Bogey On My 6! (Ace Combat Distant Thunder (PS2))

Member Name: Guile176

Product:	Ace Combat Distant Thunder (PS2)
Date:	06/04/03 (1603 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics, Sound

Disadvantages: Too Short, Too Easy

I've always been a pretty big fan of fighter jets.
Heck, at one point when I was younger I even
considered joining the US Air Force. That was
about 12 years ago and now the thought of becoming
a pawn for the government just doesn't excite me
as much as it did when I was a teen. However, I
still do get giddy at the site of an F-16 Falcon.
Damn that is one cool looking plane. Despite no
longer having any interest in joining the Air
Force, my love of fighter jets has never
diminished. But just because i'll never pilot one
in real life, doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself in
the virtual world of video games. From the old
classics like F22 Interceptor on the Genesis, to
newer flight games such as Air Force Delta on the
Dreamcast, i've seen quite abit of arial combat in
my many years as a gamer. So, when I first saw
pics of Ace Combat 4 on the PS2, I was naturally
excited. Even more so when I found it for a mere
$20 last week at a local music store.

So, how is it and does it live up to the rest of
the Ace Combat series? Fortunatelly, its pretty
darn good. As for living up to the rest of the
series, I couldn't really
tell you. You see, the
only other title in the series i've played was the
original on the PS1. While I felt the game was
pretty cool, the graphics sucked big time. Yeah, I
know it was a first generation PS1 title, but I
still thought they sucked. Anyway, on with the
review.

Ace Combat 4 puts you in the role of a fighter
pilot who is simply referred to as Mobius 1 You
are in the middle of a conflict against the
Eurasian forces and their gigantic meteorite
destroying cannon called Stonehenge.

That is about all im going to get into as far as
the storyline goes since it does play a rather
important part in the game. Yeah, I know, flight
games aren't normally known for their storylines,
but this one sort of has a pretty decent one here.
One other interesting tidbit about the story I
will tell is about the way it is told. The story
is told with series of still pictures through the
eyes of a young child in the middle of a town
which is occupied by Eurasian forces.

Ace Combat 4 gives you a nice variety of 18
different fighter jets to take control of. Jets
include MIGS, F-14 Tomcat, A-10 Warthog, F-117

Nighthawk and my favorite, the F-16 Falcon. Each
plane is equipped with a standard Vulcan cannon
for close range combat, guided missiles and a
special weapon. Special weapons vary from plane to
plane and either fall under the category of a
different missile type or bomb. Also, planes in
Ace Combat 4 aren't just given to you. Instead,
you must buy them with money earned during
missions. Additional Special weapons can also be
purchased as well. Make sure to spend your cash
wisely as well. There is no way you can afford
everything in a single trip through the game.

You also get 18 different missions to take part
in. Missions take place in a variety of different
locations and weather conditions such as
mountains, cities, desert, coastal and in the
rain. Mission duties are pretty typical of most
flight games and range from search and destroy to
escort duty. While most of the missions are pretty
fun to play through, there were at least 4 or 5
which plain sucked and seemed to be thrown in as
more of an afterthought then anything. One of
these missions has you blindly flying around with
your radar jammed trying to take out these ultra

tiny blimps causing the problem. Im sorry but
Namco could have did just a little more here.

As far as gameplay goes, im sorry to disappoint
hardcore sim junkies out there, but Ace Combat 4
is strictly and arcade experience all the way.
This means there's no complex controls to master
and no bible sized manual. If you want one of
those, then they have plenty like that out on the
PC. So, does this mean that Ace Combat 4 is a
lesser game and doesn't deliver a convincing
flight experience? Not at all, its just not a
hardcore sim. As for the flight experience, it
does look quite convincing. Well, to me anyway.
I've never actually piloted a fighter jet so I
couldn't tell you exactly.

Ace Combat 4 also give you a pretty decent
selection of modes to play in as well. You start
off with a Story mode, 2 Player Versus and a
rather useless Tutorial mode. Beating the game
will unlock a few new modes including a Time
Attack mode and a mode to play any of the missions
in the Story mode.

Now, aside from the gripe I had with a few boring
missions, I did have 2 more I should bring up. To
simply put it, the game is just too shor
t and
easy. Almost any gamer can get this game and beat
it in just over 3 hours after getting it. Even on
the Hard difficulty setting, im finding the game
to be a walkthrough. I would have been more then a
little upset if I had paid full price for this one
because of this.


<b>Graphics 8: </b>
Ok, i've seen quite a few reviews praising the
graphics in this game. So is it worthy of the
praise? Yes and No. First off the planes look
simply amazing. They are packed with detail and
nice little animations such as moving flaps and
glowing afterburners. Then there's the rest of the
game which is a mixed bag. The ground and rest of
the environment looks simply amazing. If you
squint a little, you would swear that you were
watching a fighter jet flick. This is especially
true in the games replays.

However, once you maneuver your plane closer to
the ground, you see another side of the textures
you wish you hadn't. Gee that ground looked mighty
nice from a distance, it looks like it was ripped
out of an N64 game when you get close. Yep, that's
right, blurry eye straining textures. You'll also

find it to be a similar story with other things
such as enemy ships and buildings. Go ahead, fly
in a little closer to that aircraft carrier. Looks
as if it was ripped right out of a PS1 title
doesn't it?

Overall, the graphics were good, I just expected
things to look a little better. While I can live
with the ship and building models, these blurry
death textures bother me alot, especially since
you need to fly fairly close to the ground alot
during the game.


<b>Sound 10:</b>
While the graphics could have used a little more
work, the sound was just perfect. The music was
very well done and fit the action perfectly with a
rather movie like sound. The sound effects were
equally impressive as well. Namco even went as far
as taking samples from actual jet fighters. My
favorite part of the sound though was the radio
chatter. All throughout the game you'll hear a
good number of speech samples from both your
wingman and enemy pilots. Its all very well acted
and helps bring a sense of realism to this
otherwise arcade like flight game.


<b>Control 10:</b>
Contro
l was also very impressive as well. Since
this is an arcade flight game, you won't have a
million different commands to learn. Even taking
off and landing is a cinch here. So much so that
if you cant handle it, all you need to do is hit
start to bypass it. In all, it shouldn't take
anyone more then 10-15 minutes to have these
controls mastered.


Overall, I would highly recommend Ace Combat 4 to
anyone that is into arcade style flight games.
Although I did have issues with the games length
and difficulty, I cannot deny that this is still a
quality title that is alot of fun to play. You can
probably grab it at most stores for around $20
like I did. I wouldn't recommend paying more then
$30 tops for it though, considering you can easily
beat it the first day you get it. Good job Namco,
hopefully you can fix some of the problems that
this one had when part 5 roles around.

Summary: