Ace Combat X: Skies Of Deception

[Coolskin]

Review:

ACE COMBAT X: SKIES OF DECEPTION

Genre: Action
Publisher: Sony
Players: 1-4 (AD Hoc)
Online play: No
Firmware: 2.81

Video:
Windows Media Player: Ace Combat X - Japanese Trailer
QuickTime Player: Ace Combat X - Japanese Trailer

The Ace Combat level of excellence comes to the PSP in an all-new game, designed specifically to take full advantage of the handheld’s capabilities. The adventure begins after the neighbouring country of Leasath, who filled with secretive motives veiled behind long internal conflict, has invaded. It’s your mission to liberate your country and return freedom for all.



Skies Of Deception will challenge you in almost every respect of flying a fighter plane, and your response times will need to be quick both physically and mentally if you wish to succeed. 40 aircrafts are waiting to be unlocked as you progress in your assault against the enemy, all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses. Bombers are generally large, heavy, slow and have strong armour. Instead fighters are usually small, fast and agile, but can also be fatally affected by direct hits.
Specific types of weapons can also be unlocked for particular aircrafts or missions, to inflict more accurate and lethal damage to your target.



Your missions will stretch your abilities in any environment, such as destroying radar stations across glaciers and mountains, bombing carriers out at sea, eliminating designated targets in an urban city, or even a cat and mouse chase shoot-out at 30,000 feet. However, wherever you are the graphics on this game are top notch. Your HUD is presented with absolute precision and the landscape around you is also detailed excellently. A monotone-commander briefs and debriefs you before and after your missions, but the sound while in the air just makes you smile (especially if you plug your PSP into some external speakers)! The main menu is kept clear and simple, with the options of Campaign, Free Mission and Multiplayer modes.



The controls can be quite twitchy to begin with. You really need to get a feel for your aircraft, which can be quite hard sometimes due to the number and variety of aircrafts available. The analogue stick is used as the primary direction control of your aircraft, and the D-pad is used for small adjustments to your direction mainly during takeoff and landing. The shoulder buttons are used to increase / decrease thrust. Holding the two shoulder buttons sends the aircraft into autopilot and returns the pitch of your plane to 0. This is most useful if your plane falls into an uncontrolled roll, or during a night mission over sea when visibility is low and it is easy to lose your sense of orientation.

The Campaign mode is the main root to this game, and the AI get better and better at chasing your tail as you complete each mission. However, the Multiplayer mode also offers more than you would expect. Dogfight Survival, Base Assault and Escort Mission are just a few of the many 2-4 player games accessible in Multiplayer. Here, you have full freedom of your missions and aircrafts. However, during a co-op game you have full communication with your team, which can open up your game experience even more as you’re informed of possible threats by your friends, who are covering you just behind.



Many flying games get tedious very quickly, but Ace Combat X: Skies Of Deception is an exception. This game has a huge lifespan with over 15 challenging and beautifully crafted missions, and your gaming experience isn’t over after completing the Campaign mode. There is more than one route to completing the Campaign mode, and naturally the difficulty level can be raised to Hard if it begins to get too easy. But don’t underestimate the 7 games in Multiplayer, because this section of the game has been given great thought and attention. This game is not an arcade game, and it was never made to be an arcade. Some basic flying skills will turn out to be handy!

The verdict:

Uppers:
- The visual is amongst the best you’ll see on PSP
- Fantastic multiplayer
- Ace Combat series on PSP

Downers:
- No online play
- The annoying voice of the commander
- Tiny PSP speakers aren’t able to make your plane roar!

Overall score: 85%







Henry,

28/01/2007