Ace Combat: Squadron Leader Review

By Kristan Reed Published 17 February, 2005

Can it take your breath away?

Version tested: PlayStation 2

Order yours now from Simply Games.

Flight combat games seem to have pretty much died a commercial death on consoles in recent years, with even outstanding efforts like Crimson Skies and Totally Games' hugely entertaining Secret Weapons Over Normandy failing to lure the punters into splashing out on them. With Ace Combat: Distant Thunder also suffering a similar commercial fate, it seems that the gaming public at large just don't care about flying planes anymore.

Why is this? Are gamers so obsessed by racing cars, shooting guns and playing sport that they don't see the idea of flying at breakneck speed an exciting prospect? Or are the games that have appeared over the years just not that exciting? It's not a straightforward question to find a satisfactory answer to; commercially the genre's barely twitching, yet critically the reaction has been largely very positive indeed. Indeed, having played some of the best over the years it's a mystery why these games fail at the tills. Can Namco's latest attempt at reviving this genre make any difference? We're not sure it can.

Your skies are mine

'Ace Combat: Squadron Leader' Screenshot 1

Namco tries very hard to inject a degree of personality to what might have otherwise been a very straightforward mission-based shoot-'em-up, and as such goes to great lengths to weave a dramatic narrative around every scenario Blaze and his wingmen encounter. Pre-level cut-scenes bristle with am-dram passion and purpose, with a kind of earnest quality that Japanese games seem to specialise in, while the relentless heroic aerial chatter during the missions tries hard to make us feel like we're right in the thick of a life-or-death dogfight, saving our buddies from certain death and defying the odds for glory. Like many Japanese to English translations, though, you get the feeling most of it is thoroughly lost in translation and ends up having this camp seriousness that's entertaining only because it's so incredibly funny to watch. It's almost as if Japanese developers try and outdo each other in how bad they can make their cut-scenes. Ace Combat 5 doesn't win the prize, but it's in the running.

If you can pay attention long enough to not instantly hit the start button to skip these lavish but utterly pointless intro sequences, you'll learn that the general gist is protecting your home nation of Osea from a rival superpower in the year 2010. As much as Namco tries to weave some sort of meaningful narrative around the events, it never comes close to sticking, which is a minor failing, but one that doesn't help you want to stick with it. The missions come thick and fast, and most generally kick off fairly innocuously before inevitably descending into an action packed fight to the death as various deadly enemies appear out of nowhere. Others task you with ensuring the safe passage of an allied ship, but the name of the game is most definitely shoot them before they shoot you [that's not what it says on the box, boss -Tom]. In short it's not the most complicated game you'll ever play, but pretty good fun once it gets going.

As is pretty much standard with any flight combat game, arrow indicators obligingly point you in the direction of your next target from the edge of the screen, while some of the actual business of flying is taken care of. It's more about the combat, so the game makes sure the plane continues to fly at a minimum speed regardless of whether your foot is on the gas, and virtually any manoeuvre can be pulled off without having to worry about stalling and the like. It may look like a simulator, but this is firmly in arcade action territory; there really is very little to worry about in terms of learning the ropes, even if a bizarrely convoluted tutorial gives that distinct impression.

Top gun?

'Ace Combat: Squadron Leader' Screenshot 2

As you approach your next point of twisted flaming death-to-be the distance indicator within the reticule itself counts down, and at 5,000 metres changes to red at the point your weaponry can reach them. When you get closer still your reticule expands to include a lock-on indicator which basically guarantees a direct hit when you loose off another rocket of destruction. With mastery of the basic cannon, guided missile, unguided bombs and the odd special weapon (such as high-damage cluster bombs) the task at hand is always as straightforward as possible; kill anything not on your side within the time limit while simultaneously trying your best not to get blasted out of the sky yourself or plunge headlong into the scenery. Although most of the action takes place high up in the inky blue, now and then you have to pay more attention to what's on the ground, as you drop your limited stock of unguided bombs onto aircraft carriers and other ground targets. But in the main the name of the game is chasing dots, looping all over the place trying to get them in your sights, pulling off evasive manoeuvres and trying to keep a handle on how far the ground is (the number of times we almost nailed missions, only to misjudge something right at the death and plunge to our doom and lose 15 minutes of progress was a little annoying to say the least).

Although it all sounds like pretty familiar ground we're jetting through here, Namco has added the ability to call on your three wingmen during each mission. Actioned via the D-pad you can issue basic commands such as Attack, Disperse, Defend as well as issuing an instruction on whether to used their special weapon or not. For much of the time, though, you don't really have to worry too much about what they're up to, so long as you're getting on with the task at hand. You'll probably find yourself either being your own worst enemy much of the time by crashing in stupid circumstances, or you'll be doing a good enough job nailing most of the enemies on your own that you needn't concern yourself with what they're up to.

