Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

"What more could ya ask for?"

Introduction:
Ace Combat 4, the fourth Installation of the Ace Combat series combines stunning graphics, godly musical scores and best controls into the single greatest air combat game of all time.

Gameplay: 9/10 Very Good

The gameplay of Ace Combat 4 is everything a player could possibly want. There are no camera angle problems, no lock on problems, no real problems at all. With stunning gameplay, the game does not fail to deliver. The only problem would be the lack of realism in weapons systems, but flight simulators rarely deliver precision weaponary realism. All 18 Levels provide another challenge to be met with your choice of flight with your choice of secondary missiles. The buyiong/selling system for flights and weapons provides a new economics part to the game play (e.x. "Do I sell the EuroFighter 2000, to buy the next plane, or should I make do with what I got and save up?"). All in all, very few people would have a beef with the game's handling.

Story: 8/10 Alright
As Flight Simulators go, the story is pretty engaging. A band of rebels that have been isolated to remote baseds in the polar regions re group and drive the evil Erusian forces out. While the cut-scenes make little sense and are usually boring, the rest of the story makes up for the cutscene lack luster. No real godly things in the story, but hey, as storylines for aerial combat simulators go, this thing is beast.

Sound: 10/10 Godly Good
The music in the game is completely godly. The Musical scores accompanying each fight in unique and fitting for the mission. (e. 1st Mission; battle oriented song, last mission, epic oriented song) As for the Voicce Actors, they fit their roles very well and with detail. The music and voices cutting in on the radio provide a good setting for destroying the enemies.

Graphics: 8/10 Wouldn't expect anythign better for the PS2
As PS2 Graphics go, this game goes over the top. Absolutley stunning graphics for the msot part. With the excepeption of a few lack luster points, the game's graphics wouldn't fail anyone comparing them to other PS2 games released at the time. Though nothing special, the graphics will surely not disapoint any gamer.

Replayability: 10/10 Like nothing else
The gamers saw a problem like "I already beat it" sydrom coming. With 4 Modes (Very Easy, Easy, Normal, and Hard) the player has extra challenges to have to beat the game fully. Also, the desire to unlock ALL planes pushes the player to go the extra mile. The gamers also made a nifty section called Special Play. This allows the player to use all of the planes and weapons and money he/she unlocked when the game was beaten and start from level 1 w/ those weapons. It provides an extra thrill to take down huge bombers of level one with your faster, higher and stronger F-15 ACTIVE loading with air-to-air missiles.

Final Recomendation: GET THIS GAME GET THIS GAME GET THIS GAME!
The game wins on all fronts.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/08

Game Release: Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (US, 11/01/01)