already a game of firsts, introduced one more feature that
would stick around for a decade - the Namco-developed super fighter.
After playing through once, you can run through the missions again
with a host of new aircraft, including the XFA-27, a fabricated jet
that outperforms all others. The XFA manages to be futuristic yet
attainable, a theme that would continue throughout the entire series.



Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (PlayStation - 2000)

After the great success of part two, Namco saw fit to totally change
the way Ace Combat was to be perceived. This one took place far into
the future and instead of real world planes, Ace 3 featured make-
believe super jets that don't exist. Even piloting the aircraft was
something out of a sci-fi book - each pilot was essentially entombed
in the plane, surrounded by a solid cockpit interface called COFFIN
(Connection for Flight Interface). Basically, the pilot and jet are
one unit, able to scan 360 degrees of sky at any time. This ability,
to look around the battlefield in any direction, would be carried into
future installments. The control and graphics improved again as well,
making this look almost as good as the PS2 games that followed.

We were willing to look past the setting and out-there design ideas,
but the butchered US release is what made Ace 3 such a disappointment.
In Japan, the game shipped with anime cutscenes, an involved
storyline, more than 50 missions and several helper characters. For
whatever reason, the US release came a year later with no cutscenes,
barely 30 missions and most of the storyline removed. Huh? If it
weren't for the next game in the series, this could have been the end
of Ace Combat.


We're not going to go into Ace Combat Advance at all, but it's worth
mentioning that it returns to the general timeframe that Ace 3
inhabits. It's easily the weakest, least impressive game in the series
(it only briefly touched the hands of key Ace developers) so only the
hardcore should bother. And even then... just play Electrosphere
again.

Defining moment
It's gotta be the space mission. As if the fanciful aircraft weren't
enough, now you get to take one off the whole damn planet. All the
games tend to balance realism with sci-fi craziness, but this one was
pretty out there. Points for letting us slide back into the atmosphere
though - don't get to do that in too many flight games, do you?




Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (PlayStation 2 - 2001)
A world in conflict. An enemy to be reckoned with. An ace pilot ready
to take command.

Ace 04 is the most successful and highest rated game in the series.
While it's easy to think the game's fortunate release period helped it
out (at a time when the PS2 was still getting off the ground), that
wouldn't change how flat-out amazing the entire production was. The
previous three games had performed well, with visuals and gameplay to
match, but 04 made a truly tangible leap in terms of graphics and
presentation. Terrain, even from high altitude, looked convincing, not
just an assemblage of solid-color polygons shoved together. Real-world
sounds from the actual jets made it into the game too, offering a
previously unattainable level of realism (aside from the fact the
planes could carry 50 missiles or so).

The storyline returned to the world introduced in Ace 2, taking
players back to Usea just after a massive asteroid hit the continent.
A massive assortment of railguns has since been built to blast
asteroids out of the sky before they enter the atmosphere - its name
is Stonehenge, and it's already been taken over by the Eruseans. As a
silent member of the Mobius Squadron, it's up to you and your team to
beat back the Eruseans, reclaim Stonehenge and get your ravaged
country back on its feet.


As impressive as the revamped aesthetics were, the game's storytelling
improved just as much. In between each mission you're treated to
flashback, postwar letters that chronicle an orphaned boy's life in an
occupied town. These letters, all addressed to you, tell of an enemy
pilot named Yellow 13, who the boy befriended while living in the
area. Eventually, it's revealed that Yellow 13 is responsible for the
boy's parents' death. This after-the-fact, soothingly calm method of
delivery made the jet action seem all the more intense and managed to
add depth and character to a game where the main stars are supersonic
jets, not people.

Defining moment
Off the top of our head, we'd have to say all of it. The sights, the
sounds, everything was state of the art when the game launched. It was
one of the first PS2 games that made everyone go "are those screens
for real?" The cutscenes were just icing on the cake, giving us a
reason to care about this war without getting heavy handed or
melodramatic. But, if you want to press for an in-game moment that
totally kicked ***, how about the final run at Megalith? Death Star
trench running at its finest.


Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PlayStation 2 - 2004)
When your life can be taken in a split second, your commands must be
taken even faster.

After the immense success of Ace 04, one would assume the next game in
the series would perform admirably. But, for whatever reason, The
Unsung War failed to move consumers in the same way its predecessor
did. The graphics improved, the plot became even denser and improved
wingman controls gave players more control over the battlefield than
any other game in the series, yet sales just didn't match up. Perhaps
it was due to 04's instant leap in technology that made part five seem
like more of the same, but since this point, the series has held its
ground, yet gained little.

