Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies for PlayStation 2

Ace Combat 4 is an excellent flight game that blends console gameplay with features found in PC flight simulators. The graphics are top notch, with real-looking planes and environments. And although the controls are geared towards console gamers, even discriminating flight sim fans will find this game loads of fun as I did.

The game takes place in a fictional setting, but all the aircraft, weapons, and cities resemble those of the modern world. As the story goes, a war has broken out over the control of a large continent. The ISAF forces (the ?good-guys") are initially being driven back by the Erusians, who seek to conquer the entire continent. The story is told through the single-player campaign with anime-style illustrations. It?s actually a good story and I liked the ending as well.

Ace Combat 4 has several modes of play including a 2-player versus mode. But the focus of the game is on its single-player campaign made-up of 18 missions. Before each mission, the player must choose a plane to fly and the appropriate weapons to take into battle. (Additional planes and weapons must be bought.) When a mission starts, all required goals must be completed successfully within a time limit. Besides keeping the game challenging, time limits help to guarantee each mission flows along in a fast pace. But I would argue that other mission-based games such as X-Wing Alliance for the PC are still quite challenging and fast-paced without imposing time limits on every mission. Thankfully, most of the missions give ample time to complete minimum requirements without too much difficulty. When time runs out, the mission ends. Following a brief replay of the action, the player?s score is ranked and money is awarded. Higher rankings from higher scores yield more money, and in some cases, unlock secret planes.

At the start of the game, the player is given the F-4 Phantom fighter. It?s a decent fighter, but for later missions, it?s downright obsolete. As the single-player campaign progresses, more planes and weapon systems can be bought with the money that accumulates from successful missions. Each of the 21 planes handle differently with their own strengths and weaknesses. Depending on the mission, it is important to choose the right plane for the job. Some planes are better for air-to-air combat while others are geared for ground attack. A few such as the F/A-18 are generally good in all situations. Some of the other planes are: A-10, Tornado, F-14C, F-15E, F-22, F-117, EF2000, R-01, Mig29A, Su-37, and the S-37.

Missions in Ace Combat 4 are well designed and varied. They can be any of the following: intercepting enemy fighters, protecting friendly aircraft, attacking naval forces, bombing airfields, and even shooting down cruise missiles. Many of the missions have multiple goals where the player must complete one goal before the next goal is revealed. The commanding officer's voice will come on the radio and direct the player to the next task accordingly.

Should the player run out of missiles, or take too much damage during a mission; he can always return to his airfield or aircraft carrier to re-arm and repair. Although the player can return to base as many times as he wants; doing so costs time, so players should take this into account accordingly. The airfield or aircraft carrier is always located to the south of the combat zone.

GAMEPLAY: Ace Combat 4 can be played from 3 different views: the chase, or 3rd person view (right behind the player?s aircraft), the 1st person view (inside the 3D cockpit), and the HUD-view (a full, unobstructed view). The HUD (heads-up-display) is well designed and conveys important information like altitude, speed, radar, weapons, etc. The HUD is displayed not just in the full ?HUD-view" but also in the other views as well. This makes playing in 3rd person extremely enjoyable since the player can see his aircraft and fly it proficiently with all the information the HUD provides.

Ace Combat 4?s best feature is its addictive and exhilarating gameplay. Combat against enemy fighters is especially fun since enemy pilots can be quite tough in this game. The player will have to bank, break, and turn hard to stay on enemy fighters and avoid being shot down. Getting a missile lock on enemy planes doesn?t always mean the player?s missiles will find they?re mark. In the higher difficulty levels (expert and ace), most enemy pilots are somewhat adept at avoiding missiles. The player will have to outmaneuver his opponent and wait for the best angle to present itself before letting missiles fly. I found maneuvers which I had learned playing PC simulators work well in Ace Combat 4. Tactics such as: gaining altitude to break; intentionally stalling the aircraft to get behind a fighter; and of course, the ?immelman maneuver" can all be executed with great success.

Ground targets are quite easy to destroy, even if protected by SAMs (surface-to-air-missile batteries). What's difficult is that the player is often required to destroy a lot of ground targets in a short amount of time. As a result, the player must pick appropriate weapons against ground targets. While standard missiles are adequate; bombs, cluster bombs, rockets, and long-range weapons can also be employed for maximum destruction. Some targets are grouped together making an area-effect weapon such as a cluster bomb the best choice. Conversely, ground targets that are spread apart from each other are best attacked with long-range air-to-ground missiles.

Although the flight model isn?t as realistic as many of the PC simulators, Ace Combat 4 uses a flight engine that works extremely well and feels great. Climbing, diving, banking, and turning feel like they should. Most importantly, anyone can easily control the game in a matter of minutes. The game also has features which PC simulators are well known-for such as a free-look and the ?lock-view." The right analog stick controls the player?s view. Moving it in any direction moves the view of the player - it's like a pilot looking around. Pressing down and holding the triangle button will cause the view to instantly ?lock" or stay fixed on the currently selected target - extremely helpful in a tight dogfight.

Enemy fighters outnumber the player most of the time, and there are lots of secondary targets as well. Players that seek a high score by destroying more enemies (which leads to more money and unlocking secrets), must be careful to keep mission goals in mind. Although wingmen are present in the game, they are of no use since the player can?t direct them in any fashion. As a result, the player must always be careful of how much time is left for a mission. Missions that end unsuccessfully are often the result of the player spending too much time fighting enemy planes and other forces rather than focusing on mission goals. But, as I have found, the missions can be quite easy if the player knows what to do and when to do it.

To help scale the challenge, the game has several difficulty modes: very easy, easy, normal, hard, expert, and ace. (Expert and ace difficulties must be unlocked.) The skill of enemy pilots, the sensitivity of SAM silos, and the accuracy of AA guns increase as the difficulty is raised. The ?normal" difficulty setting is probably best for most people. It?s not too hard, but still keeps things challenging throughout the single-player campaign. Other modes of play include ?Trial Missions," which are basically time-attack scenarios, and a 2-player versus mode where friends can dogfight against each other via a split screen.

GRAPHICS: Ace Combat 4 looks amazing. It?s probably one of the more ?real" looking games for the PS2. The terrain below generally looks great when fighting from on high. At lower altitudes, the fuzziness of the textures becomes more apparent, but that?s excusable for the shear size of the environments. Whether effects such as rain, snow and clouds look and act realistically. When the player?s aircraft makes a hard turn, air distortions are clearly visible. The playable aircraft look astonishingly real with great detail and expert modeling. Flaps, elevators, ailerons, and rudders animate according to the player?s maneuvers. Even the engines and afterburner effects look great. Playing from the 1st person view shows each plane?s 3D cockpit which is also well modeled.

SOUND: Generally, the sound is pretty good. Explosions, the thunder of the engines, cannon fire, all sound decent. The voice-overs from fellow wingmen, commanding officers, enemy pilots, etc. sound especially well acted.

CONCLUSION: Ace Combat still stays true to its arcade roots since most of the missions pit the player against a vast amount of enemy forces. Of course, the player is given a large amount of missiles and other weapons to fight with. In fact, some of the playable aircraft can carry as much as 60-70 missiles! The missions are generally fun to play, but experienced gamers will play through them relatively quickly. I finished the game in less than 2 weeks (1-2hours a day.) To help curb players' appetites, secret planes and higher difficulty settings can be unlocked by playing the single-player campaign over. Still, the game is fun enough that I didn?t mind playing the single-player campaign several times to unlock the various extra features.