Series playthrough: Ace Combat - the PS2 trilogy
We arrive at the next batch of Ace Combat releases in my massive playthrough of the franchise. Just like on the PS1, Namco released three entire games in one generation. You can catch up on my thoughts on the first trilogy on PS1 here.
This next trilogy, all of which released on the PS2, spanning most of the consoles lifespan. They're often referred to as the "holy trinity" by the fanbase, as they're highly regarded as the peak of the series. Deservedly so.
For outsiders looking in, they're less distinguishable between each other, especially compared to the vast design changes between each PS1 release. However, they all offer a huge jump up in visuals for the new hardware platform and are high quality throughout.
The last PS1 release, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, was an ambitious and daring title, yet it left the series hanging between two different styles. Alienating players wanting real-life jet fighters, set in a pseudo futuristic timeline of the present. It's complex story and length was a steep hill for newcomers.
Namco reversed this departure and focused on delivering what Ace Combat 2 had so successfully done by setting the ground foundation of the franchises formula; action filled, air to air and ground target combat with lots of aircraft at your disposal and linear mission structure.
However, they removed the obvious arcade heritage with "bingo" etc. popping onscreen when hitting enemies and leant deeper in to the anti-war story AC3 had touched upon. The result was Ace Combat 4, which became a massive success for the franchise, not beaten since the recent sales of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.
While I feel the cleverness of the melancholy and sadness of the anti-war stories the series delivers, it has since been worn out and overused in my opinion. There's a fine line between tapping in on feelings and bordering on an emotional and whiny agenda. However, this PS2 trilogy of Ace Combat games nail this darker side of depicting war before it becomes overused, standing out as the height of the franchise and peaking with Ace Combat 5.
While I feel the cleverness of the melancholy and sadness of the anti-war stories the series delivers, it has since been worn out and overused in my opinion. There's a fine line between tapping in on feelings and bordering on an emotional and whiny agenda. However, this PS2 trilogy of Ace Combat games nail this darker side of depicting war before it becomes overused, standing out as the height of the franchise and peaking with Ace Combat 5.
As a side note, let me clear up some confusion on the regional titles of these releases. The NTSC-J and NTSC-U titles are on the left, and the PAL titles on the right.
Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies / Ace Combat 4: Distant Thunder
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War / Ace Combat 5: Squadron Leader
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War /Ace Combat: The Belkan War
I'll just refer to them in their numbered fashion, so with that out of the way let's take a closer look and review each one!
Review
Played on: PlayStation 2Released: 2001
This was the first Ace Combat title I ever purchased. I'd long wanted to buy one of them as my previous experience was a demo of AC3 which left me impressed, but I ended up using my money on other games. I came across AC4 one evening I was out with my dad at an electronics shop, looking at the back of the cover and was amazed by the screenshots. I picked it up on a whim. I was instantly hooked when I got home and booted up by PS2!
I remember being incredibly impressed by the detailed ground textures and the aircraft models, comparing them with the detail level of Gran Turismo 3's cars. The shiny bodywork and lots of detail compared to the previous generation! I also recall a mission in rain and fog, then hitting the afterburners and climbing above the clouds and seeing the weather was sunny above, blew my young teenage mind!
I replayed missions over and over, unlocking everything the game had to offer of aircraft and weaponry, falling in love with the series. Going back these days and replaying it, I found myself remembering most of the missions. I prefer that they're straight forward to the objectives in each one and there's a right amount of background radio chatter, feeling believable for a battlefield.
I do have a lot of nostalgia for this title, considering it was my first Ace Combat, but I see some of the simplicity in the story presentation and rather bare bones design these days. For starters, while I fondly remember the impact of the melancholic atmosphere of the narration and still images of drawings depicting the story, replaying it comes over as low-budget these days. I've since grown accustomed to more cinematic approaches.
The visual jump from PS1 to AC4 on PS2 is significant, in addition it's a jump from 30fps to 60fps, truly showcasing how vast the jump from fifth to sixth gen consoles was. This graphics leap still impresses when playing the whole franchise these days. However, it's apparent that the ground textures were made to be viewed from afar. There's a visual discrepancy between how detailed the aircraft models have come graphically compared to the ground textures up close. There's also a lack of detail in the terrain, like trees, there's only vehicles or buildings set upon a barren ground.
Although sixth generation titles do well when significantly increasing their resolution in emulation, I personally prefer to play it with the resolution set lower, about 2x the original, and a 4:3 aspect ratio with scanlines added. It's what I grew up with and brings the visuals I'm used to for nostalgia's sake. However, you can set the resolution high and even add an automatic 16:9 patch if you prefer that.
