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| | Title:
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
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System:
Playstation 2
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Genre:
Flight Action
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Publisher:
Namco
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Developer:
Namco
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Release:
April 25, 2006
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
Rating Pending (RP)
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Since the 90's, Ace Combat has been the leader in flight simulation—for consoles. There’s a plethora of amazing flight simulators (flight sims, for short) available on the PC. However, many PC gamers would be ready to tell you that Ace Combat isn’t really a flight sim. They would be partially right. If you don’t own a PC or don’t have one capable of playing today’s choice games, then pick up your PS2 controller and strap in! Since the dawn of Top Gun, gamers have had a craving for the blue skies and Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan Wars delivers the missiles! Although it isn’t a true-to-form flight simulator, it is arguably the best that any console has to offer at this time. Six games later, it still proves that it will probably stay that way!
There are plenty of people out there who would love to slam the Playstation 2 by telling you that it isn’t the most powerful system, the hardware is shoddy, and you just won’t get the resolution and frame rate that other same-generation consoles are getting. I’m here to tell you that they are dead wrong. If God of War and Shadow of Colossus weren’t an indication, then load up Ace Combat and prepare for some amazing visuals and pristine gameplay. First, look around at the pre-rendered backgrounds, and then take a look at the styling of your jet. It’s nothing short of amazing for what may be considered an inferior machine. The styling and textures are superb. You can easily see how much time and effort went into ensuring that Ace Combat Zero looked as good as it played. Although it isn’t too much different visually than number 5, it’s still very pretty. ‘Don’t fix what isn’t broken.’
Ace Combat Zero not only looks good, but it also provides a very interesting and plausible story. The story truly affects you. It makes you feel as if your accomplishments and victories are truly shaping the world that you are flying in—and we wouldn’t want it any other way. As fun as just blasting through a gorgeous landscape and blowing up any enemy bird is, having an engaging and involved story really sets the tone and momentum for the game. Sure, the voice-overs and text could use some work, but it’s definitely more than adequate. You’ll want nothing more than to save nations and stop any threats.
Namco apparently listened to the chief complaint from past titles: multiplayer. With 7 playable levels and a wide range of options for each, they not only listened, they expounded. From one-on-one dogfights, to cooperative campaigns, multiplayer is even better than expected. Although it only offers two-player split screen, you probably won’t care. Flying with a “wing-man” is much more fun than flying solo. You might want to watch the clock if you have an appointment, time goes by pretty fast when you’re having this much fun.
For those of you who haven’t played a flight simulator on a console before, prepare for a generous learning curve. Although the game provides some stellar controls and dead-on accuracy, it may take you awhile to get the hang of maneuvering your jet. Wanna-be Maverick’s out there must be able to master a wide range of tactics, from banking and rolling, to throttling up and down between swarms of enemies and allies alike. If you don’t learn to dog fight, stay off the porch. Once you are able to master the controls, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well the mechanics come together. Blasting threw ghastly amounts of enemy aircraft, barrel rolling through heat seeking missiles, and whipping past enemy bombers will delight the player throughout each and every mission.
That’s only half the battle. Many of your missions will have you engaging ground targets. Now you have new threats to deal with. Guiding your jet through a gauntlet of surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft rounds, all the while trying to land your air-to-surface munitions is extremely fun and truly rewarding. But don’t forget to look to the skies, too - you may find that you have bogeys on your six!
Oh, you’ll be tested. Certain missions will reward your bravery by sending an enemy “Ace” to destroy you. And these boys can fly! Don’t worry; they won’t be sneaking up on your 5 o’ clock. Each mission that sports an Ace will have a cut-scene intro to your newest and possibly greatest threat. These predators of the skies have some wicked cool aircrafts and some state-of-the-art weaponry—and they won’t show any mercy. If Ace Combat Zero wasn’t difficult enough, having these fly boys and their squadron launch a nasty assault on you really tests your ability and reaction. It’s worth every drop of tension. When you defeat an Ace, the sense of exhilaration and accomplishment is second-to-none.
With the good comes the bad. Nothing is more frustrating than playing 20 minutes into a mission only to be destroyed by an Ace. Regardless of their intro, they seem to come when you least expect it. The use of checkpoints would have been a very ingenious touch! The enemy and allied A.I. has been well done, but your squadron will feel a little useless when fighting an Ace, they’re that good. Perhaps the lack of checkpoints was to really test your endurance, but they would save some heartache.
Though Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan Wars doesn’t change the formula of its predecessors, it definitely adds to it lovingly. Aside from the minor complaint of checkpoint addition, the multiplayer and mission variety, not to mention the enemy AI, make the game a great leap in the right direction. Veterans of the series should have no complaints as Ace Combat really does provide some great new features and an engaging story.
| The Core Score |
Overall
8.7 |
| Fun |
|
9 |
| Gameplay |
|
9 |
| Graphics |
|
9 |
| Audio |
|
8 |
| Replay |
|
8.5 |
|
| | | |