With the emphasis placed more on teamwork than a solo jet pilot
superstar, the characters almost take a more central role than the
action. Extensive cinemas tell a Cold War-esque story that's not all
that exciting while your co-pilots **** and moan in the middle of
intense battles. It definitely felt like Namco wanted Unsung War to
add more of everything to 04's plate, but this might have been a case
of too much at once. The over-the-top philosophical loading screens
didn't help much either.


On the other hand, there was perhaps more mission diversification in
this game than 04, be it circling a stadium during a president's
speech or soaring in between skyscrapers with antibiotic, plague-
stopping ammo. An extra arcade mode returned players to the events of
Ace Combat 04, giving the action hearted a place to go with fewer
lines of dialogue and more heat seeking missiles.

All games in the Ace series feature some kind of oversized, sci-fi
super weapon, but Unsung War has two extremely mobile threats to take
out. First are the super-submarines that haunt the early bits of the
game, and then the Arkbird, a high-flying peace machine called into
service for its accurate laser attacks.

Defining moment
Oddly enough, the intro to The Unsung War is perhaps the most
memorable aspect of the game (no disrespect to the main campaign, of
course). Its talk of "demons" and "ghosts" almost convince you that
you're going to have to fly a jet straight into some supernatural
realm - until you hear Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry" song kick in. Musical
taste aside, the song was a good three years old by the time it
appeared in the game, dating this quest before it even began. Funny
also because the game's supposed to take place in 2010. They behind
the times or what?



Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PlayStation 2 - 2006)
Defend the country of Ustio against an enemy that is smarter, faster
and deadlier than any that have come before.

Less than two years after The Unsung War hit shelves, we were treated
to yet another dosage of air-to-air action. The short turnaround time
and perceived lack of upgrades made Zero one of the least successful
titles in the series. We say it's one of the best - roaming packs of
rival aces patrol the skies, ready to throw down with pilots and jets
that give even the swiftest of players a run for their money. The new
Ace Style Gauge made it so your in-game decisions actually affected
what happened later on. Each mission had three possible ranks
(Soldier, Knight and Mercenary), and whichever rank you achieved would
change dialogue, amount of info revealed at the end and bits about the
rival pilots themselves.

As far as the story goes, Zero tries to mix the flashbacky tales of 04
with live-action actors and the result is... bizarre. It's cool to
hear about these hot shot pilots 10 years after the war's over and
done, but live action? Really? At least the performances are averagely
acceptable or there'd be even bigger problems.


But even with a trio of possible outcomes and some tough-as-nails
dogfights, Zero didn't grab much attention. Maybe it's because it was
released so soon after five with a similar subtitle (both are The
[insert word] War), or perhaps it was due to the imminent arrival of
next-gen systems, who knows. In our humble opinion, if you've gotta
check out one Ace before the sixth hits, make it this one. It's mostly
like the others, but Zero crams in a good portion of what makes the
series fun.

Defining moment
How about three super weapons? A laser-belching tower harasses you
early on, then it's another flying fortress patrolled by expert aces,
and then the final battle is a laser-mounted jet that can only be
damaged through the exhaust ports. You want a tough fight, try that
last one.



Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (PSP - 2006)
Take control of the skies

If Ace Zero was too much too soon, then what is there to make of this
one, released mere months later? It gets points for being the first
true Ace on a handheld, and it brings in new areas of the map for the
storyline buffs, but the moderate additions don't affect much of the
gameplay. A tactical map livens things up though, providing more ways
to get to the end of this rather short mission set. As with most of
the games, you can play through again to see different paths, and a
few hidden bonuses make for great shout-outs to eagle-eyed fans.

The biggest feature here was ad-hoc multiplayer, the first time more
than two at a time could blast each other out of the sky. But it was
local only, meaning you had to get four friends with copies of their
own to all sit down in the same place. Bluh. That's where Fires of
Liberation comes in, with its Xbox Live support.


Some of the planes in Ace X have upgradeable parts, so there's a
little bit of extra play if you travel down that road. Still, we
thrashed the whole game in two hours without buying a single part, so
it would seem tweaking your plane is more of a cosmetic fling than a
necessity.

Defining moment
Most definitely the multiplayer. The solo game plays just like all the
others, minus a second analog stick, so the only innovation you'll
find is in a four way deathmatch. That said, the secret battle against
Ace Combat 2 vet Scarface is a shocking fanboy moment of joy.