Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

"Can't fly fighters in the Navy? This is just as good."

-GAMEPLAY (10/10)
Naturally this is one of the biggest and most important factors with people who play games, and this one doesn't fall short. While very fun and addictive on single player, multiplayer is what sold me. The ability to get into a $30 million dollar piece of equipment and beat the tar out of my best friends is too much fun to pass up, and when you throw in a multitude of air-to-air missiles, guns, rockets, bombs, and several unique and different aircraft, it's too much fun to go without notice. The air physics are decent, but there is nothing like side slip, flat spins, or turbulence. None the less, this game still scores very high as far as gameplay goes. Gameplay gets a 10 for obvious reasons.

-STORY (9/10)
The story in this game is surprisingly good for a flight sim. Many flight sims aren't seen with having good stories, but this one does. You play as a pilot on the side of the ISAF (Independent States Air Force) who progresses through the ranks. I really can't say more without spoiling anything, but it won't disappoint you. I give the story a 9, because just like any Bond movie, it can have its flat spots, depending on who you are.

-GRAPHICS (10/10)
Go look out your window, and look in the sky. Eventually, you'll see an airplane. Well, you might as well've been looking at this game, because it's so gorgeous that it's hard to distinguish from the real thing. The planes are meticuliously rendered, and are almost perfect in every way. The water is also entrancing, but where this game falls short is the ground textures. They're somewhat blurry up close, and they're not very well rendered, but that doesn't matter when you're 10,000 feet in the air moving at about 850 miles an hour. Hopefully you won't be looking at the ground much, anyhow. I give the graphics a solid 10 because... well, get the game and you'll see why.

-CONTROL (10/10)
The controls in this game are somewhat simple, and the learning curve is small, but that doesn't mean there's only a couple commands. While there's not a billion commands to learn, there are a few, definitely enough to be able to do what you want. The control of the planes themselves is smooth and fluid (most of the time) and is very easy to master. The weapon systems are simple, and it is very easy to refuel, reload, and repair your plane. Targetting is a breeze, and once you get the hang of it, so is bombing things. I give the control aspect of this game a 10 because it only took me about 15 minutes to get the hang of, if that.

-SOUND (10/10)
W...O...W. Weapons, engines, explosions, voices, everything. This game almost cries for a theatre-quality set of surround sound in order to make it live up to its abilities. I'm not sure if it's in Dolby Digital 5.1 or not, but it is definitely one of the best qualities of this game. The voice acting is among the best of any video game, EVER. A 10 is an understatement for this category. It needs a 100.

-REPLAY VALUE (8/10)
I only give this game a 8 out of 10 in this category because it gets repetitive after 10 times of beating it. No plot twists are added to this game as difficulty progresses, but it's still fun and equally challenging. It can get old with time, especially if you wear it out in the first week of having it, so I'm only going to give it an 8 here.

-BUY OR RENT?
Buy. Enough said.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/03, Updated 02/04/03