I recall a lot of the music, especially the menu music brings a smile to my face. In general, the music scores in AC titles have always been solid quality. Although with so many titles in the franchise, they do blend a little into each other and definitely fall into the background music genre.
Aircraft sounds have been beefed up, I believe this is the first entry to actually record real aircraft sounds to give a bigger impact when you hit those afterburners and hear the jet engines roar. With Dolby Digital and 5.1 surround support being pretty much a standard on PS2, the audio quality holds up well.
There's a classic selection of typical Ace Combat missions, ranging from ground attack to dogfights and escort missions. There's not too much variety in this fourth entry and the lifespan is short for a single playthrough. Although it's meant to be replayed many times for better score rankings and unlocking aircraft.
Overall, the reunion with this much loved title from my days of PS2 in the 2000s has been fun. I feel the sequel, AC5, improves some of the simplicity of this entry and brings an overall more refined experience to the table. AC4 is a little rough in the edges in hindsight, lacking the polish and quality upgrades the next two titles received.
That said, going from the PS1 Ace Combat titles to this entry back in the day was an incredible leap, and still is! I love that this fourth game decided to go for the Ace Combat 2 blueprint of the franchise moving onwards, a wise decision as I feel AC3 was heading into niche style.
Review
Played on: PlayStation 2Released: 2004
After thoroughly enjoying AC4, it was a no-brainer to play Ace Combat 5 when it arrived back in the day! With three years between the two, Namco had meanwhile moved up into high gear on the platform. Returning back to the high quality in design and visuals they excelled at on the latter half of their PS1 catalogue. Moving on from solid, but somewhat bare bones, early PS2 releases like Tekken Tag Tournament, Ridge Racer V and Ace Combat 4.
Ace Combat 5 took the visual strength and gameplay premise of AC4, but massively upgraded the presentation, story and overall package of contents into a more polished and refined experience. It's a bigger and more ambitious title, but expands itself in a more varied and interesting way than AC3 did, with the same amount of missions.
While AC3 also had roughly 30 missions, only accessible through replays, AC5 dares to take you through the same number in a linear fashion, in one playthrough. It's daring, yet it manages to keep the player interested throughout, delving into a more complex story with unexpected plot twists along the way, to keep things interesting.
Many consider this to be the absolute peak of the franchise, and rightly so. This is what a perfect Ace Combat release looks like.
The most obvious upgrade in AC5 is the presentation of the story. Leaving the still images behind in AC4, Namco opted for their top end CGI sequences. Depicting a journalists time at military air force base, talking and observing the main pilots of the story. It helps give a personal connection with the voices you hear on the radio in missions. Cutscenes are well done and still look good these days.
As you progress through the fictional war between the two superpowers Osea and Yuktobania, set in Ace Combats Strangereal fictional world, the story delves deep into some interesting turns along the way. I'd forgotten some of the plot twists and rather original missions during my playthrough. It really keeps the pacing well throughout the lengthy campaign.
Graphics have been polished and lifted to a more refined level, although there's only so much you can do within a single console generation. It's less rough around the edges and barren compared to AC4. There's much more variation in landscapes, colour schemes and lighting, a necessity considering the vast amount of missions.
Trees and other detail are added to the ground, helping it to look better close up, as well as some improved texture detail. Effects like smoke are definitely improved and add some dimension to the battlefield as you see the effects on blown up targets.
In addition more aircraft on offer and vastly more missions, AC5 features a new addition entirely from AC4: wingmen. Controlled by the d-pad, you can direct the rest of your wingmen to perform four different tasks: covering your back, attacking targets in your vicinity, dispersing and attacking surrounding targets and lastly using their special weapons.
In addition more aircraft on offer and vastly more missions, AC5 features a new addition entirely from AC4: wingmen. Controlled by the d-pad, you can direct the rest of your wingmen to perform four different tasks: covering your back, attacking targets in your vicinity, dispersing and attacking surrounding targets and lastly using their special weapons.
It's a neat feature and can really help you out in reducing enemy numbers or having them covering you in a sticky situation. Relieving you of some of the targets and seeing them actually go to work at attacking them is cool feature and one that would remain in the series for AC0 and AC6. It adds depth to the rather repetitive nature of Ace Combat gameplay.
