Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

"It's a war game with anit-war in it"

I'm starting this review by saying I love cars jets and videogames. I love a lot of other things but these are three very high on my lists of loves. This is why I am putting a Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-12 (spitfire engine) in a car. This is why I have over 100 plane models. This is why I think “Top Gun” was a great film. This is why I loved this game. Let me tell you straight away that this is a game for fans of the style. If you aren't a fan of the dog fighting style you will have fun but you'll finish it and think “meh, it was O.K, good storyline”.

Namco's Ace combat (and dog fighting games in general) have a long history. From its early stages of “Air Combat” which I loved at the time (and still do to some extent) on the PS1 to its big success games of “Ace Combat” on PS2. I have been a fan along the whole way and their games have been damn good. “Ace combat 4” was a huge success and “Rouge Squadron” is looking down the same path.

Game play: 9/10

There are two types of game play in “Rouge Squadron”. Arcade and Story. Arcade is short missions that have only the tinniest explanation at the start of what you're fighting against and for then after that you're thrown into the sky and just told how many things you have to blow up. The general game play is good. If you're looking for a flight simulator it's not exactly what you want but is it fairly realistic and will look real for most people.

After about maybe at max one day of playing the arcade over a few times you will play the story line. This is where the game play really comes out. You can control your own little squadron of 3 other planes. You can set them into ATK (attack) where they attack the targets in front of you, CVR (cover) where they guard you're tail so if any enemy planes come up on your 6 they can blast it out of the sky and also set them to DSP (disperse) where they will attack any enemy targets that they seek fit. You can also select SPW. The option of whether they use there very limited special weapons which vary which plane you select for them.

A good thing about this game is that even on easy the A.I controlled planes (even you're wingmen) are trained pilots. Instead of sitting there except thinking “oh S*^& a missile is coming at me from behind. Oh well I'll still just fly straight” they will actually break off left or right or will dive, roll or climb. They are also not just going to fly in the air and enjoy the view. They will shoot at you're allies that you have to protect or will shoot you down if you get sloppy. Also it is believable what happens e.g. you'll stall going to vertical to slow (which you can use to your advantage) and if you stay low t the ground it's easier to doge attacks from behind.

I look back at all these dog fighting games and think that the first decent 1 player with a concentrated on well developed multiplayer will sell so quickly with the plane nuts. Obviously there's enough out there to have whole series of dog fights based on one. Now with online play it could be huge and would definitely make me consider buying the online package for PS2. So come on Namco give us a good Multiplayer game.

Graphics: 9/10

It's not picture perfect but both the FMVs and game play look pretty damn good. The FMVs look semi life like and are just fantastic to watch. The Game play also looks pretty damn good as well. The Planes look like what they would in real life and the scenery such as the ocean, city and islands look nice and detailed. Each plane even has its own set of dials and buttons (doesn't actually do anything and can only be seen at the end of the level if you select “cockpit” as the view for the replay)

Music: 6/10 + Sound: 7/10

I can't give a high score for music because it didn't make me love it to bits like other games I have. There's some cheesy rock in the arcade (which I have come to expect in dog fighting games and like in general over the years) but it's gone for more of the dramatic mood music in the campaing which was O.K. The sound was all above par with it not being some thing you'll particularly notice after the first ten minutes which a good thing is because it means it won't annoy the hell out of you making you to turn the T.V on mute. The only real bad thing is the voice acting of the script which gets slightly annoying mostly because of the bad accents.

Story: 7/10

This is what plane nuts hate the most about this game and the average player love most.

I'll admit it the story was structured very deeply and a lot of effort came into both the script and plot of the whole game and it was good… to a certain extent. Everyone I saying it's one of the best parts of the game but I just want to control the might of these winged beauties and do some serious mindless dog fighting not get all emotional.

You control Blaze. He's not very talkative except for the occasional yes or no. After a short time into the game you become the leader of the sand island squadron. You are a part of the Osean Air Force. After an attack on your Sand Island base by the country Youktobania you declare war on them. It's a great surprise since 15 years ago Youktobania fought with you to defeat the Belkans in a great war only know as “the war 15 years ago”. In the end the Belkans decided to end the war by dropping atomic bombs on its own country. Through out you'll have regular mission with lots of story twists it will keep you interested. The real thing that annoys me is the infernal chatter of the radio while in missions. As I said before the accents annoy me but they didn't have much to work with. The script is flimsy and often has nothing to do with anything. Every now and again you'll get asked a question which you can reply with yes or no using the left and right controls on the D-pad. Annoying thing about this is some times I want to issue a command to my squadron but this question comes up in my way. What ever you answer it won't really matter and everything will continue as normal.

Overall the story is a kind of anti-war theme. When you pass it all the pieces fit up and the story is emotional and aawww it's a good feeling and everything. Problem is that I don't care for the anti-war theme. Why would I want an anti-war theme when I go out and buy a war game? I just want dog fights and to blow things up.

Replay ability: 7/10

If you are a fan of the Dog fighting genre you will play it again and again earning new skins and planes on different difficulty levels. I mean it's a dog fighting game you will pick it up a moth after you complete it and just get lost in a few days of fun. Not much to play for again but it will be fun playing over

Overall: 8/10

If you are a fan of the series or a fan of jets in general then go buy this game. You will play over and it will be a good addition to your collection. If you don't have any of the series go rent it when it becomes a weekly. You will enjoy it most likely and have fun. If you hate war and killing in all themes go rent this game and enjoy the anti-war side it. Treat it as a movie because that is what the story version nearly pans out to be.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/15/05