So what of the longevity and replayability? With around 30 missions it's not going to be a game you'll lick too quickly, and with over 50 licensed playable classic and state-of-the-art planes to buy and fly there's much to discover and try out. But however much of a pleasant diversion it was, would we buy it? At full price, almost certainly not. After a few long sessions with the game over recent weeks Ace Combat 5 felt far less involving than the competition. Next to the tense and exciting dogfights in other slower paced, more graphically spectacular titles in the genre the actual combat itself just lacked punch; mostly you're shooting dots from afar and rarely go anywhere near the land. On top of that, enemy drones lack convincing AI and provide little more than cannon fodder, although this admittedly does improve the further you progress.

You gotta have soul

The real problem is, though, that the game has already lost its less patient audience by then, and simply doesn't get off to a good enough start to warrant sticking with. With another harmless but anonymous storyline providing no hook whatsoever, it becomes one of those games where you feel no sense of attachment to what's going on. You can appreciate it's not a bad game to any degree, is technically very polished with beautifully rendered craft bursting with technical detail and slick in almost every sense - but it lacks soul. And to us, any game guilty of that becomes hard to recommend and positively screams 'rental only'. Top Gun but sadly not Top Fun.

Order yours now from Simply Games.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (30) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • groovychainsaw #1 7 years ago

    'is technically very polished with beautifully rendered craft bursting with technical detail and slick in almost every sense - but it lacks soul' - amusingly, this sentence sounds exactly like a description of top gun the film, as well....

  • Nebularhaze #2 7 years ago

    Go Maverick!!!

  • UncleLou #3 7 years ago

    Next to the tense and exciting dogfights in other slower paced, more graphically spectacular titles in the genre

    Like which one? I haven't seen a single flight game with better graphics yet (speaking about AC 04 though), be it on PCs or any other console. Ace Combat is the Gran Turismo of action flight games, graphically. What's more important, Ace Combat conveys a sense of really being high up in the air that almost causes vertigo sometimes.

  • krudster #4 7 years ago

    Like....Crimson Skies and SWON on Xbox to name but two.

    /cue argument that those games had *rubbish* graphics, etc...

  • Natalio #5 7 years ago

    "After a few long sessions with the game over recent weeks Ace Combat 5 felt far less involving than the competition."

    What competition? "Air Force Aim Strike"? "Deadly Skies"?

  • TipTop #6 7 years ago

    I invested some time in SWON and it's not a bad little game if you like that sort of game. Not the best graphically, but had a good feel about it. Also the LIVE updates meant I went back to it a few times.

  • smelliot #7 7 years ago

    Dammit. I was looking forward to this.

    Oh well, DOAU for me.

  • cyk #8 7 years ago

    If its just as good as AC4, which I rented, enjoyed and returned, then it should be a fun weekend. They should really take this engine and make a great Macross game.

  • drumbaby #9 7 years ago

    Friend of mine is a real flight sim aficionado, and rates AC4 above anything else.

    That was until he played the OPSM2 AC5 demo around mine for an hour, the full game of which he now is gagging to buy tommorow.

    If that's any help. :)

    His buddy is a genu-wine fighter pilot, and absolutely loves the AC series too.

  • IronGiant #10 7 years ago

    Reviews seem to be getting worse lately.. out of 40 reviews across various sites/mags this game scored an average of 8.5 so you give it a 6, the lowest score anywhere so far. Right.

    IGN 93
    Famitsu 85
    Gamespot 83
    EGM 8
    Edge 7
    Eurogamer 6

    I find normally a fair score for games tends to be somewhere inbetween IGN who go wildly overboard and Edge who think it's cool to slate a game so an 8 would appear about right.

  • Ajay #11 7 years ago

    Much of the criticisms and frustrations in the review (shooting 'dots', crashing into the ground etc.) seem to stem from the very nature of it being a modern jet combat game.

    I'll grant that other gameplay factors such as repetitiveness or poor AI are worthy of criticism, but it seems odd to mark out areas which are pretty much integral to the game style. Admittedly I'm an unashamed AC4 fanboy, but I'd be curious to know if jet flight games/sims are Kristan's 'thing'...?

  • Thamuhacha #12 7 years ago

    >The review is just plain wrong.

    Sigh. Back to this.

    Reviews CAN'T be wrong. They can contain factual innaccuracies, but other than that this is Kristan's opinion.

    I disagree with it however. I would give this a 7 as it's quite fun.