While overall AC5 is an excellent end product, there are a couple of annoyances. For starters there's too much radio chatter going on. These co-pilots will talk, react and whine on endlessly during missions. I get that they're fleshing out the story, but there's a balance between saying nothing and too much, and at times this game doesn't understand when to shut up. Chatting away in the heat of battle is just lost dialogue as I don't have time to listen in, thus becoming background noise.
While overall AC5 is an excellent end product, there are a couple of annoyances. For starters there's too much radio chatter going on. These co-pilots will talk, react and whine on endlessly during missions. I get that they're fleshing out the story, but there's a balance between saying nothing and too much, and at times this game doesn't understand when to shut up. Chatting away in the heat of battle is just lost dialogue as I don't have time to listen in, thus becoming background noise.
Although this next complaint doesn't just involve AC5 specifically, there's a strong feeling of mission structure repetition kicking in. Perhaps more recognisable here because of the large amount of missions in total. I can't really complain about fairly short titles like this being too long, but there's little variation outside of the visual environment here. You need to really appreciate the franchise and gameplay to fully enjoy the full length.
That said, if you're only picking out one game to play, then it's a healthy package for the genre considering it's length. The repetition of mission ideas is more obvious if you play all the releases like I did.
The complaints are minor though, and they in no way take away the fact that AC5 is truly the pinnacle of the franchise. Taking old and new ideas, refining the presentation, adding a deep story and combining it all into a very pleasing package. It's one of my top ten titles for the PS2.
If there's one classic Ace Combat you need to play, or one in the entire series for that matter, which summarizes the peak if the entire franchise, as well as a glimpse into how the best titles in the sixth generation were, then Ace Combat 5 is the one for you!
Released: 2006
I don't believe I actually played Ace Combat Zero before some time after release, I think it may have even been after I played AC6 on the Xbox 360. Having played numerous hours of AC 4&5 I'd left the franchise a while, returning in 2007 for AC6 on an entire new generation. Sadly, ACo is one of those titles I dug out and just completed on auto pilot. So going back these days was interesting, although I ended up remembering a fair few of the key missions from back in the day!
Made in a time where going back to make a prequel was a thing, AC0 is about the early war of the fallen country Belkan in Ace Combat's Strangereal lore. It's a war and country that's often referenced in the franchise, and this throwback is a great way to get an insight into that story. Even better, it features and older set of jet fighters, think 70s, 80s and 90s aircraft. A neat detail as I enjoy the aircraft of this period and I'm not engaged in the futuristic stuff.
At first glance you'd be forgiven as to what really has changed since AC5, and while they're visually hardly distinguishable, there are changes in gameplay and focus.
Presentation is a little more subdued with the main story being short video interviews of various people who met the mercenary pilot you play. Giving a little more distance and mystique around the character. Cipher, who you play, retains the wingmen command from AC5, but they're personalities are on a less personal level. Radio chatter is toned down, and the missions are more to the point of battlefield tasks in full out war.
The complaints are minor though, and they in no way take away the fact that AC5 is truly the pinnacle of the franchise. Taking old and new ideas, refining the presentation, adding a deep story and combining it all into a very pleasing package. It's one of my top ten titles for the PS2.
If there's one classic Ace Combat you need to play, or one in the entire series for that matter, which summarizes the peak if the entire franchise, as well as a glimpse into how the best titles in the sixth generation were, then Ace Combat 5 is the one for you!
Review
Played on: PlayStation 2Released: 2006
I don't believe I actually played Ace Combat Zero before some time after release, I think it may have even been after I played AC6 on the Xbox 360. Having played numerous hours of AC 4&5 I'd left the franchise a while, returning in 2007 for AC6 on an entire new generation. Sadly, ACo is one of those titles I dug out and just completed on auto pilot. So going back these days was interesting, although I ended up remembering a fair few of the key missions from back in the day!
Made in a time where going back to make a prequel was a thing, AC0 is about the early war of the fallen country Belkan in Ace Combat's Strangereal lore. It's a war and country that's often referenced in the franchise, and this throwback is a great way to get an insight into that story. Even better, it features and older set of jet fighters, think 70s, 80s and 90s aircraft. A neat detail as I enjoy the aircraft of this period and I'm not engaged in the futuristic stuff.
At first glance you'd be forgiven as to what really has changed since AC5, and while they're visually hardly distinguishable, there are changes in gameplay and focus.
Presentation is a little more subdued with the main story being short video interviews of various people who met the mercenary pilot you play. Giving a little more distance and mystique around the character. Cipher, who you play, retains the wingmen command from AC5, but they're personalities are on a less personal level. Radio chatter is toned down, and the missions are more to the point of battlefield tasks in full out war.
