Ace Combat 5 The Unsung War

The Ace Combat series has been one of the best simulation/arcade flight games on gaming consoles for years. Each iteration of the series has added more features and been ultimately better than the previous version. There is a new Ace Combat game that has been released, and if you don’t read anything else in this article you need to know this: Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is worth your time to play because it is one of the best looking and fun flight games around for the Playstation 2.

The story goes like this: It has been over fifteen years since the last war. The Belkan forces were trying to dominate the world, but there were not strong enough and got pushed deep within their own borders. So in one last desperate attempt, they set off a nuclear weapon inside their own territory killing many innocent people. When the people of the world saw this travesty they decided to banish all weapons and live in peace. To help keep the peace there is an Air Defense Squad that keeps anything from getting out of control. Lately there have been several attacks upon this Squad, and it is getting worse. Can you stop another war from breaking out? It is all up to you!

So realistic looking!

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War features to different modes of play: Arcade and Campaign mode. If you want to get your plane fighting action on right away you can go into the Arcade mode and have at it. Here you can take branching line and see if you can defeat a set number of enemies during a certain time. It is a good “fix” for someone who doesn’t have the time to play a full mission.

If you want a deep storyline with all of its twists and turns then the Campaign mode will be your cup of tea. You will take on the role of an up and coming pilot that goes by the code name “Blaze.” You will take him through the games' many different missions to see if you can prevent another world wide war from breaking out and disrupting the peace. The story is very deep and will not let you go until you see the concluding credits.

There are over fifty different types of authentic aircrafts that can be flown in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War! As one might expect, each of these planes handles and responds differently, from being faster to having a better armor, just like in real life. The only way to unlock each of these planes is by progressing through the story, and by beating enough of a certain type of aircraft. The developers did this two fold, to make those who want to collect everything play through the game a few more times, and to give players incentive to play through more than once.

Firing Missiles!

To help new players unfamiliar with this type of game, the developers have two different control schemes: normal and novice. The change is how the aircraft is controlled. In novice mode the plane will self adjust to make it easier to fly around the levels. In Normal mode players will have full control of the planes, which gives them greater maneuverability to help them get out of tighter situations. First time players should start off with novice and as their skills increase they should switch to normal and see how much more will be opened up to them.

One new addition to this game is the wingman command. You will be able to tell other people that are in your squadron orders such as attack, disperse, cover, and special weapon. With this ability it will allow you to complete you missions with more efficiency and make it seem more realistic, since many pilots fly with at least one wingman to help them out if they get into trouble.

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is a gorgeous game!  Everything that you look at in this game is meticulously detailed to perfection; it is almost photo realistic. A great example of this is the landscape. For starters, since the game takes place in different environments, you will not come across the same looking terrain. The biggest thing is no matter how far above the ground you are, it still looks real. It reminds me of actually flying, because the landscape looks the exact same as if you were really high up in the air. The airplanes are also highly detailed, and look just like their real life counterparts.

Approach the carrier for landing.

The sound category in this game is two fold. First the voiceovers are not the best in the world, in fact a few of them are down right annoying! This game makes up for that in the music and sound effects portion. The explosions and missile launches sound extremely life like, especially if you have a home theater set up to appreciate all this game has to offer. The musical score this game has really moves you, and gets you up in spirits to keep up the fight even if the odds are highly stacked against you.

I have one big question for the developers: Why is there no multiplayer, online or at least split screen? This game yearns to be played online or with a friend, there are so many different missions that would have been awesome to play out against other humans instead of the AI. Being able to play on opposite sides of the story would have been a nice treat as well. Let’s hope the developers decide to make another sequel and put online play in that, hint hint!

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is rated T for Teen for mild language and Violence. It will take up to 64KB on your memory card.

Gameplay: 9.0
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is really easy to get into, and it is even better thanks to the tutorial mode. Once you get the hang of flying around the game and shooting your weapons it will feel like second nature. The game will always keep players on their toes with more enemies coming towards them or other little things, but it will never get old, and the game remains extremely fun to play.

Graphics: 9.3
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War looks so pretty!  Everything is modeled to perfection and looks almost photo realistic! All of the Airplanes are highly detailed, and the CGI is gorgeous!

Difficulty: Medium
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War offers a customizable difficulty level, but even that will only take you so far. If you are new to this series or a veteran, I suggest you look through the tutorials so you will know exactly what to do in any given situation.

Concept: 8.7
The game’s storyline and controls are some of the best of any airplane fighting game I have played in a long time.

Overall: 9.0
Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War is a game that should not be missed during this holiday rush of games that is now upon us. This game is drop dead gorgeous, has a good sound track, and is an absolute blast to play. If you see this game in stores, you owe it to yourself to play it, because you will not regret it!