You can be my wingman any time... (Ace Combat Distant Thunder (PS2))

Member Name: goalmachine

Product:	Ace Combat Distant Thunder (PS2)
Date:	30/07/02 (1380 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: addictive, engrossing

Disadvantages: can be repetitive, slightly unrealistic

Something you might not know about me, guys - I like planes. No, not to the extent that I would be willing to spend six months in a Greek prison just for a couple of snapshots of an F-16 in my Kodak fun camera, but I freely admit to being an aviation enthusiast. In particular, I like fighters and fast combat aircraft. I'm a wee bit spoiled in my love of combat aircraft, as it just so happens I live only ten miles away from RAF Leuchars, Britain's main fighter base, which is situated on the Eden estuary across in Fife, right next to St.Andrew's, and I can occasionally drive over there and sit at the end of the runway watching the afterburners light, and smelling the jet fuel. But what if it's raining, or if there's no flying at the moment? And what if I actually want to FLY instead of watch? Simple, really. I stay at home and play Ace Combat - Distant Thunder.


ABOUT ACE COMBAT
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The Ace Combat games are a series of flight combat sims from Namco for the PlayStation. I've never played the first two games, while the third in the series, Ace Combat 3 - Electrosphere was a bit duff; overly complicated, graphically unremarkable, and a bit dull. Ace Combat 4 was always going to be for the PlayStation2, and was released back in February or March (sorry, can't remember precisely) this year, with the name Distant Thunder attached.


THE STORY
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The game's plot (yes, it has one) revolves around a war that takes place between the Septembers of 2004 and 2005, on the fictional Usea continent. A giant asteroid called Ulysses is found to be heading for Earth, and a giant superweapon called Stonehenge is built in a neutral country to try and destroy the asteroid. Unfortunately it is only partly successful and the planet, while not being hit by a giant asteroid, is subsequently peppered by a devastating meteor shower (the "sound of distant thunder" that gives the game its name). After the disaster,
the nation of Erusea (pronounced eh-rooze-ee-ah) is the first to rise from the ashes, takes over Stonehenge, and using it as an unbeatable anti-air weapon takes over the whole continent. Once the war starts, cut scenes between the missions tell the continuing story from the perspective of a little boy in the occupied city San Salvacion, who is following the fortunes of the elite Erusian Yellow Squadron. The missions and story lead to an inevitable confrontation between yourself (callsign "Mobius One") and the Erusian ace pilot, Yellow 13.

The plot of the game is superb and very engrossing - when you first play the game, you want to know what the next installment has to tell you, and keeps your attention absoutely rapt. Obviously the novelty wears off once you've completed the game a couple of times, but you can turn the narrative off if you like, and just concentrate on the missions.


THE GAME
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In the game you play the part of Mobius 1, a fighter pilot who is given a total of 18 missions to undertake as the war progresses. These missions get harder as the game progresses as you would expect. Some missions are purely air-to-air (shooting down bombers, planes or even cruise missiles), while most are a mixture of air-to-air and air-to-ground. Each mission's objectives are explained to you prior to the mission. Some will involve the destruction of specific targets, some involve protecting a friendly aircraft, while most take the form of scoring a certain number of points in a set amount of time. Also, some missions, once completed, will have a secondary objective to complete which you will only be informed of once the primary objective has been fulfilled. At any time in any mission you can return to your base to re-arm and undertake repairs. You can also attempt to land your plane at its base or on its carrier if you wish, and the mission isn't over if you crash while doing so - you can simply try again, or simply
skip the procedure.

As you complete each mission, you are awarded points for the various kills you claim. Reach a certain number of points in each mission and you will begin to receive reward credits, which you can redeem against new aircraft and new weapons as they become available - you generally unlock a new aircraft by shooting it down in the preceeding mission. There are three versions of each aircraft to buy (the planes are the same, they just have three different camouflages to choose from), and as you would expect, the more advanced aircraft cost more to buy, but you will need better planes to complete the later missions.

Also available to unlock are different difficulty levels. To begin with you can play the game on Very Easy, Easy, Normal or Hard levels. Completion of the game on the Hard setting unlocks the Very Hard setting, completion of which unlocks Expert, and finally completion of this unlocks Ace. And yes, I have completed the game all the way through to Ace level. A helpful touch is the Special Continue option: when you have completed the game at one level, you are allowed to carry through the aircraft and credits you have obtained on that level to the next one. As you can imagine, this is very, very helpful. And on the really tough settings, necessary.

There is also a set of Tutorial missions to get you used to the controls, along with a set of Trial Missions to test your skill which are unlocked once you complete the game on any difficulty. You can also play any mission from the 18 once you've completed the game on Very Easy.

Best missions are Deep Strike and Breaking Arrows, worst are Tango Line and Whiskey Corridor.