The result is a refreshing, less complex story and shorter action affair compared to AC5. I appreciate this focus as it's a title that most likely would only appeal to AC5 fans and playing yet another longer and heavy experience like AC5, would've felt less satisfying.
Features like buying various special weapons for each aircraft and being able to withdraw from the battlefield for rearming and fixing damage has returned from AC4. Choosing and buying my favourite special weapons was a neat return and the mid-battle withdrawal is somthing I use often, I was happy to see them both!
Splitscreen multiplayer even sees a return, a feature skipped in AC5. I recall playing this in AC4 a few times, but it's neat to see the one on one combat return to challenge a friend with. Even allowing each player wingmen on their side to attack each other with!
Unique to AC0 is the Ace Style system, which is a pilot rating divided into three categories: "Mercenary", "Soldier" and "Knight". Depending on choices you do during combat, this rating will change. Enemy aircraft can for instance be damaged to a degree they're no longer operable, turning their target reticle to yellow. The player can still choose to shoot them down or let them fly to safety.
Similar yellow markers are for ground targets, where non-important and civilian targets are marked in yellow. Destroying them will give your more points, but will change your pilot rating. The rating is a cool feature, allowing the player some thought behind picking targets.
There's a knighthood theme in general to the names of enemies and battles throughout, with one-on-one battles viewed upon as jousting between aircraft. Keep this in mind for the final battles are you'll need to get some distance between yourself and the enemy, then "charge" at them in full speed and release your missiles at the very last moment. Otherwise, the Ace Rivals will dodge every rocket you fire at them.
These Ace Rivals come at the end of certain missions, extending the time limit with a critical alert of their approach. These special squadrons have various names and are increasingly harder to take down, taking the role of "boss fights" throughout the game.
Visually, I can't really tell if there's done anything between AC5 and this, it retains the upgraded visuals AC5 had, with maybe some tiny changes to visual effects when aircraft are blown up. As such, the it's hard to distinguish single missions in AC0 from AC5 when you play them after each other.
The focus on an older set of fighters, allows you to utilise the weaker aircraft a bit more, thater than in the more modern AC settings where the older aircraft are only inferior in every way. Seeing Saab Drakens, Mitsubishi F1s, EA-6 Prowlers and Mirage 2000s speed about the sky is satisfying and they can be utilised far into the campaign too. Rather than being the first weak aircraft in a couple of starting missions.
From a pure gameplay stance, AC0 is surprisingly to the point and refreshing, even after playing AC5. However, it doesn't quite reach the depth and length AC5 needed to allow the player immersion into its world. That said, some of the ending scenes are quite shocking.
As a recurring complaint, repetition kicks in within missions. There's not much that separates the core of all these AC titles featured here. Believe me, after playing all three of them on PS2, you've seen the same types of mission structures and objectives repeat themselves many times over.
If you want a second game of the "holy trinity" of AC titles on PS2, then AC0 is something I'd recommend. At first it's a title you don't really understand why exists, then you begin to enjoy the focus on simpler objectives and focus on the action. While at the same time making decisions on which targets to prioritise and keeping your wingmen busy attacking.
If you want a second game of the "holy trinity" of AC titles on PS2, then AC0 is something I'd recommend. At first it's a title you don't really understand why exists, then you begin to enjoy the focus on simpler objectives and focus on the action. While at the same time making decisions on which targets to prioritise and keeping your wingmen busy attacking.
Falling into AC5s shadow, AC0 is a surprisingly solid entry!
Summary
Whereas the PS1 trilogy had more interesting changes between each iteration, much because of the technical advancements in development at the time, the jump AC4 is amazing and a statement to how much the series progressed visually.This trilogy of PS2 releases marks the peak of the series and how much dedication Namco put into the franchise in that era and how the company thrived through both the PS1 and PS2 era.
Although I'm appreciative of AC4's return to the AC2 formula, and a treasured and nostalgic memory for me, AC5 is the king of the hill here. It holds up especially nice through emulation in presentation and visuals. Hitting the sweet spot of lots content, an intriguing story and a solid handful of missions for a flight combat title.
AC4 can be skipped in this trilogy, however if you want a similar and more direct approach to air combat, without the weight of a too deep story, taking the best features from AC 4&5, then go for AC0 too!
Next, I'll be moving on to Ace Combat 6 & 7 set in each their generation of consoles, but that'll be in a later post here on the blog!