The Ace Combat series has had its ups and downs (ah thank you), but it seems home gaming technology has finally caught up with the developer’s vision. The sixth game in the series proves – with a little persistence on the gamer’s part - to be an impressive and intelligent addition to several gaming genres; the flight sim (naturally), but also the strategy and shmup categories.

First impressions during the tutorial are bland, uneventful and treat you as if you’re a bit of a moron (“Duh! I drive a plane!”). Fortunately, this is the one and only time Ace Combat 6 will do this, so take my advice and skip the tutorial – you know how to hold a controller, and therefore you’ll figure out the intuitive controls without listening to red-blooded, wholesome, gruff-voiced, all-American ground controller Jon “Uncle” Sam telling you to turn left by moving the analogue stick to the right. Er… I mean left. Get straight on with the show, Ice Man.

As previously stated, Top Gun was the worst kind of macho ‘80s bollocks and it continues to sour the jet fighter pilot’s existence to this day. All I can say is thank Christ there’s no after flight locker room activity or midlife motorcycle crises involved in this awesome game, or I’d have to put a new Tom Cruise poster on my dartboard. So, from this point on, forget Top Gun ever happened, and try not to let it bugger up your enjoyment of Ace Combat 6 with off the cuff one-liners about needing speed, or having your breath taken away, or any of that recycled shite. Coolio.

Essentially, the back story continues the Ace Combat franchise’s trend for escalating an imaginary cold war into full on invasion, and it’s up to you to head the aerial front in repelling the Russians. They’re not Russians, of course (I can’t remember or pronounce what they’re supposed to be called, but I’m sure they fly a red flag of some sort – which simply won’t stand in our free world). But all mockery aside, this latest instalment builds on the bog standard setup most admirably, and gives players the feeling of being involved in a worrying (if exciting) war that escalates with every mission – be it successful or failed. After all, retaliation is a big part of any battle, and your victories will bring about wonderful, dynamic consequences.
This unexpectedly deep mission design is a monumental strength of Ace Combat 6, and ensures pilots won’t get stalled repeating the same, dog-fighting, air-base bombing missions over and over again.

What’s also a bold move on the part of the developers is attempting to make an air combat simulator accessible to the average console jockey. Two simple modes of play (realistic and arcade) cater for most every gamer typecast out there, and goes a long way to ensuring Ace Combat meets the demands of both the ardent sim fanatic and the fickle run’n’gun casual. If you like to “fly your planes proper”, the simulation mode grants players with precise and accurate control over their jet fighter, while arcade pundits will undoubtedly prefer the less-realistic, yet highly accessible dog fighting capabilities of arcade mode.

It’s our assumption that even sim fans will spend half their air-hours in arcade mode, however, as crashing into buildings because you’re rolling instead of turning pales in comparison to ripping along through low terrain and napalming a convoy of tanks. Fun is fun, whether you’re into flight simulators or not, and this has to be the first time I ever found myself getting excited while playing any kind of sim, much to the credit of Namco Bandai.

One down side is the bane of many videogames these days – the scriptwriting and the cut scenes. Ace Combat 6 is another game that makes you wonder whether the writer ever actually proof read their dialogue, or why the voice actor didn’t, at some point during recording, say “Hang on. This is rubbish, isn’t it?”. I guess you can’t have everything and at least it doesn’t detract from the game, but prepare yourself for some squirm inducing dialogue.

The missions contain a huge number of variations, and include optional accomplishments for the seasoned pilot. The good stuff, such as taking out surface targets and exciting dog-fights, is ever present and has somehow been lifted from the doldrums seen in most every other combat flight game previously. No more flying for half an hour after a blip on the radar screen, only to overshoot it before getting off two bullets, then circling repeatedly trying to find the elusive sucker again. Ace Combat 6 makes its aerial battles thrilling and action packed, with little in the way of explorative nonsense sapping the game’s momentum.

And you’re not fighting alone. The battlefield is rife with life, and the NPC’s AI is impressively present. Keeping a close ear on the radio chatter can highlight ways in which you might save the battle, and not just complete your own mission. A background call about a battalion being pinned down by armoured gun turrets is something you can – if you choose to – do something about, and means the difference between life and death, success and failure for your men on the ground. Enemy AI is equally prevalent, so the feeling of fighting against an equally matched, living, breathing and calculating enemy is quite superb.

On top of all this, Ace Combat 6 looks gorgeous. The sun burns against the backs of the vaporous clouds you’re soaring through, with light breaking through them and pouring down against the endless horizons. The smoke trails from missiles become a temporary fixture against the beautifully blue skies, and the explosions and shrapnel sting the eye with their incredible detail.

Number six also highlights what’s been missing from the series – online multiplayer. Finally, you can have up to four fighter jets working in amazing unison, while death match modes provide frantic and exhilarating escapism.

People who hate simulators aren’t going to have their minds changed by Ace Combat 6, but fans of the series and players who thrill at a varied game collection are going to be delighted with this latest edition. It’s a bold move on the part of the developers to attempt to appeal to a cross-genre demographic, but they can sit back and be proud of the job they’ve done – Ace Combat 6 works.