Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation

I didn't play the previous versions of the game, I started with 6. It is a BLAST. The planes are cool and the fighting is FUN. The graphics are AMAZING. I don't understand some of the other negative reviews. Yes the cut scenes are silly but they have a certain melodramatic humor to them, and we buy video games for the game play, not the cut scenes.

I needed something good after BioShock, it took me a while to find this game and now that I have I'm digging my Xbox again.

GO ACE COMBAT 6!

This is the first Xbox 360 edition of a franchise I have played since PS2. I enjoyed the single player campaign quite a bit. Handling was decent and controls made a good transition to the new platform.

The differences between this one and AC-4, AC-5, AC-0 I think are that the graphics in terms of terrain, missile trails, and planes are superior, but the missions are much, much longer and divided into multiple parts. This is not all good or bad, but different. At times it's nice to be able to start from the last "checkpoint", rather than go through a long, tedious mission until you get to the next phase, etc. You can get a little worn out or lose your peak interest during the mission. I don't have HD-TV, I'm not sure if that matters, but I found it hard to visualize the target box and its ID on foilage-covered terrain. I couldn't even tell sometimes which target I was locked onto (unless a dust or smoke cloud obscured the ground, then, strangely, the target box stood out clearly.) Unlike most other reviewers, I sort of liked the story and the story board. I bought an XBox360 just for this game and although playing the game was OK, in retrospect it was not worth my additional expense. But, if you're a fan of the series, what are you going to do? I do hope Namco makes some changes in the next game. Anyone know how to pass suggestions on to them? There are many things I think they did not do well in terms of programming the characteristics of flight, etc., too many to list here. Overall, the game is "OK" and if you're a fan of the series, you should get it. Perhaps playing on an HD-TV makes it more worthwhile.

I think I pretty much agree with everyone else who reviewed this game. It's a fun game, especially when you consider that there aren't very many flight combat sims/shooters for the XBox. And one can't get over the beauty of the photo-realistic scenes you're immerse in at every mission. I'm not ashamed to say that I almost cried the first time I played a demo of this game on my 42" Plasma HDTV. However, the game is a little too short. Plus there isn't much replay value. In addition, the cut scenes (that help fill in the storyline) used dated graphics that really pale in comparison to the graphics used in the missions.

Overall, I'd still enthusiastically recommend this game. It just could have been better.

GOOD:
- A good mix or simulation style and arcade fun.
- Photo Realistic aircraft with planes that actually show damage when shot at.
- Nice mission variety (although for some players, some missions can be pretty dull and other to over the top).
- Decent music and voice work.
- Good mix online gameplay with versus mode (up to 8 players in either battle royal or team mode) and even a co-op mission mode.

BAD:
- Might play too much like arcade or to simulation type game for some people.
- Story can be bland and can also be pretty confusing to some due to the fact that it focuses in on secondary characters that play no actual role game but they live in the world in which the game takes place.

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- Plays very much like the past few Ace Combat games on Sony's PS2
- Takes place in a fictional world similar to our own (but not like ours in many ways) but with the same aircraft as our own world. So the while you might recognize planes like the F-14 "Tomcat" (the same jet from the movie Top Gun) you won't recognize any of the peoples or places in this game.
- Game is broken up into missions (about 15 levels) in which you follow objectives and earn points to unlock new aircraft, during most of the missions you will have a few objectives (like helping the tank squad or taking down long range missiles) after doing a few optional objectives you mostly have to engage in a mandatory objective like taking down a enemy ace pilot or enemy base.
- After doing a few of these optional objectives you get an option to call all the ground/air units you have helped out from earlier in the mission to destroy enemy/enemies that you select.
- Certain missions are much easier with certain aircraft, example slow ground based missions' call for the A-10 "Warthog" and fast air-to-air missions call for the Y-F22 "Raptor", but you can still use any jet fighter you want on any level (so you never feel pigeon-holed using a jet you don't want).
- You have to unlock then buy (with money/points you earn in game during missions) almost all the aircraft you can use in the game. Also note that all planes come with a few different paint jobs and different types of secondary missiles/weapons that you can buy as well.
- All planes come with a primary two shot standard missile. You also even get to select a secondary type of missiles/weapon that can really help out in certain missions like a multi-lock-on missiles for air targets and even a cluster bomb for ground based targets, later on one jet can even have twin rail guns as your secondary weapon.

GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (PS2)
- Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions (360)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- All the fighter aircraft in this game are replica of real life fighter aircraft (there is only one made-up fighter aircraft is the CFA-44 "Nosferatu" which is the last plane to be unlocked).
- There is plenty of online downloadable content for this game, form lot of new unique colors for your fighter aircraft (these newer paint jobs even give the jets different abilities) to new stages for verse modes, and even a few new missions for co-op mode.