Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

""ID-Bogey 3. Weizegger 1, fox two!""

Let me tell you from the start, I've always wanted to be a a jet pilot. Blasting through the air topping over 1,000MPH is just an unbelievable experience I've fantasized about for ages. The day I picked up Ace Combat 4 was some school day, I was either going to play the game or work on some Physics assignment. Like the teacher was really gonna grade it.

I took a gander at my physics book and threw it over my left shoulder. ''How's that for a projectile problem?'' Then, I plopped in AC4 and got ready for the ride of my life; at 45,000 feet and beyond. Here's the breakdown.

Story:
The storyline for AC4 is pretty engaging and rather unique. The story is told as if you were being told to another person; about how a young boy's life was drastically changed when the fascist Erusian government pulls a Hitler and takes over Stonehenge, a weapon used to blast asteroids that were about to destroy earth. The Erusians are the bad guys and it's up to you, an ISAF (I forgot what it stands for heh ^_^;;) pilot to help put this war down before they really start a world war of epic proportions. I don't want to give away too much of the story, because the story is just an added bonus. Problems lay in the fact that it isn't updated regularly, sometimes nearly two to three missions pass you by before a new development in the story arises. Not that bad though, this is just pure arcade fun at its best.

Gameplay:
Whoa! Gameplay is where this sucker has it all. There is no game I have ever played where I had to aid an allied beach invasion with the Blackbird jet, while it's in the middle of a thunderstorm. Was the rain a problem? Heck no! I pulled up and sliced my way through the clouds. I was SO high up there. The sky was clear, I could see the sun shining as bright as ever and everything. Then I made a straight vertical drop at... heck, who knows how fast I was going with that thing. With a well placed tilt of the joystick I was able to carpet bomb nearly a third of the enemy on the far eastern front. My god, simply amazing. Realism is the key to gameplay here, despite the arcade approach to the genre. Twists, turns, fly upside down for the heck of it. I've never had so much fun blowing stuff up. One thing ticked me though. It's almost impossible to perform a good, old-fashioned dog fight. You are equipped with machine guns, but it isn't like they are gonna do you any good. So that's where the missiles come in. Major pains in the rear if you ask me -_-;; I've had my fair share of crashes and burns while doing my AC4 rounds. But most of my deaths came from just being stupid (read: trying to do a double loop-d-loop with my hand still on the thrusters, so I smacked into a mountain...) Another partial downfall to this title is the fact that you cant use a huge multitude of secondary weapons for each plane. It still would've rocked if the blackbird could be armed with some long range air-to-land missiles, or even dogfight missiles (really cheap weapon... I never use them.. Honest..)

Sound:
The roaring of the jet engines:
EAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!
The launching of two dogfight missiles: (I don't really use them!! Honest!!)
SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Slapping right into a ''conveniently'' placed mountain:
SHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM... ''OH CRAP!!''
BWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHH!!
Fun fun fun!
I see no sound problems here!!

Control:
Control-wise, AC4 does the job right. I don't recall any problems at all come to think of it. The planes each have their own unique feel to them, pretty spiffy if you ask me. Another plus is that thanks to analog buttons, you can adjust your speed and your shifters accordingly. Once you get the hang of the controls, you're hooked until you're finished 100%.

Graphics:
Ah, the graphics. I've never seen such pretty landscapes, or plane models on a console game period. Amazing I tell you. You can switch from the old-school plane's eye view, cockpit view (coolest, most realistic view.. I mean, if you move the right analog stick you can turn your head and look at the missiles launch from under your plane's wings. Really coolz0rs!!), and then there's the classic arcade-style 3rd person view mode. I use 3rd person most often just so I can see myself pull off all of those cool stunts and everything. I dun have many problems with graphics. Oh yea if you get too close to the ground the textures sux0rs on some of the levels. Blah, no biggie. You'll be paying attention to that bogey on your tail instead.

Once you get the hang of this game you'll just keep coming back for more. I never stopped playing this game until I unlocked every single aspect of this title. We're talking originally designed aircraft and two alternate color patterns per plane. Not to mention a two-player head-to-head combat mode. I'm about to go and play this game right now. Bye! Wait a minute, I let my friend borrow it! NOOOOOO!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/02, Updated 12/11/02