Preview
Platform:
Xbox 360Developer:
Namco Bandai Games, Inc.Publisher:
Namco Bandai Games AmericaPreviewed by
Justin Fassino on 2007-07-11
The first thing you notice about
Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is how it looks. The in-game action looks virtually identical to the pre-rendered cutscenes that we've seen so far. Light glints off of the metal fuselages of fighter planes, and volumetric missile contrails fill the sky. The draw distance seemingly goes on forever.
The game is exclusive to the 360, at least initially, and it plays pretty solidly. If you're familiar with flight games, you should be right at home with
Ace Combat 6. Pitch and roll are on the left analog stick, while yaw is activated with the bumpers. Lock on with the Y button, and hit B to fire your missiles (if you hold the button, the camera will actually follow them through the air as they home in on their targets, though you have to be careful you don't ignore your plane; once I switched back to flight and was about to collide with the ground).
AC6 has a few new additions to the series, including up to 16 players online in versus or cooperative modes, and a more non-linear single-player campaign. In fact, the choices you make on the battlefield will determine your progression through the war. Each enormous map (and they are enormous; you can fly almost anywhere without having to worry about invisible walls) contains several smaller skirmishes. Which skirmish you choose to take part in could affect the way the missions shake out, either positively or negatively.
For example, imagine an enemy airport is proving to be quite a problem, constantly shooting at you with anti-aircraft guns and launching jets to take you down. Luckily, a squad of tanks and ground troops is bearing down on the airport, ready to help you out. If you choose to provide air support and allow the ground soldiers to take over the airport, it can serve as a resupply area for you later on. In the first mission we got to play, you also have control over a fleet of sea-faring anti-aircraft boats. You can call on their assistance with the d-pad and issue orders for them to either cover your arse or take down some bogeys. Don't protect them enough from the beginning, though, and they won't be around to give support.
Namco promises 15 real-world aircraft, plus many more concept and fictional planes to fly. There's also some downloadable content in the works, but what it is exactly is yet to be confirmed.
Interestingly, Namco had the Xbox 360 flight sticks on display near the game. They're the traditional 360 white, but are of a very sturdy build. The flight sticks will only be available with a special bundle version of the game when it releases in November, and Namco is only making 30,000 of the bundles, so the quicker you are to the store, the more likely you are to get it. On the other hand, the regular 360 controller worked just fine, so either option should be satisfactory. In addition to the sticks, Namco is also releasing six special edition
Ace Combat 6 360 faceplates.
If you couldn't make it to E3 this year, Namco and
Microsoft have you covered: the entire first level of the game is available for download via Xbox Live, so you can try it out yourself.
We will have more coverage of
AC6 throughout the year.
