Customer Reviews

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The game generally plays and looks like all the other Ace Combat games for the PS2 so you won't see or do something new here. Because of this, what will matter is the story line, mission design and variety, aircraft selection, replay factor.

Story Line:
We now have live action cut scenes (real people acting) as opposed to still frame anime shots in AC4 and CG movie in AC5. But the story line is really simple and not really that engaging. I think AC5 has the best story line.

Mission Design and Variety:
You have decent mission variety but there is more focus on dogfighting vs. Aces. This is good to a certain degree but quite repititive. You also now have the option to choose your objectives (concentrate on air-to-air, air-to-surface, or mixed missions) for certain operations. But for me, AC4 has the best mission variety.

Aircraft Selection:
There are less planes here and some are quite old models. This goes in line with the setting of the game (happened before AC5).
You need a lot of money to upgrade planes and weapons and ,believe it or not, I finished my first campaign using a Rafale instead of the usual F22 or F15 in AC4 and AC5.

Replay Factor:
A lot of people are complaining that this game is so short.
But I think this game is intended to be played again and again. (A long game has less chances of being played more than once). So replay factor is quite good if you have the patience. Your Ace Style (Mercenary, Soldier, Knight) affects the 'story line'. You can choose several mission objectives. There are hundreds of aces to shoot down, and a lot of medals to earn. And you need to accumulate lots of cash to buy all planes and weapons.

This game is good for Ace Combat fans but first-timers are encouraged to pick up AC4 (if you want good mission variety) or AC5 (if you want a great story line).

Ace Combat Zero is a prequel to the Ace Combat series, You get fully up to date graphics and gameplay, while finding out what happened to set up the wars in the Ace Combat series.

There are fewer yes-no types of questions than in previous games, and less character development, but the mission tree is much more nicely done - you often get to choose from "land missions" or "air missions" depending on your personal preferences. Also, your aircraft can now be configured to have the missile types that you enjoy using the most.

The cut-scenes have been improved with a more realistic look to them, but in game graphics are about the same as Ace Combat 5. That's not to say they are bad - you get high quality views of the planes you're in, the landscapes you fly over and detailed towns beneath you. It's really rather impressive how well they can render an entire "world" in 3D, in real time as you zoom over it.

The voice actors seem reasonably good, helping you feel involved in the air battles, and the soundtrack is epic in scope without overwhelming you or bombarding you with inappropriate modern music.

You only have one wingman at a time, compared to previous games where you could have multiple wingmen. Occasionally there are other flyers on your side in the sky - it's just that they are not under your direct control. You can specify what types of targets your wingman goes after.

If you're a two player fan, there's now a versus mode where you can fly head to head against a friend and test out your skills. On the downside, the game is MUCH shorter than Ace Combat 5, so if you're a good flyer, you'll finish quickly. Still, you can go back and replay multiple times to get all the endings and to earn all the medals.

A great game for flying combat fans - and especially for those who enjoy the Ace Combat series and want to learn more about its history. Well recommended.

I'm a huge fan of the Ace Combat series. I was addicted to 4, needed to go to video game rehab because of 5. This one I'm on the fence about. I like the graphics and the gameplay. Its kind of a cross between 4 and 5 as far as the controls go. The Story, eh so far its okay. Blowing stuff up? Still lots of fun starting with a hundred missles and air striking the hell out of the enemy. My problem is the fighter choosing and buying. You start with a lousy selection of birds. After the 2rd mission you can upgrade to an F-18, But I liked having like 4 or 5 birds to possibly buy alot easier once I beat the first 3 or 4 stages. I guess I'll have to keep playing it to see if it gets better. I would say if you beat 5 and want to see what the whole Belkan deal was about get this game and play with it. if you want a game with a much better story and more birds to play with get Ace combat 5 and save 20 bucks

If you played any of the others in the Ace Combat series you'll be unlikely to be disappointed by Zero. It places you in the role of "Cypher," an ace paired with a wingman named "Solo Wing Pixy." The narrative of the game is told through an interviewer trying to understand the war by following the career of Cypher, and by interviewing pilots who flew with or against him. There's a fair amount of FMV devoted to this, which is a nice touch.

One of the nice things about this game is that depending on your actions, you'll be placed in one of three categories: Mercenary (destroy lots and lots of optional targets), Soldier (destroy what's appropriate to the mission), or Knight (avoid destroying targets of oppportunity and save your allies whenever possible). Depending on which category you're in the game changes bit by bit, yielding different endings. Also, the game does tend to emphasize ace-on-ace fights, usually with you and Pixy fighting against 2-8 planes in a "guest star" ace squadron. These also change with your play style, and finding all 150 or so aces gives you something to do while racking up the money to buy some of the most expensive planes. ;)

If you've played anything else in the series you'll most likely recognize most of the planes. About the only complaint I have is that some of the highest-end planes take almost an entire playthrough to accumulate enough money to buy, and their special weapons cost as much as some of the smaller planes as well.

Bottom line, I liked this game quite a bit. I'd recommend picking it up if you liked Ace Combat 4 and/or 5 - you'll probably appeciate the subtle references to those games if you've already played them.

Truly, this has been the most exciting Ace Combat game I've ever played!

If you thought you mastered the previous two, this game will give you a run for your money! On the missions where you fight the different ace pilot squadrons, it won't be long before you'll be caught in never-ending missile alerts. You would spend your time flying all around in circles before you find the opportunity to shoot one down, but it's a 4,5, or even 8 vs. 1 battle! You'll surely get shot down if you think you can fly easy!

The missions are great, the storyline is good, and the choice of jet fighters are superb! You can replay this game over and over and still enjoy it! I highly recommend this game not only to Ace Combat fans, but to ALL PS2 owners!!!

This is by far the best Ace Combat game put forth yet.

The story = Ace Combat has never been known for its plot and writing...honestly they all contain some level of cheesiness. Zero, however, is the least of the offenders. You actually feel a sense of purpose while playing through these levels, and the fact that you have a choice as to what kind of pilot you want to be (merciless, professional, etc via the combat rating system) promotes this sense of purpose.

Gameplay = You fight the most complicated AI the franchise has ever produced (and I stand by that remark, even after the release of Ace Combat 6). You'll find yourself requiring a strategy to outgun your enemies, and when you take on the squadrons, you'd better prepare yourself for some frustration.

Extras/replay value = This is the bread and butter of the game; tons of unlockables (planes, weapons, a list of aces you shot down, and medals, which unfortunately do nothing). To acquire all these unlockables and extras, you'll need to spend at least 50 hours on this game...even for the most skilled of players.

It's a shame Ace Combat 6 messed up the formula for their latest game...Ace Combat Zero has it down pat. Hands down the best flight sim/arcade game I've ever played for any system.

Well here I am again and all I can do is tip my hat to the men and women who created the awsome series. As much as I loved Ace Combat 5 I found myself back in the grips of a addictive game. The one thing I missed in the new installment was the soundtrack. Ace Combat 5 gave us a great song to jam to. Blurry was an awsome addition to the game and I felt a little let down that there was not another theme song to push the envelope in ZERO. Other than that the game is flawless. The planes. The Action. And the Setups just go on to prove the ELITE status of the people at Namco Games. Keep em comming. I need more and I need it now !!!

I highly recommend you get this game if you like air combat games.
It has a great story line,easy controls,and relly cool planes.
The dowen side is that it has only 24 missions,and those so called ace enemy pilots are easy to shoot dowen (but then again i've played all the ace combats and I have become rather good at it.
But still this game is great and a must have if you owen ace combat 5.
I think it's cool that the way you fight changes some of the aces that you fight later on and the way the game plays.

I'm not really a gamer but about 10 or 11 years ago I bought a Play Station. Ace Combat 2 was out then so I bought it because I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. It was GREAT for its time but was followed by the flaccid game Ace Combat 3. What an indelible disappointment! Then the PS2 came out and I got Ace Combat 4. Back on track! Actually, in my opinion, AC4 is the best one in the whole series. However, I recently finished AC5 and then stumbled on Ace Combat Zero. I enjoyed this game immensely (more than AC5 and about equal to AC4). It has different facets than the other AC games. The various screens that take you from one function to the next are easier to navigate by far. The quality of the scenes are excellent and perhaps it's just me, but I thought the quality of the planes was better than AC5. It also categorizes you according to your style for attacking targets etc., and at some point, the "version" of the mission offered depends on your style: mercenary vs soldier vs knight. This adds some twists and turns in the game. I agree with another reviewer that perhaps this game is shorter (18 missions) because it's meant to be played again several times (to go through each style, etc.) I enjoyed the story line and they added some new elements like "interviews" and records regarding some of the pilots shot down. There was the obligatory mission or two that started to get tedious as I had to do it over and over and over to finally figure out or practice enough to finally complete it at the end. However, this did not occur as frequently as did in AC5, and I never had to put the game on the shelf for a week or two before trying it again. Another aspect of this game was that I could never earn enough money to buy and own more than one plane at a time, even by the end. (At least 2/3 of the time I destroyed virtually all the targets so I think this "one-plane-at-a-time" deal is built into the game.) Once it's finished you can play free missions. You can only use the 3 default planes and whatever plane you owned at the end of the campaign. I'm not complaining. I very much enjoyed this game and if you like air combat type games, you ought to get this one; in fact, you ought to get the whole series. If you're like me and not a genius game player, you might find the strategy guide helpful also. By the way, I don't understand why Namco designed AC6 only for XBox, after everthing else was for the PS format. I thought they might design it for the next installment in the PS series--PS3.

First off, this game has a very intriguing plot, as in it will keep you going. Second of all it has a LONG storyline (19 levels.) You get to play as an unnamed mercenary called "The Demon Lord." But a cool part is that after you shoot down enemy aces, about halfway thru the game you get see interviews of them. My favorite part is that you get to unlock many planes: prototypes,stealth,air to air, and air to ground. I give this game 2 thumbs up!