Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception

"If you were stuck on an island with no food or water, what would you do? I'd play Ace Combat X."

In my opinion, there are four types of games. There are the unpopular, unknown games that fail at launch, there are unpopular games that prove to be so good after launch that they attract consumers in bunches, there are extraordinarily hyped games that fail at everything but slap a disappointment over the face of eager gamers, and finally, there are games that develop a massive hype, and succeed at everything but disappoint fans worldwide. Where does Ace Combat X slide in? Well...

Graphics 8/10

You know, basically whenever you see a title for the PSP, you should skip the Graphics section. Seriously, there isn't much bad to say about the graphics of this game. The planes look great, the landscape looks gorgeous, and the intro movie is very damn good it actually SURPASSES the console versions. Compare the intro movie with that of Ace Combat Zero for instance, and I'd choose the ACX movie with no hesitation. I don't know how they do it, but hey, they do it. >_> If you get this game and by any chance play Mission 12, remember this sentence: The Gaiuss Tower looks stunning against the night sky sprinkled with shiny white stars.

But you see, I really can't give this a 10 either. There are a few problems here and there that push the score down a little. The in-game planes look jagged at some times, and like in the console versions, the landscape loses its charm when flying at low altitudes. It's all tolerable though considering this is a handheld, but the graphics are still good enough to compete with the console versions, though not necessarily win.

Sound 9.5/10

Should I say more? Ace Combat has always been known for its amazing instrumental music. AC4 and AC5 had an orchestra like theme, while AC0 brought in some guitar into the mix. ACX throws away the guitar part and replaces it with techno oriented clips. Of course, you'll immediately have a query whether this is just a lousy copy of AC3's music (which was horrible), but no, Namco has indeed put the right pieces of the puzzle together, and I'd tell you it's rare for me to find a song not matching my tastes, never mind disliking it.

For the sound effects, they are pretty much a carbon copy of the console versions, like they copied and pasted the samples into the UMD. Not that I'm complaining, they still sound natural and have no obvious flaws.

Of course, there must be some imperfection thrown in. Some music tracks are similar, which may be annoying if you are playing the game for like, the 6th time. Some sound effects sound, what should I say, wacky. I mean, just hear the Meson Cannon firing off the laser, it reminds me of some water gun my sister used to play with. The cheering of ground forces sounds like some little baby giggling at a donald duck portrait. o_O

Like graphics though, these are all minor stuff that shouldn't really bother you much. I'm just putting it in the review for the sake of completion.

Features and Gameplay 7.5/10

The story is great. It circulates around what was happening in the two southern countries, Aurelia (your country) and Leasath (the enemy). Leasath was a relatively poor country that suddenly striked hard on Aurelia claiming revenge for "years of exploitation". Using their advanced weapons (they were poor, right? How the hell did they afford this stuff? That's for you to find out), they took over 90% of Aurelian territory in just 10 days. As a desperate final move to stop the invasion, you, Gryphus 1, and a bunch of rookies stand up against the threat, and the game starts. All that happens in the year 2020.

Sure, I have seen better, but I've also seen much worse. It is simple yet surprising. The game resorts to AC4 style cutscenes to tell the story. Set in a futuristic theme, there are a few fictional fighters here and there (you can only modify these fighters, not the real life licensed fighters), but you can choose to stick to the real life fighters if you want and it won't add or remove anything from the difficulty.

Speaking of that, there are four difficulty levels to choose from, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Ace. I advise you to start with Hard if you are an experienced Ace Combat fan like me, but if you're still a starter you can choose Normal. The difference in difficulty is that the AI becomes smarter, and the damage dealt to your aircraft from enemy fire progressively increases. In Easy mode for instance, you can get shot down with 3-4 missiles, but in Ace mode, all it takes is ONE missile, and you're done.

Missions are creative, you have 30 main missions and one bonus mission as usual. Each mission seems to be distinct from the other, unlike Ace Combat Zero and Ace Combat 5 where some missions are just blatantly similar. Namco seems to be brainstorming a good deal of ideas for the time being. There is the new MPG meter, which serves different purposes depending on the mission. It could be used for measuring G-forces in one mission, and the power level of a superweapon in another. All in all, it helps add a bit of replay value to the game.

The aircraft selection isn't bad. I wouldn't really say anything about it since as long as my favourite F-35C and the usual bunch of uber aircraft is there, I'm having no complaints. There are 40 planes to choose from though, so there is a very good probability that you'll find an aircraft to your liking. Each plane comes with four paint schemes, and again you'll probably find a good colour to match your plane.

Plane customization isn't bad, with over 60 parts to choose from, each giving you an edge in a certain category while hacking away at another. You could, for example, add a massive engine to add speed and sacrifice stability, or install powerful armor for your plane to improve defense but the manoeuverability will suffer. It's a matter of choices, but IMO, this system is a good money blackhole. You could spend tons and tons of cash on it, but the end result won't be too amazing. Consider:

Turbo Engine --> +50 SPD, -50 STB
Extra Canard --> +50 STB, +50 MAN, -50 SPD
Ceramic Armor --> -50 MAN, +50 DEF
Jammer --> -50 DEF, +Radar Jamming

.. all this hassle will only give you a net result of +Radar Jamming, and NO change in actual stats. For what? A crapload of cash. Just buy the best plane you've unlocked and sell your current ones and you'll have lots of cash to spare and see a notable difference in performance. Of course, these are just examples.

Controls are pretty hard to get used to at first due to the slight lack of buttons, but you'll eventually get over them after about two hours of playing.

Overall, the game does well in the Gameplay section.

Replay Value 5/10

The game is... average when it comes to replay value. You can finish campaign mode again if you want to, and you won't be bored of it easily due to the alternative missions you get by choosing different campaign path. You need to play through campaign more than once anyway to unlock all missions, planes, aces, and medals.

You can always try the new planes and try new part combinations. If you liked a certain mission you could play it again in free mission mode. Overall the game should be entertaining for as long as 6-10 weeks of playing (depending on how much time per day you spend on it). This is actually longer than Ace Combat Zero, which would take less time to unlock everything.

Overall 8.5/10 --> Rounded up to 9/10 since no fractions allowed

It's an enjoyable game. To be honest, this is my second best Ace Combat game, only surpassed by Ace Combat 3. IMO it's much better than AC0 (which is still a good game), and AC5 (again, another good game), and hangs somewhere around AC4's rank. Namco did a good job in this game, and this is one of the rare games that match their prelaunch hype. You now know what kind of game this is eh?

So?

I would tell you buy it, but it doesn't hurt to try it out first. Check how it plays, then pick it up. This is one Ace Combat game that you shouldn't miss, since it stands its ground with the console versions. Will it get ported to the PS2? I have no idea, and to be honest I don't care, since I already own my copy. :)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/06