Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

"The BEST console flight simulator!!!!!!"

Gameplay: 10/10
The controls are kind of hard to get the hang of, but once you do, they are very simple. The game is also extremely varied with some missions being almost impossible and others that you can beat in two minutes flat. The aircraft in Ace Combat 4 are also varied. Each also has their strengths and weaknesses. Some are designed strictly for attacking land targets while others are strictly for attacking air targets. Each aircraft also handles very differently. Ace Combat 4 is an insanely fun game.

Story: 9/10
The storyline is very well done, which is rare in a flight simulator. It tells the tale of victories and defeats and the effects of war. Although the beautifully hand drawn still images that are used in conjunction with the story, I still somewhat wish that they had a few CG cinemas to go along with it.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics in this game are absolutely gorgeous!!!! They look photo-realistic. From flying over a brown desert to cruising over mountains you get the feel like you are really fighting over beautiful countryside. Unlike some other flight simulators, where the landscaping only looks good from 30,000 ft, you can actually get 10 ft above the ground and still feel like you are over real ground rather than a computer generated ground. Also, the explosions are absolutely fantastic. The only slight problem is that when you shoot an airplane, the explosion deceives you. It looks like you blew the airplane into millions of pieces, but if you fly closer the plane is still intact!! You get points for it, the plane is gone forever, but where are the flying pieces? Like in Falcon 4.0 for the computer, where you shoot a plane and it falls apart so you see massive amounts of smoke and a wing goes this way and the other goes that way. Where is that feature? On some of the propeller planes, even when you destroy it, the propellers still move!! This isn’t so much as disappointing, but can get rather frustrating when you finally kill an enemy that has evaded 30 of your missiles. I mean, come on!! When you have wasted 30+ missiles on a single enemy and finally kill him, you want to see his plane go in all directions at once! But the explosions are so stellar; you won’t notice it that much. Each individual aircraft is also extremely well done. Again, with the photo-realistic graphics, in 3rd person view it looks like the real thing.

Sound: 10/10
The sound is also spectacular! Each engine on a twin engine aircraft was individually recorded to give it even a more lifelike feel. There are also sound delays. If you shoot an aircraft 9/10 of a mile away, and it is extremely quiet, you wont hear the “boom” of the explosion for a few seconds after seeing him explode. The radio also gives it a very realistic feel. You hear your buddies yell, “Mobius 1, bandit at your six o’clock! He’s firing!! Turn hard right!!!” What’s even better is that you can hear all the enemies’ transmissions too!! It gets quite amusing to hear them get ticked off because they are all being shot down by one enemy (that one enemy being you).

Replayability: 10/10
The replayability for this game is very good!! Being able to play the game over with your previous aircraft and credits is very nice. This is because each aircraft gives a different strategy to each mission. You’ll easily find yourself playing this game for months.

Buy or Rent?
If you like flight simulators AT ALL, GET THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!! Only rent if you aren’t sure about console based flight simulators. This game is definitely one you should have in your library.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/02, Updated 01/22/02