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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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 Posted: 10-Nov-2002 14:01 Post subject: Ace Combat 4 Review (PS2) |
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Take to the skies in this now classic aerial dogfighting game...
Ace COmbat 2 and 3 for the PSX were very different creatures. 2 had a huge amount of missions, somewhere in the 30s, and an innovateive control scheme, making it perfect for a console. Few jet-sim games on any console were as good looking or easy to control. On top of the great missions was an incredible story about why your enemy always had state of the art planes. Ace Combat 3 had pleanty of missions too...damn near impossible ones. The controls were further upgraded with the use of the dual analog sticks. But there was no story at all...and it kinda left the pilot a little wanting...
And then came Ace Combat 4 for the PS2...and it was gooder than all the others.
Gameplay:
All the controls and modes of combat are explained in easy to follow tutorial missions, and after these missions you are ready to face the main game. The controls are beautifully simplistic. The left analog controls the up/down and roll movements, while the L2/R2 buttons control the yaw. L1 and R1 brake and accelerate, allowing fomr some tight manuvers, or some fancy hard deck supersonic flying. Triangle switches targets around, circle fires your primary weapon (missles or bombs), X fires the gun. I am pretty sure Sqaure does something...but I cant remember right now. The Left D-pad is for views, HUD stuff and a few other quirks. Select switches between main armarments.
Each Jet carries 2 weapon types. The first is the below average radar locking missles. Your jet carries 50-80 of these puppies, and they are your main weapon for shooting the various enemy jets and targets-of-opportunity. The secondary main weapon you choose befire each mission. Most jets have a choice between an Air to Ground weapon or a Air to Air weapon (some only offer one of the 2). This weapon is generally really really good, but you have a limited number of them, so using them on mission specific targets or these annoying Yellow Squadron Jets is reccomended.
Each mission consists of primary targets, usually ground targets, while you have to face off attacks by several aircraft in the skies. Each of the 18 missions is actually pretty original. Thoguh there are a lot of ground attack missions, each one feels different than the other. One mission has you attacking a bomber base, and another has you attacking a fleet in the harbor before it can get to sea. During the mission you can fly back out to your "home point" and land to repair damage and take on more weapons. This takes a little bit of time, even at full afterburner, but can mean the difference between winning and losing a mission in the later levels. Whats cool when you are going back to base is that you can actually land the jet yourself on the aircraft carrier or the runway...a nice little additiont hat can be skipped if you are not up to the challenge of a carrier landing at night.
One of the best parts of the game is the story. There is a story detailing the progress of the game from a uniqe perspective. I wont get into it too much, as not to spoil it...but the 2nd part of the story, the actual mission based story line is pretty cool. The game is about a rebellion of sorts against a huge continental force, capeable of some pretty devastating technology. The game revolves around a system called "Stonehenge" which was created to destroy incioming asteroids. The thing was hijacked by some people, and they turned it into a devestating AA gun. The first half of the game is just trying to survive, but after the completion of some very great missions, the game takes off to new levels in combat...
Graphics:
There really isnt much to say here except that its drop dead gorgeous. Aside from Gran Turismo 3 I dont think I have played a game on the PS2 that looked so good. All the jets are rendered beautifully, and the ground looks really really good. Explosions are cool,and...um...the game just looks really really good.
Sound:
Like the graphics, the sound is aweome. Each jet sounds very different, and pretty realistic. When you hold down L1 to accelerate the engine whine grows louder and more powerful. Radio chatter is usually pretty useful to listen in on, just cause they actually do give good advicve on all the different things that are happening. Other SFX are decent, nothing special, but nothing lame.
Bells and Whistles:
18 Missions, plus traiing missions and 2 player modes. Lots of stuff to do here. 20 something jets, if I remember right, that you unlock and buy along the way. A few ultra sectret craft are selectable, such as the F-15 ACTIVE Multirole figter or the F-22 Raptor. You arent limited to American aircraf either. The Mig 28(or 29), and a few of the SU series like the wonderful SU-27 and SU-37 are available for a price. Each jet has its specialty...the A-10 is slow and cant dogfight...but it can bomb the hell outa any ground target, and the cannon is freaking smazing.
The coolest is the bonus you get after beating the game....but I wont spoil it.
Gameplay: 10/10 Couldnt be better
Graphics: 9/10 Room for improvment...but no much needed
Sound: 8/10 Decent, nothing special though.
Bells and Whistles: 9/10 Lots of reaons to come back and keep playing.
Overall: 9/10 Reccomended buy...and for $20 you cant miss. Hell...even for the $50 it came out as it isnt bad!
_________________
"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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