GAMEPLAY:
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The gameplay in AC-DT is as good as anything I have ever played, and certainly the best in its genre. The controls are easy to use and uncomplicated, while you can choose any one of three views for your mission - two from inside the cockpit, and one where
you see your plane in third person perspective, from slightly above and behind. You pilot the aircraft with the left analog stick, and can look around using the right one. Shoulder buttons control throttle and rudder, while select switches between primary (short-range missiles for air-to-air or air-to-ground) and secondary (bombs, long range missiles) weapons, which are fired with the O button. X fires your guns, triangle switches targets on your radar, and square shows you the map of the combat area. It sounds complicated, but believe me it's not. In the middle of a furball (dogfight) you never find yourself looking at the joypad instead of the screen. The menus are easy to use and straightforward, as are the options, and you can alter or turn off anything you want - music, effects, brightness, screen ratio etc. I can't think of a single deficiency in this department.


REALISM:
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The subject of realism is the only area where AC-DT is a bit lacking, but it's for a good reason. All the aircraft have been replicated superbly in the game, and a new, modern fighter like the F-22 Raptor will handle better and accelerate faster than an older plane like the F-4 Phantom you are given as the default starting aircraft. However, there are a couple of things which aren't right. For example, every plane in the game can reach Mach 2, while in real life planes like the F-117 Stealth Fighter and A-10 Thunderbolt II are firmly subsonic. The main piece of non-realism is that in the game, the fighters all carry over 40-odd missiles (up to 78 in some cases) and maybe 18-20 bombs and air-to-surface missiles. In real life the Su-37 Flanker can carry 14 missiles or bombs in TOTAL. However, it has to be kept in mind that this is NOT a pure flight sim - it's a computer game, where the aim of the game is to fly around and blow things up. If you had to return to base to re-arm every two minutes this game would get really old really fast. Therefore, i
t has to be expected that a few liberties need to be taken in the area of realism for the sake of the gameplay, and the right balance has unquestionably been struck here.


OTHER NICE TOUCHES
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There are a lot of little things that make this game great. In particular the way the inevitable confrontation with Yellow Squadron builds up is very well done, and you find youself nervously anticipating the final showdown. Also, to unlock certain aircraft you will have to shoot down a specific, named pilot - the third camouflage pattern for each aircraft is obtained by destroying a certain plane that will appear in a certain level. The detail of the combat zones is phenomenal - mountains, buildings, ravines etc are rendered in truly breathtaking graphics, as are the aircraft, both enemy and friendly. The missions are all very well thought out and logical in execution, with high-value ground targets often surrounded by anti-aircraft weapons like guns and SAMs (surface-to-air missiles). Another neat touch is the lock-on tone - your gunsight will turn red and emit a different noise once you have an enemy target locked-on, while if an enemy locks-on to your aircraft, a warning light flashes, and the head-up-display turns red, usually inducing panic in the pilot (i.e. you!).


NEGATIVES
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There isn't much negative about this game at all, but there are, as always, a couple of little annoyances. Firstly, some of the missions are a little bit repetitive, and also they can be a bit too long (two of them take twenty minutes, and can actually get a bit boring towards the end). Also, as compelling as the story is, it might have been a bit more realistic if it had been set somewhere that actually existed - alright, it's real-life planes and weapons you're using, but it's all taking place in a place that doesn't exist, so it might as well be another planet in a parallel universe! Still, these are minor quibbles, and the game
doesn't suffer for them.


OVERALL
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This is undoubtedly the best flying game I have ever played, on any platform. The narrative is compelling, the graphics extraordinary, the gameplay sublime, and the satisfaction obtained from beating the game on Ace level is unparalleled in any other game I've completed. Which isn't many right enough, but still....

I took a chance on this game, buying it at full price without so much as a review read before I did so. I'm glad I did. This was the best £40 I've ever spent on games, and even though I've completed it, I still go back again and again to get a better score. If you've got a PS2, go and buy this game. If you don't, then go and buy a PS2, THEN go and buy and this game! It is superb.


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Ace Combat - Distant Thunder. Published by Namco for PS2, price £39.99 in most shops, though you should get it pre-owned for around £25-30 if you look around.

Available from www.play.com for £29.99, free P&P

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=P S2&title=99413


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RICKY'S TIPS:
Above all else, try and get the Su-37 Flanker, and all three of its weapons. It is the best all-round aircraft in the game, and you'll need its QRAM missiles for the fight with Yellow Squadron in mission 17 - Siege Of Farbanti.

On difficulties of Easy and above, ALWAYS fire two missiles at an aerial target - you'll need two hits to bring them down. Medium or long range missiles will only need one.

On a mission with a lot of SAMs to counter, use an aircraft with long range air-to-ground missiles - the F-16, F/A-18, Rafale M-01 and Su-37 all have them. These will allow you to take out the SAMs while outwith their engagement envelope.

In mission 13 - Safe Return, look around all the time using the right analog stick. You'll never spot enough jammers just by looking straight ahead in the fog.


In mission 18 - Megalith, I would recommend using the EuroFighter 2000 - it's small, manoeverable, fast, and you only need the basic missiles to destroy the targets anyway.

Never be scared to try and shoot down an opponent head-on - he'll always move to avoid you, and around 60% of the time you'll shoot him down.

To unlock the final aircraft (it's an X-something or other) you must complete all missions on Hard or above with a rank of S (you'll see what I mean).

Official website:

www.acecombat-dt.com

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