"Yo buddy, you should get this"

I think the hallmark of the PS2/XBox/Gamecube consoles is the variety. Some games seemingly have enough different styled gameplay to worth three games of the old generation. One moment you are driving, the other you are shooting and then you are flying. In a way, some games just lost their identity. Is it a race game? Is it a shooting game? Is it a flying game? One thing is sure though, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War certainly does not have any problems with its identity. Straight aerial combat, no 'but' or 'if'. Some may criticize ACZ for lack of variety; I say this is what makes this game and series, one of the most solid titles of the PS2.

What you should expect from ACZ is aerial shooting in a semi-arcade style. You are not playing Flight Simulator, nor are you blasting aliens in space. Think of it as an easy simulator. You can also expect to be in the cockpit of a plane and that you are always piloting it. No control a turret or ground missions. Best of all, the only thing you ever need to worry about is destroying everyone else without being killed yourself. There is hardly any time-based, protecting allies that runs into line of fire sort of things, the little there are, the requirements is very generous.

On the graphical standpoint, it really depends where you are standing. In the air, you see sleek elegantly designed fighter jets. Some of which has some very well thought out paint schemes. Once you plummet to the ground or cities, you see almost flat surfaces with patterns to fool you that there are buildings there. The approach of the graphic is this: Anything that matters, we make them look good and do what we can for the other things. While the ground graphics is at times unacceptable, I would not come down hard on this. At any given moment, there could be 10 jets flying around with 20 moving targets on the ground. Now add the crazy amount of missiles flying through the air. Moreover, take into the consideration that there is little to no slowdown at all. I would say it is impressive.

Music, beautiful. Mainstream music will save you from criticism but trying something different sometimes just makes it amazingly good. The final boss battle has an absolutely gorgeous music. It really makes it feel like a duel, a final battle, the end with the Spanish/Latin feel rhythm to it. Then there is non-stop fast music in a mission where planes block out the sky in mayhem. Fitting themes for different mission situation making it easily to engross in the objective. One thing I like to point out is how perfect they tuned the sound on default, most games you can adjust it to your liking (which I always have to do). In this game, it is loud enough to hear over the screaming missiles exploding around you yet it still belongs in the background.

The storyline, whether you like it or not depends you like apples or oranges. This is not about a pilot that goes through hell in a war to save himself and his country. Not about a personal struggle in war nor the battle for freedom. This story is about a legendary pilot of The Belkan War called Cipher or Demon Lord who does not speak at all. The way the legend status is built is down very well. It was done by real actor cut-scenes mostly. The way they did it was not about how he destroyed 'X' number of planes, just how great of a pilot he is. The way he flies, the style, it was magnificently done. The aura of mystery, a legend that only appears in a selected few memories and a dot in the records of war. In a way, it is a little different feeling knowing the status your character has the word ‘legend' hanging around.

The critics would however say "so what"? There is no focus on actions, betrayal, and any personal thing that is commonly associated with war. Indeed, the storyline is not about horror of war nor the glory of it. In a way, those who have ideals of war as fighting for peace are ridiculed. There are many great lines, such as "While you are up here fighting for 'peace' tones of blood is shed on the ground. Some peace kid". The few dialogues in this game are quite meaningful, is a refreshing change from the gut, glory, pride stuff. In the end, you feel you could connect do the final boss more than your character yourself.

The setting of the storyline is on the same universe as other Ace Combat games but was set in the past, hence "Zero". The country Belka starts invading neighboring countries and the countries around it fight back. Aspect I loved is how they are composite of different real countries in different conflicts. Reminds you of Balkan war anyone? Country suffering economic depression invades other countries to distract themselves and turning to radical for support. Quite fascinating, especially for a person that likes to live in the past like me.

History will also say some of the planes theoretically will not be deployed in the timeline of the game but not that it matters much. The selection of planes is not huge but is decent enough to satisfy the plane-obsessed. Different planes yet a lot of them feel the same. On the low end, you really get to feel the difference of the plane. This has quite slow turning speed, or this one has very slow response speed. The lock-on on this plane is faster. On the high end, you really do not see the difference, which is such a shame, it is almost the developer do not want to create an uproar by declaring certain company develop better planes. Missions do not hinge enough on the planes you use. Using the Thunderbolt in a sea of F15 and come out winning is very possible. The say this is suited for Dog fighting, or ground targets but in end makes little difference. Planes are not all unlocked straight away. You unlock them by completing different missions and then you have to buy them from credits earned from missions.

The action of this game is simple. There is ever only one objective, obliterate all enemies. The focus is rarely on anything else. That is why I love it and in a way the downfall. No need to be fancy, no need to have this hugely innovating level where you go out plane...no no no. Search and rescue? No. No for babysitting allies as well. The game in some ways are quite repetitive, this is a slight flaw to it. The common enemies seem to be a little too unaware that a missile has been trailing you for the last 6 seconds and that staying in a straight line is short cut to a nasty explosion. This is the main problem with the AI, they sometimes are too unaware and so you will be constantly trying do the same thing; get behind, lock-on and fire. There are some exceptions though. There are a few named squadrons that are essentially mini-bosses. They are especially tough and utilize some real life squadron techniques. One of each flies in formation always and shoot in front rather than following the targets making them extremely hard to fight off. Others are very coordinated with a fighter always watching another's back making clear shots difficult. On top of that, they actually will actively trying to evade your attacks. This begs a question, is it really necessarily to ‘dumb' down the average enemies to make others look more superior? Another criticism of difficulty is that making it harder just makes you take less damage and have limited rounds of machine gun. The fact that the objective is to avoid being hit defeats this purpose already. The difference is, you can only get hit by one missile on Expert and you can get hit three times on Normal. And once again, I ask, why not make the AI a higher level?

The limited use of wingman is disappointing. They firstly never die and you only ever have one at a time. No strategies used against other fighters to make it more interesting and immerse yourself into the heart of battle. Is good that this game focuses on just the flying but letting us to input some optional strategy is something that seriously is needed to be added in.

This game is not very long. Around 18 missions most of which will not be longer than 15 minutes. The Ace gauge, which is altered by number of defenseless targets destroyed, provides subtle differences in missions will perhaps entice the average gamer to replay it at least twice just to unlock the cut-scenes and other Ace Squadrons as well as unlocking higher difficulties. For the hardcore gamer, there is a whole list of named ‘Aces' that appears in different missions. Some of which is away from the main battlefield and more elusive. In addition, there are medals to collect as well. The game on the whole is short and sweet.

Final Verdict: Great game that worth the money. Possibly not such a good option if you have played previous Ace Combat games on the PS2 as it rather lacks that innovation. That is unless you fell in love with them and could not get enough of it.
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 9/10
Storyline 9/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Game length: 7/10
Overall: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/07