It’s here!
I picked up Ace Combat Zero last week, and man it is just as good as ever. Ace Combat games are so much fun to me because they combine the playability of an arcade shooter with realistic looking and very graphically eye pleasing airplanes which are real-world (aside from the three made-up secret planes they through in the mix for ya).
For this edition you get to fly the following:
F-5E Tiger II – AIM-9X, Mk-82, BLU-27
J-35J Draken – AIM-26 Super Falcon, LAU-3, Mk-82
F-1 – ASM-1, Mk-82, LAU-3
MiG-21bis Fishbed – AA-11 Archer, UB-32, FAB-250
MiG-29 Fulcrum-A – AS-14 Kedge, AA-10 Alamo, FAB-250
F-16C Fighting Falcon – AIM-120 AMRAAM, AGM-88 HARM, Mk-84
F-20A Tigershark – AIM-7 Sparrow, GBU-31 JDAM, AGM-65 Maverick
F/A-18C Hornet – AIM-7 Sparrow, AGM-154 JSOW, AGM-84 Harpoon
E/A-18G Growler – AIM-120 AMRAAM, AN/ALQ-99, AGM-88 HARM
F-15C Eagle – AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9X, Mk-84
F-15E Strike Eagle – AIM-7 Sparrow, CBU-87, GBU-24 Paveway III
F-15S/MTD – ?
Su-27 Flanker – AA-12 Adder, FAB-500, ?
Su-32 Fullback – AA-12 Adder, AS-14 Kedge, AS-17 Krypton
Su-37 Super Flanker – R-37, ?, ?
F-14D Super Tomcat – AIM-54 Phoenix, GBU-31 JDAM, BLU-27
F-4E Phantom II – AIM-7 Sparrow, Mk-84, BLU-27
EA-6B Prowler – AIM-9X, AN/ALQ-99, AGM-88 HARM
X-29A – AIM-9X, CBU-72 FAE, AGM-88 HARM
F-117A Nighthawk – AIM-9X, GBU-27 Paveway III, AGM-88 HARM
Su-47 Berkut – AA-10 Alamo, ?, ?
Typhoon – Meteor BVRAAM, ?, ?
JAS-39C Gripen – Meteor BVRAAM, Bofors ARAK 70 rocket pod, DWS 39
Tornado GR.4 – JP.233, Sky Shadow ECM pod/BOZ countermeasure pod, ?
Rafale M – MICA EM, ?, ?
MiG-31 Foxhound – R-37, FAB-500, AA-11 Archer
A-10A Thunderbolt II – AGM-65 Maverick, CBU-72 FAE, LAU-3
F-35C Joint Strike Fighter – AGM-84 Harpoon, AIM-9X, AGM-154 JSOW
F-22A Raptor – AIM-120 AMRAAM, GBU-31 JDAM, ?
F-2A – ASM-1, AAM-4, CBU-87
F-16XL – AIM-7 Sparrow, ?, ?
Mirage 2000D – AS.30L, BGL 1000, 400-kg bomb (looks about that size but dont know the name)
YF-23A Black Widow II – AIM-9X, ?, ?
Plus the three fictitious airplanes:
X-02 Wyvern
ADF-01 Falken
ADFX-01 Morgan
The weapons listed are what you’d be looking at when you load a special weapon onto your airplane. Each airplane comes with three special weapons and you pick which one you want for a given mission. It’s a nice feature that was absent from Ace Combat 5, but present for Ace Combat 04. The question marks mean I either can’t remember the weapon in question or I haven’t unlocked it so I don’t know what it is yet. Those were just what I can remember from the top of my head. Yes some of it sounds crazy, but it’s Ace Combat, and it’s so much fun!
Additionally each airplane comes with five paint schemes, and most of them resemble a paint scheme the aircraft in question has been in during its actual service life at some point. For example, the MiG-21bis has a paint scheme that I swear looks just like Romania’s upgraded Lancers. The F-4E has the Desert Storm era two-tone grey. The F-5E has the light grey scheme that Swiss Tigers are found in. The MiG-31 has a scheme that resembles what it wore to one of those big European air shows during the 90’s (not sure which one, but you’ll know the paint scheme when you see it).
All in all a very fun game, and the AI in particular is much more challenging this time around so it makes for some serious dogfights. You’ll encounter many different ace squads, and they are all very good at giving you hell.
Oh and another thing I thought I’d point out is that depending on which special weapon you choose some airplanes actually have targeting pods and stuff fitted for aesthetics purposes. Nice to know they developers did their homework. I saw very few improperly placed weapons, and other such things. For example when you load the HARM missile on the F-16, you see the HARM Targeting pod under the air intake.
When you load BGL 1000 bombs on the Mirage 2000, you see the associated targeting pod fitted (either ATLIS or Damocles I guess).
The F-15E when loaded with GBU-24’s has the two-pod LANTIRN system.
Very cool little things that an airplane buff like myself would notice.
Sign In
May 1, 2006 at 7:44 am