Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

I've never really loved simulation games, but if there's a shining light in the genre, Ace Combat 04 is one of them.  This was the 6th or 7th PS2 game I purchased (I got 2 at the same time, this one, and Sly Cooper). 

GAMEPLAY

Ace Combat is a flight simulator, so it mainly involves flying around the map, shooting down enemy planes, and bombing targets.  The levels are decently sized, open area maps, in which you can fly around freely to your objectives.  Most of the missions take 15 to 30 minutes, and there are 18 of them.  My personal favorite mission involved stopping missiles in the artic.  There's also a 2 player split screen mode, which involves 1 on 1 dogfights.  You can replay any of the missions after you've defeated the game, so that feature adds the replay value.

GRAPHICS

The game worlds have realistic terrain, Mountains, desert canyon, urban cities etc.

While the environments aren't that detailed, you can easily tell what's going on.

STORY 

The game takes place on a fictional version of earth, on the continent Usea.  After a mega astroid crashes into Usea in 1999, 500,000 people are killed and many are left with nothing.  The continent became occupied eventually and a war started.  Now during this, a young boy, was riding his bike to school, when he see's a dogfight going on above him.  After watching a plane marked Yellow 13 shoot down a fighter, it crashes into his family's house, killing his parents, leaving him orphaned.  After moving into the city with his drunken-bum uncle, the boy meets a bartenders daughter, and eventually begins to hangout with her, at their bar.  The Bar ends up being the hangout of the yellow sqaudron.  He l befriends, Yellow 13, and begins spying on him for the resistance.  During the game, you play as Mobius 1, an ISAF fighter pilot, who is top ranked, and eventually shoots down Yellow 13.  The games cutscenes are a long letter from the now grown boy to Mobius 1.

AGE

While rated E, there's surprisingly cursing in the game.  There is violence, but it only involves shooting down other aircraft, and is mild.

CONCLUSION

AC04 has a very interesting story, that kept me hooked, and great gameplay.  I recommend this if your looking to find a airplane/combat game for your PS2.   

Even with the outdated graphics, it's very much worth playing, and especially since it can be found for under $5.

7 out of 10.

DETAILS

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies was developed by Project Aces, and released by Namco in 2003.  It's rated E for violence and mild language by the ESRB.