Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation Review (360)

latest ace combat offering from namco

Anyone with a console should really be familiar with the ace combat series, even if you haven’t played it, and when I first received ace combat 6, this was me. For any heathens who are unfamiliar with it, ace combat is the most popular air combat simulator on the planet. Ace combat 6 boasts 15 officially licensed and pilot realistic planes with which to carve your way through hordes of enemy fighter planes, tanks, bombers etc. The game also boasts photo realistic graphics, which is a nice touch, and is usually a secondary feature in games of this type.

Ace combat 6 revolves around the fictitious invasion and war of the also fictitious haven of Gracemeria, capital of the republic of emmeria. The plot simultaneously follows the story of the un named fighter pilot who you control and some other characters such as a mother and wife of a fighter pilot, an estovakon officer who was injured during the invasion and a woman travelling to gracemeria to be reunited with her husband who is in the estovakian army. I found this to be quite unusual in a game as it is very rare for a character’s background and life to be explored in this depth. This helps to give a deeper insight into the horrors or war and the experiences various people involved have.

The combat system was a little unusual for me and took a while to get used to. The controls make sense though and give more of a sense of actual flying than other games I have played. One thing I did notice and friends of mine who are familiar with the series have confirmed is that the game gets very challenging very early on, and if you are new to the game, it is likely that you will have to try even early levels several times to complete them. I see this as a good thing, because all to often now I play games which I easily complete within a day or two, however I can see how this would frustrate some people and put them off playing the game.

Ace combat 6 is a brilliant aerial combat simulator and an overall fun game.

The graphics are, as the box says, photorealistic for the most part. This is definitely one of the highlights for me. Planes shimmer and smoke as they plunge from the sky and fields below actually make you appear to be a huge distance from the ground.
The game uses sound to create a hectic atmosphere and really makes you feel as if you are being shot at constantly.

One of the only things that annoyed me about this game was that the cutscenes were (to my knowledge) unskipable and a lot of the dialogue was quite cheesy, but this is easily overlooked and the action more than makes up for it.

In conclusion, ace combat 6 is a brilliant aerial combat simulator and an overall fun game. It will provide a challenge for even the most hardened gamers, but some may see this as tedious as most levels have to be played several times before you are able to complete them. The graphics are stunning and the game is much more plot driven than a lot of games like this. If you are looking for a game that will keep you interested and challenged for a long time, this is it.