"Hardly compares to its predecessors."

I've had much love for the Ace Combat series ever since renting Ace Combat 4 several years back. When the fifth game out, it seemed like the god of the series. And once I heard Zero was on the way, I got all jittery. However, I was extremely disappointed with this game in the sense that I feel it is a poor addition to the series to bring in after Ace Combat 5.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics look exactly the same from Ace Combat 5, however, that is of little concern to me. The graphics have always been acceptable, even overly decent, for the series since the fourth game. Yet, a step up on the ladder to realism would not have hurt the game. There is not much variation between different planes, and explosions still look a little cheesy, but that is just fine. The cutscenes between every few missions almost look real, so you may be a little happy to hear that.

Sound: 7/10

Planes sound real, people talk, and you hear explosions. There may even be a little song on the more "exciting" missions playing in the background. It's not impressive, but it's not horrible, either. And so, it receives the "Decent 7".

Gameplay: 5/10

Ace Combat has always been the most repetitive series I have ever played, but this game just makes it boring. You play as a mercenary that never talks whom is working for a small country. You fly around, kill some planes with unlimited bullets and 99 missiles is the objective of, eh, about 60-70% of the game. A little, tiny bit of variation comes in destroying ground targets and naval targets, but that is the exact same in every single mission of that type. Whatever happened to having to protect a ground force or your own side's armada that made Ace Combat 5 so fun? You are almost always on offense, and that whole " but you play as a mercenary!" excuse doesn't change the point that it is boring. Aside from that, this game is really short and goes by way too fast. Missions for a decent player that has good control over the buttons can last about 8 minutes. Plus, there are only what... 21 missions total that can be played in one story mode?

Buy, or Rent?: Rent

I finished it and got bored with it in one day. Unless you have a friend that loves playing multiplayer, do not even consider buying this game.

In conclusion, this game is... mediocre. It better suits new players, but true vets will only want to play to add a notch to the belt. Have fun if you decide to get it and good luck.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/06