"More of the same, but that's fine with me."

Fans of the series are probably going to pick up this game no matter what I or anyone else says, but that's okay, I recommend it. The only problem I have found between this and the fifth game is that very little has changed. Even the fourth game was quite similar to this. However, what sets this series apart from other flight games on other systems is the incredible tales it can weave, given how little character interaction games like this give you.

Zero's events take place before those of the fifth game, giving you a more in depth look into the history that sparked the events of Blaze and his crew in five. Given this story backdrop, I can easily forgive the games shortcomings in the innovation department, since the game has a strong tie to previous games. In this game you play as a mercenary, hired by the government to help in the Belkan war, named Cipher. You fly with a fellow wingman who will watch your back if things start getting too frantic. His code-name is Zero Wing Pixy. Pixy acts like the three members of your group from five, and is pretty handy despite the strange name.

The story is pretty much the same as always. You start as a nobody, fight your way to ace rank, you take out a giant super weapon, you become pretty much a god in the sky, and then the final battle occurs, further sealing your place as a hero in history. Although this is pretty much the same premise as four and five, I actually like this. Hearing the enemy cower in fear over the radio as I pull into the dogfight is something no other game has accomplished. Even in Fable, none over your enemies really run from you as you slay them in an animal like fury, which makes this game stand out so well.

Graphics: 8/10
It's really hard to rate graphics in this game. Sure the planes are well done and highly detailed while you're in the hangar before the mission. Even during the mission the planes are still detailed enough to see the individual logos and symbols on the body's, but that's if you can get side by side with one in order to make them out. The ground, like in previous entries, is nothing but a blur of jumbled pixels if you look at them, which is quite often when you are forced to go on bombing runs. Hopefully in the future, especially with the next generation counsels, Namco can improve on this continuing weakness in the series, which at times is enough to almost take you out of the experience.

Also, unlike the last entry, which had fully animated cut scenes which gave a brilliant look deeper into the story, and the blooming friendship between you and the other pilots in your squad, this game shows these scenes with in game shots, and storyboard like images. The amount of cut scenes has been reduced, and in place of the CG characters of the last entry, they are instead replaced with the growing trend of real actors. This isn't the first game to do it, but it is a growing trend in games like EA's Black, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, however this game is probably the only one I've played where they actually made good use of them and actually added to the story, rather than subtracting from it.

Sound: 9/10
All the sounds in the game are pretty much the same from the others; the machine guns always sound the same no matter which plane you take, no further depth can really be added to explosions, the sound of your plane getting hit by a missile is still loud and nerve shattering. The good thing out of all this is that the voices of the characters are still very well done, and captivate you and the battlefield constantly changes with every new twist the enemy throws at you.

Control: 9/10
Anyone who has played the previous games will pick this up and jump straight into the pilot seat without so much as a second thought. As always the controls are tight, and give you full control over your craft. Of course this game doesn't control like Star Fox of Rogue Squadron. You must control things like the yawing of your plane which may not be suited for some people (like me) so luckily there is a novice option that lets you control like the games mentioned above.

Gameplay: 8/10
If you eliminated the story from this game and showed somebody who played five, it would be hard to tell the difference. Nothing has really changed in this department. To use missiles you must track enemy aircraft until "Shoot" appears at the bottom of the screen, to use your guns you have to put the little sight ring over the enemy like always. The wingman control options from five are still present, and seem to come in handy in this game even more so the the predecessor given the somewhat increased difficulty of this title.

New to this entry is the use of rivals on the battlefield. Rivals are harder to bag than normal aircraft, and if you are able to shoot them down, the rival appears in your Ace Data and you can see the craft, and a short bio on the pilot. Anyone who has played Ace Combat 4 will understand the magnitude of these battles when compared to those against Yellow Squadron from that game.

Also, the way you fight will affect a meter in the after-action-reports, which will judge on three categories; Mercenary, Soldier, Knight. Mercenary means you try to get the mission done with quickly without regard to your fellow pilots, and you only fly for money. Soldier is an intermediate setting, and Knight is the exact opposite of Mercenary. As far as I can tell, this doesn't really affect much.

All in all this game may be regarded as "more of the same" but successful series should have the right to fall back on the same formula every now and then. The only problem could come from Namco doing the same thing on the next title, turning it into the original Mega Man series, which couldn't seem to come up with any new ideas after the "charge shot."

Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 9/10
Control: 9/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/21/06