Military.com Game Review: Ace Combat 6

Valerie Gorchinski - Military.com

Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation

*** (out of 5)

Xbox 360

The latest offering in the Ace Combat series is an excellent example of how to update something for the next gen consoles. The graphics are sleek and the gameplay, for the most part, is fully immersive. That is to say, the missions are immersive; at least the later ones are. The early missions in the campaign mode can get a little tedious, but missions do eventually ramp up in difficulty level to provide you with ever increasing challenges.

The story often feels trite and disconnected since the cutscenes don't always directly relate to the mission they precede or follow. But the movies are beautifully rendered, which helps to distract from the deadpan voice acting and often cheesy dialog. The story also does a sufficient job of presenting you with a reason to shoot at the enemy. It is easier to get into a game about blowing up the bad guy when you actually know why he's a bad guy, even if he does have terrible lines.

Speaking of blowing up the bad guy, action and explosions don't disappoint. Even on the tedious earlier missions, I got sucked right back in every time you land a direct hit with a missile and get to watch your foe hurtle toward the ground in a plume of black smoke.

The game has two different control schemes--one which is more intuitive for novice players and another which (supposedly) more closely replicates that of real fighter planes. Being new to Ace Combat, I first tried the "novice" setting. It worked well and was easy enough to figure out that I skipped the optional tutorial and jumped right into the first mission. After playing for awhile, I tried out the other control setting as well. Either one is smooth and makes flying easy and fun.

The major innovation for Ace Combat 6 seems to be online play, a major plus if you're really into multiplayer online gaming. Otherwise, beneath the intuitive controls and sleek new graphics, lays a flight sim that doesn't have much else to offer from any other flight sim, but is nonetheless a solid offering.

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