Still more Ace Combat 6 DLC

By Tom Bramwell Published 27 June, 2008

Plane refits galore.

While other companies wrestle with Web 2.0, moral dilemmas and the DRM mushroom cloud, Namco Bandai still sits around painting planes with anime characters and charging a couple of quid for them. It's a living. And here's more of it thanks to several new plane skins and a miscellaneous bolt-on for Ace Combat 6.

Released on Xbox Live yesterday (we can't see any reference to this on Major Nelson but we'll take distributor Atari's word for it), the update is headlined by "Ace of Aces Mission 03" for 350 Microsoft Points (GBP 2.98 / EUR 4.20), about which Namco says: "Just like the mode included in the game, Ace of Aces is a very hard mode."

Then there's the Dark Shining Set (300 MS Points - GBP 2.55 / EUR 3.60), which includes a golden Rafale M and a black F-2A along with a "modified sky-painting aircraft for shows and exhibitions" that's been equipped with "collared smoke missiles", with the payload "maximised for show purposes".

Otherwise it's all individual plane refits: a Distant Thunder A-10A (200 MSP - GBP 1.70 / EUR 2.40) that has a lighter body and increased weapons payload; a Typhoon remade to the Ace Combat 3 spec (200 MSP - GBP 1.70 / EUR 2.40), which valued speed and durability over turning response; a Gault Su-47 (200 MSP - GBP 1.70 / EUR 2.40) with improved turning performance in reduced-speed zones albeit with less thrust; and a Wardog Emblem F-14D designed for emergency interception. That one's free.

Last but not least, there's another pair of planes based on Idolm@ster - a Japanese-only Namco Bandai series - called The Idolmaster Azusa (an F-14D refit described thus: "She's got lots of potential, but she doesn't like to be rushed. Just let her go at her own pace as she takes you on a smooth ride to victory!") and The Idolmaster Ritsuko (an F/A-18F: "She tires easily, so use her precise movement to take out the enemy as quickly as possible! You've got the brains, she's got the moves - let's get lots of enemies!") Both of those go for 400 MS Points (GBP 3.40 / EUR 4.80).

For more on Ace Combat 6, check out our review.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • DB2k #1 4 years ago

    good opening paragraph tom :)

  • systems #2 4 years ago

    "collared smoke"? Not coloured smoke?

    It'd be nice if they bundled them all together into a discounted mega pack as even Oblivion wasn't this silly.

  • Gnort #3 4 years ago

    Truly, Ace Combat planes are the new horse armour.

  • GamesConnoisseur #4 4 years ago

    Hands up please, who are the ones who bought all the plane skins including the obsure Id@lMaster or whatever it is?

    You know you are the ones who are encouraging these Namco boys to do more skin jobs?!

  • Dunk360 #5 4 years ago

    Guys your RSS feed titles are coming up completely broken in iGoogle reader home page... can you fix it?

  • monkie_king #6 4 years ago

    Pet Shop Boys reference? o_O

  • systems #7 4 years ago

    Did anyone manage to import the flight stick for this game? They never bothered to release it here.

  • XdarXideX #8 4 years ago

    I don't see the problem with Namco releasing more skins... do you guys need something to complain about? Even if it doesn't affect you in the slightest?

    Clearly these are not "the new horse armour". These planes actually make a difference in play because their stats are different to the original planes.

    Systems> It would have been wise to do it when the game came out (even though the game that comes with it is not region free)... they sell for shit-loads on ebay sometimes. :(
    Edited by 1 at 27/06/08 @ 12:40

  • Darren #9 4 years ago

    I'll have the FREE stuff thank you... no way would I pay for the rest of it, if I did I'd have paid twice as much for it as I did the game itself!!! Namco certainly know how to exploit their games to the full as far as DLC is concerned. Can't wait to see what they have planned for Smash Court Tennis 3 and SoulCalibur IV!!! :p

  • NegativeZero #10 4 years ago

    @GamesConnoisseur: I think most of them live in Japan. If you think that the DLC is crazy in AC6 you should see those Idolm@ster games. I think I remember hearing that you have to buy DLC stuff in order to be able to play the game at all.

    They should be stopping with the Idolm@ster planes some time soon, since there's only one (two at a stretch) girl left in that game's cast, and only three aircraft not to have anime girls plastered on them yet.

    Personally I'd happily fork over 200 points for the Idolm@ster skins, but 400 is way beyond what I'm willing to drop. I think they really went about it the wrong way. Throw each of these DLC collections together into one pack and ask for 500-600 points and they'd have sold a hell of a lot more of them. Probably still cleaned up too.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #11 4 years ago

    ""collared smoke"? Not coloured smoke? "

    Direct from their release. I was bewildered too.

    I genuinely have no idea what all the AC6 stuff is about, but I do enjoy trying to extract logic from their releases!

  • espibara #12 4 years ago

    Yeah I love my death machine Eurofighter Typhoon.


    But No I DONT want it day glow fucking pink, with an orange tail, a yellow canopy, and pink fucking tyres.

    NAMCO get a grip you conning bastards.