  • krudster #13 7 years ago

    I guess the point is I found this *less fun* than other flight combat games with an inferior combat mechanic and a dreadful attempt to stitch together the action with laughably serious cut scenes. If that makes it *not my thing* then, yes, shooting dots isn't my thing. I am, however, a big fan of flight combat, which very much is my 'thing'.

    Sure, there's nothing about this which is going to seem less impressive than AC4, so by all means try it. But for the love of god, *rent* it.

  • Ajay #14 7 years ago

    If that makes it *not my thing* then, yes, shooting dots isn't my thing. I am, however, a big fan of flight combat, which very much is my 'thing'.

    Fair enough. Wasn't any offence intended krudster, just didn't strike me as a review from someone particularly enthusiastic about the genre and if I've mistaken disappointment for apathy that's my bad.
    Edited by 1 at 17/02/05 @ 12:44

  • Shinji #15 7 years ago

    Er. We're not in the US. The hint is in the name of the website.

  • Eighthours #16 7 years ago

    I played the demo of this on OPS2M last month. Thought it was boring beyond belief. And I loved Crimson Skies........

  • tengu #17 7 years ago

    Ace Combat 4 was pretty swanky, no doubting that. It was, however, very short and didn't really give you enough incentive to play through it again.

    Think I'll rent this one first.

  • Googly-eyes #18 7 years ago

    No soul? wtf?

    Anyway, it plays well, looks very nice and the missions are quite varied. The only thing that really lets it down are the story and characters, which are no where near as compelling as the subdued narrative from AC04.

    I'd recommend the game, just make sure you play it on hard difficulty from the beginning...

  • Scimarad #19 7 years ago

    I really liked AC4 so if this is similar I'll add my vote to the 'WTF??' camp:-)

  • valli #20 7 years ago

    I'll just join the WTF club and start the "FFS!" section within it.

    Googled "Crimson Skies" to see what it's like and Krudster, you can't mean seriously that it looks better than AC. I mean, come on!

  • ssuellid #21 7 years ago

    Crimson Skies is very good as is SWON but the combat is totally different - its old fashioned dog fighting - a game based on realistic jet combat is not going to have much or any dog fighting.

  • 3william56 #22 7 years ago

    Got to agree about the problems with a technically decent game let down by iffy mission / AI design and laughable narrative. I lost the AC plot at AC3 Electrosphere - the PAL version didn't even include the cut scenes, except as an opening montage, so it made absolutely zero sense (and was nothing like the box description). And what's with the real licensed planes in a ficticious country / planet and timeline thing? Spitfires vs. lasers and heat seeking missiles on planet WTF? It has potential, but needs to have some sort of explanation.

    Pfft. Anyway, the best dogfighting game (IMHO) was G-Police. Now there's a mystery - an original and reasonably successful franchise despite being almost totally hamstrung by the tech of the day, totally screams out for a PS2 era version to fulfill it's potential, and... nothing. Que!? Oh well. Maybe someone at Sony will dust off the idea for a PS3 outing.

  • Scimarad #23 7 years ago

    "And what's with the real licensed planes in a ficticious country / planet and timeline thing? Spitfires vs. lasers and heat seeking missiles on planet WTF? It has potential, but needs to have some sort of explanation."

    Er...why? What kind of explanation would make any kind of logical sense? It needs no explanation in the same way that all those near identical medieval fantasy world need no explanation...

  • Googly-eyes #24 7 years ago

    "laughable narrative"

    Nah, I've seen a lot worse.. Halo 2 for example ;)
    Don't quite get the comments on bad AI, your wingmen cover you well enough and I never noticed anything wrong with the way the enemy planes attack you.

  • Legendary #25 7 years ago

    According to your review it got 60hz. How do I get it for my game as I can't find the option.

    Are you sure about it ?

  • Spin_Dr_Wolf #26 7 years ago

    /slaps

  • valli #27 7 years ago

    Hyoushi?

  • tengu #28 7 years ago

    Yes, some missions do give the option to take off and land with your plane if you want to. Seemed a bit pointless to me, but there you go.

    I absolutely loved this game, it was excellent. Not as good as the last game, but the 'conversations' with your squad in-flight really added to the atmosphere.

    Why on earth did they use that awful Puddle of Mud song as the theme song though?

  • tengu #29 7 years ago

    No, the last one was much shorter if anything, but I really liked the way the storyline was put together in it. It was much more subtle than the (still impressive mind) Hollywood style CGI fest this game gives you.

    Gameplay wise, this game and the last one are pretty much identical. It's just a question of preference I suppose.

    If you've never played the previous title, you'll like this one a lot more I think.

  • urban #30 7 years ago

    now i've never played the originals...but had a bash at this last night...STUNNING game i really really enjoyed it. so sorry i'm gonna have to tell you to shut up :D