New War For Fighter Aircraft Fans

Growing up I’ve always been fascinated with airplanes and enjoyed going to just about every air show that graced our islands. Naturally my love for video games pointed me to flight simulators of all sorts, and when the first Ace Combat came out many years ago, I jumped on the opportunity to play it and fell in love with the Ace Combat series ever since.

About a month ago, Bandai Namco Games released its latest in the franchise, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. It pushes you back 15 years back in time from events of the previous Ace Combat 5 (released over a year ago) and reveals the actions that led up to the last chapter of the game. The gameplay for Zero is about the same as far as graphics, and some of the maps look similar, but it still kept me entertained and in front of my PlayStation 2 for hours and hours.

The single player mode (campaign) alone will keep you glued as it consists of about 20 missions. You can always go and replay from your saved points, but once I was done with those, I’ve been playing dogfights with my husband, There is unfortunately no online multi-player mode available. The campaign missions seem to go by faster than the ones in previous Ace Combats, but if you happen to crash and burn or are shot down, not that I did . . .all that much, then you have to go back and start not only that mission, but a few previous missions too. That can be slightly frustrating. At the end of each mission you have the option of watching the replay of your sortie and also your flight route. I enjoy this part, especially if I was playing my husband. We can sit there together and watch all the missiles I popped off at him as he frowns.

Another one of my favorite aspects of the game is the fact that it contains a variety of real world aircraft with accurate details. You can fly just about anything from the classics F-15C Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18C Hornet to the cutting edge F/A-22 Raptor or F-35, and many more. As with the other Ace Combats, controlling your aircraft is simple while keeping it realistic. It also includes three different views (cockpit, heads-up display and external) to break the monotony.

If you are a big fighter aircraft fan like I am, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. If find this game plays an educational role if you just want to learn more about aircraft, since it’s fairly accurate. It is available only on the PlayStation 2 for $39.99 at your nearest Gamestop or CompUSA.