» Ace Combat 6 on Xbox

[Lunt Cips]

Ace Combat 6 was recomended to me last night so I've downloaded the demo and had several bashes on it. I can't decide whether the game has depth to it because after a few attempts the demo becomes piss easy. I think it may be because it's the first level and as such is an introduction to the controls and weapons etc.

It doesn't drop until November I think but the demo is on Xbox live market place, or check out these videos: (In one interview it is said that the cut scenes are game-rendered )

Eurogamer TV - Video game trailers, features, interviews and more!

Eurogamer TV - Video game trailers, features, interviews and more!

From what background I've read up on this is a pretty well respected franchise but this is the first I've heard about it

[CAPiTUL]

I've played ace combat 1-4 on Play Station and purchased a few of them. They were all good! It has its easy moments, but also has its tough missions. I was never disappointed with them!

[Lunt Cips]

Hmmm I think I may fuck Halo 3 off completely, get PGR 4 next month and AC6 the month after



Maybe if you go back to the states at xmas you could smuggle these badboys back for me, seems they're not coming to Europeland

[Mongswissto]

That good ?


what about mass effect and assassins creed you div

[NinjaSix]

I love the Ace Combat series. It strikes a great balance between arcade and flight sim. The AC6 demo appears to be more of the same, but with better graphics.

There is a certain depth in that the missions are a good mix of ground strike, air intercept, escort and air support. Not forgetting those keeping-in-the-canyons-avoiding-SAM-radar missions. (Edit: There's even a slight tactical element in the choice of weapons and how you use them. For instance, in AC4 I use the longer range air-to-surface missiles to pick out SAM sites before closing and using normal missiles to finish the other targets).

It keeps your interest by unlocking new planes and weapons, finding enemy aces and the general fun of blowing shit up.

[CAPiTUL]

Originally Posted by Lunt Cips

Hmmm I think I may fuck Halo 3 off completely, get PGR 4 next month and AC6 the month after



Maybe if you go back to the states at xmas you could smuggle these badboys back for me, seems they're not coming to Europeland

That's cool. Just be sure that US games will work on your European system. I know DVDs have region codes. Not sure if games work similarly.

[Lunt Cips]

Originally Posted by CAPiTUL

That's cool. Just be sure that US games will work on your European system. I know DVDs have region codes. Not sure if games work similarly.

Yeah I have a UK xbox so the game won't work but I thinik the sticks still will. 70 quids is a lot for a pari of sticks tho

[Lunt Cips]

Well I saw this for 30 squids today so I bought it (only because the Orange Box at the same price was out of stock ) but I have to say it's pretty cool. The comments above about the balance between arcade and sim are pretty spot on, and my initial worry that it would have no depth have not yet been proven correct.

I've just done the 4th mission so I've pretty much nailed the cotntrols and stuff and had a mix of dog fighting and air to ground missions and it's got me hooked. The last mission had a time limit of 40 mins and I eventual nailed it with 8 to spare, after 3 or 4 restarts from the beginning (pretty annoying 15 minutes in) and a further 3 or 4 restarts after the checkpoint.

All in all, it can be a bit repeatative at times but then it's more sim than arcade most of the time. Bottom line is that it kept me hooked until gone three and now my eyes are like pissholes in the snow. If you like flight based games IO'd say it's worth a purchase on the cheap, but then I haven't played the Blazing Angels series at all so have little to compare.

/end of review

[Mong]

Thanx for the info fella

[NinjaSix]

I bought AC6 a little while ago. It has some differences to the previous games.

Firstly, there are a vast number of enemies. This is probably partly due to the 360's extra power. But I also think there's some game design at work, too. There's no chance of destroying everything like you could in the earlier games.

Another of the differences is that most missions have multiple objectives, and like I said above, there's no way to complete them all in a single play. You have to choose which to go for, and means if you want to do the others, you have to play it again some time. This adds to the replay value once you've gone through the missions first time round.

One cool feature is the Allied Support gauge which increases during each mission as you acquaint the enemy with more and more high explosive. Once it reaches a certain threshold you can call for an allied attack on all the enemies you're flying towards, or you can get allied forces to destroy the fifty or so enemy fighters currently queueing up to smoke your ass. (OK, maybe not quite as many as fifty, but at least ten).

As Robbie mentioned, missions are quite long. They do contain checkpoints, though, so if you die you don't necessarily have to start from scratch. That's a huge blessing in the mission I just played, where you have to destroy a squadron of unfeasibly large boss airplanes. Ever played UN Squadron (90's arcade machine sideways scrolling shooter)? Then you'll know what I'm talking about. You destroy various bits of these things, and then they sprout more bits to shoot at before they finally go down. And some of them fire lots of missiles at you.

Fortunately, most of the missions are slightly more believable. There are various non-vital targets you can hit which don't count towards the mission goals, but make it easier to achieve (Electronic warfare vehicles, SAM sites) which add a slightly more tactical element. (Do I pick a plane with long-range air-to-surface missiles to take out SAMs before they can attack me, for instance?).

Because there are so many targets on the battlefield, picking out a single SAM launcher in amongst a bunch of tanks and tents and bunkers can be a bit tricky. It's a limitation of the controller - there's only one button available for switching targets, and often it seems that the game is deliberately avoiding targetting the one thing you want to hit first.

There's a large selection of weapons which become available as you unlock more planes. Some of the more mundane ones (like the unguided rockets) are surprisingly effective against closely-grouped ground targets. And some more sophisticated ones (like being able to target six planes and fire missiles at all of them at once) are very cool to use.

The flight model seems perhaps a little more realistic than previous games. I found myself stalling more often during tight turns, but it's still not an accurate simulation in this regard. I'm not going to get all technical, but in reality the way to out-turn your opponent is not to fly slower than him. You can't just "hit the brakes, and he'll fly right by". However, this is an arcade game, and once again, the balance is about right. If you don't care about this, you'll enjoy it. If you're a sim freak, but can suspend your disbelief and fly to the game's model, you'll enjoy it.

And, of course, the graphics and sound are stunning. It's almost a pleasure to get lost in your own missile smoke, and when something blows up right in front of you, you genuinely do worry whether the game implements flying shrapnel. And the mission replay feature, although a little limited in camera angles, is always a joy to watch as you come down off your adrenaline high.

Overall, I'd say 8/10