Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies (PS2) Review

It was a pain in the ass finding a cover!

Ah 3D flight games, I love them so. The 5th gen had its share of 3 Ace combats while the N64 and Saturn had few, but they were still there. The 6th gen kicked off great  with the Dreamcast having a great share of quality titles (air force delta for example). So finally a year after the PS2 was out, Namco decided to put out Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies! This is a hell of a good semi simulator. Like Early my MGS review from early this morning, I really love this game. However, unlike MGS, this isn't perfect, but  its really, REALLY good.


Presentation

Oh the menus, so so nice. The perfect blue color with the computer like letters, man thats good. The misssions briefing is great as welll with great voice acting that tells you all you'll need to know. An auto save system would be nice, but thats just nit picking. The Cut Scenes are so awesome. Anime style stills with relaxed narration. Once you get to gameplay, everything iis all in your head. The  HUD is perfect as well, and it responds to the Pressure sensitive PS2 controller.

Graphics

Sure, in terms of graphics it got beat withing a month (thanks to xbox and Air force Delta Storm) but  wow  these were great for 01. The use of Distance fog and sun beams is great, even though you could call it cheating.When your far away, everything looks beyond amazing. First person view is the only way to go, as the air craft just  gets in the way of the view. Sure, your not supose to  get to close  to everything, but  if you do its kindof a drag. You'll notice the low resolution textures. But when your playing the game right, it great looking.

Sound

HMMM them some good voices. The voices that never shut up are great. The The airplanes sound wounderful as well. The machine gun is a bit underwelming sadly. The rockets have a nice boom to them. The music the eppic, hook your PS2 up to surround sound cause man you will need it. Can't really say much else, but man itss good (mostly).

Gameplay

SWEEEEEEET!

Controls (oh what joy). X is the machine gun. O is either rockets or bombs (depends what yoou have selected).  Triangle switches targets when tapped and looks behind you when held. Square widens your mini map. R1 Accelorates. L1 Brakes. L2 and R2 basically strafe (can't think of the flight word, so DON'T get mad at ME! lol). D pad up centers the plane. D pad down Changes the view. The left thumb stick controls the plane. The right thumb stick looks around. R3 looks behind. Select Changes weapons. Start pauses. 
     This is one of the best flight games I've played. The controls are nearly perfect and the AI is great. I can't really describe the gameplay any more than saying you  fly a combat plane and fight bad planes. Trust me, its WAY more intense than that.. The game takes you to so many great places that just look great. Trust me, pick this game up.

Overall

Pick up the soundtrack While your at it

I realize I barley reviewed this game. I mostly just said how good it is. The flight genre is a bit lacking (epically on consoles) so I haven't played as many as a I have other genres. But based on the ones I have played, I can tell you this is one of the better ones. It has a lot of immersion, its Tactical, and its just plain fun. I promise my next review ill be much better than this. Even though at this rate no one will even read any of my reviews, so what the hell..