Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

UPC: 722674021104

Platform: PlayStation 2

Publisher: Namco Hometek, Inc.

Developer: Namco Ltd.

Category: Simulation

Style(s): Flight Combat Sim

Synopsis: The fourth game in the series and the first to appear on the PlayStation 2, Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies adds an intriguing narrative to the action-heavy dogfighting for the titles are known. A succession of 18 missions makes up the bulk of the single-player experience, placing players in the flight suit of an ambiguous pilot with a mysterious code name: Mobius One. Mission goals include destroying enemy forces, strikes on enemy installations, and everything in between. Some objectives are slightly more fanciful, requiring players to perform tasks such as intercepting nuclear missiles. Performance during a mission is rated, determining which extras are unlocked for future use. A total of 21 fighters are available, including well-known craft such as the F-14 and SU-37. Shooting down ace pilots (which is not usually part of the main mission objectives) will reward pilots with additional paint jobs for their fighter planes. With the planes of their choosing, two players can compete in head-to-head battles in a selection of levels. Once completed, players can replay the game using any of the planes they've already unlocked on previous play-throughs. ~ Gavin Frankle, All Game Guide

Package Contents: Registration Card

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

The standard black-and-white manual has a few non-standard goodies: a glossary of flight computer messages and their meanings, nicely detailed descriptions of all the abbreviations and symbols used by the Heads Up Display, and a very interesting page of notes on the detailed recordings of aircraft sounds in the game. ~ Robert C. Ashley, All Game Guide

Up close, the ground below and all its skyscrapers and natural features look pixilated and blurry. From afar (the usual viewing distance) the environments seem nearly photo-realistic. So much time is spent in a blue and green fog over the ocean that it's easy to forget how amazingly real the ground seems. Even harder to appreciate are the lovingly rendered aircraft as they rocket past you or hover miles ahead. Luckily, the game allows you to zoom in on your enemies. You can witness their destruction in glorious detail. ~ Robert C. Ashley, All Game Guide

Namco's official mascot, Pac Man, is the ultimate symbol of simplicity and mass appeal in video games. Many of Namco's greatest games aim to recapture his universal appeal, which may be the reason why Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies forgoes the empty realism and mind-numbing detail of a flight simulation. Namco's mission statement should be "That which does not entertain us only makes us sleepy." The game's developers have edited out the non-essentials of flight in favor of keeping players in constant combat. Takeoffs and landings are optional (and easy to pull off, if so desired). Flight controls are limited to acceleration, deceleration, and flight stick functions (no need to tinker with flaps or stare at gauges all day). The game's 21 aircraft can deliver several varieties of missiles and bombs, yet every weapon uses the same two targeting systems. Accessible controls combined with droves of enemy jets and ground forces make for a fast-paced game that is to flight simulators what the Twisted Metal series is to driving games. As in any other combat or fighting game worth its Carpal Tunnel, an attempt has been made to balance out the fight. Targets are easy to hit, but leave you open to bogeys. Enemy missiles are easy to shake, but distract you from your target. This forces you to create your own alternating rhythm of swooping attacks and swerving defensive maneuvers. Given the 360 degrees of freedom in air combat, any manufactured strategy is a feat. It might, however, be a little too easy to swerve. Any enemy attack can be easily dodged. The only time you're in danger of being hit by enemy missiles is when you wait too long to shake them. In fact, you're more likely to be killed by crashing into the ocean or a mountain while evading a missile than by the missile itself. The real enemy in Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is the clock. Your mission fails when you fail to complete it in the given amount of time, a classic fix for bad AI. Even the clock can't keep you from breezing through this game's 18 missions. Eighteen is a nice double-digit number, but many missions take less than 10 minutes to complete, and most players will complete them on the first try. A few of the missions, however, (the Death Star run-like final mission comes to mind) are quite a bit more lengthy and challenging. Shattered Skies tells its story in a unique way. The communications during missions as well as the briefings in between narrate the progress of your campaign, while still animation cels tell the story of a young boy directly affected by the war. The two seemingly unrelated stories connect at the end. It's an interesting structure, and it surprisingly works. Unfortunately, the boy's story tends to play out like a melodramatic manga episode of Reading Rainbow. The voice actors do an admirable job, and it's certainly not the worst story in video game history, it's just too heavy-handed. The sappy score during these segments doesn't help either. Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is both accessible and exciting. It's also disappointingly easy. If anything, the game has been overly influenced by the modern concept of challenge (i.e., it gets in the way of the story). Namco would do well by taking more examples from their mascot. Back in his day, games were easy to get the hang of, but difficult to master. ~ Robert C. Ashley, All Game Guide

You'll have a blast blowing up everything in sight, but after the last mission, your incentive to play through again might be MIA. The two-player competitions and unlockable Trial-Mission mode add substance outside of the game's missions. ~ Robert C. Ashley, All Game Guide

Top Gun in every way: The high-pitched drone of a jet squealing past your cockpit, the thunderous sound of napalm engulfing a squadron of tanks, the unbearable (yet completely appropriate) heavy metal guitar noodling. The voice acting is respectable, and much of the dialogue thrown around by your squadron members during combat is actually helpful. ~ Robert C. Ashley, All Game Guide

What goes up must come down. Ace Combat 04 takes you on a ride through the stormy clouds of air combat without the fussy details of flight sims. The absence of a decent challenge to your dogfighting skills and the brevity of the main missions prematurely ends the fun. Moments of greatness, however, are better than hours of mediocrity. ~ Robert C. Ashley, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.