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TeeKup
June 12th, 2007, 08:14 PM
After completing Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, I decided to check out the next in the series, Ace Combat Zero. The plot however is a prequel to AC:5, and I believe Namco out did themselves, yet again.

Wikipedia Article:
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War is the prequel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prequel) to Ace Combat 5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Combat_5). It re-tells the events of a war that took place 15 years earlier in the Ace Combat time line. The player is put in control of a legendary mercenary ace, who goes by the call-sign "Cipher" during this war. The story examines Cipher's effect on both the outcome of the war and the opposing aces he defeated in combat. A good part of the story is told through a series of flashback interviews by a journalist researching for an article on Cipher.

After years of internal political unrest caused by the Belkan federal law review of 1988 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988), Belka allowed its eastern territories to secede in an attempt to remedy the ongoing economic crisis that had befallen the country. However, the series of secessions that followed did not have its intended effect, instead only further weakening Belka's power. Osea, a nearby nation, seized the opportunity and installed pro-Osean governments within the eastern provinces by assisting them in declaring independence. On 12 December (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_12) 1991 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991), a far right (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_right) party took power in Belka aiming to restore the country's glory, and accelerated its industrial strength to unprecedented heights. Shortly after, abundant natural resources were discovered in Area B7R, a region lying between Belka and the bordering eastern nations.

On 25 March (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_25) 1995 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995), Belka began a massive large scale invasion of its neighbors, intent on taking back their former territories. Initially, they were successful in capturing most territories that were lost to them during the secession. The invasion prompted Osea and their allied nation Yuktobania to form a coalition and launch a counter-offensive into the eastern territories. In order to compliment their regular forces, Osea and Yuktobania hired mercenaries; this included one such pilot, callsign Cipher, who would be referred to as "The Demon Lord of the Round Table."

This is where the story of Cipher and his wingman Pixy begins.


Their early missions center around driving the Belkan forces out of Ustio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustio), one of the eastern nations and Valais Air Base, the home base of the Ustian Air Force's remaining aircraft. They succeeded in securing a direct route to the Ustian capital of Directus, and liberated the city from Belka on 13 May (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_13) 1995 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995).

After securing much of the occupied eastern region from Belkan control, the two mercenaries were ordered into Belka where they conducted offensive operations against the Belkan military. At this point, Pixy started to question the validity of the coalition's push into Belka. It was during this time that Allied forces were alerted to the existence of a Belkan super weapon code-named Excalibur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur_%28laser%29) during a regular escort mission. The Excalibur was an anti-ballistic-missile laser cannon which the Belkans had converted into a rather effective anti-air weapon. The mercenaries were forced to re-focus their attention to destroying this potential threat.

On 23 May (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_23), the Excalibur was destroyed largely thanks to the efforts of Cipher and Pixy. Later, the two were involved in numerous sorties including an offensive bombing campaign against the city of Hoffnung on 1 June (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1), where it is revealed that the Belkans are resorting to a scorched earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorched_earth) policy in order to keep their technologies away from enemy hands. The incident leaves Pixy in a state of disillusionment over his mission.

On 6 June (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_6) 1995, Cipher and Pixy were ordered on a mission to intercept Belkan bombers suspected of carrying nuclear weapons bound for Ustio. However, the bomber force was only a diversionary tactic which masked the Belkan command's true intention of doing the unthinkable; they detonated seven nuclear devices inside their own country's borders, vaporizing several large cities. During the confusion immediately after the nuclear detonations, Pixy fired upon Cipher's aircraft from behind in an act of treachery and escaped before Cipher was able to return fire. Cipher, heavily damaged and without support, was ordered to return to base immediately.

Realizing the extreme measures the Belkan government was willing to take in order to end the war, Osea and Yuktobania started peace talks with Belka. A peace agreement was signed on 20 June (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_20), signifying the official end of the Belkan War. However, Cipher and his replacement wingman, PJ, were sent back into the war zone to root out Belkan military renegades that had rejected the peace accord. As the fighting continued for the two mercenaries, PJ realized the opposing forces were too large and well-equipped to be part of a mere splinter faction.

During the 25 December (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_25) intercept of the Belkan flying fortress Hresvelgr, Cipher and PJ discovered that the "remnant" forces had formed an anarchist terrorist group calling themselves A World With No Boundaries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_World_With_No_Boundaries). This organization was formed by disgruntled former Osean, Sapin, Yuktobanian, and Belkan aces and ex-mercenaries with the ideal of forming a border-less world.

Cipher and PJ's final sortie was the destruction of V2 launch control facilities, located inside Avalon Dam in northern Belka. En route to the operation, they fought their way through one final ace squadron over B7R. After defeating these pilots, Cipher and PJ arrived at the Avalon Dam. After the destruction of the V2 launch control facilities, Cipher and PJ were alerted of an unknown aircraft approaching them at high speed. They had almost no time to respond as a laser beam came out of nowhere and hit PJ's craft, shooting him down; his fate is unknown. Pixy appeared in an ADFX-02 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADFX-01_Morgan) and asked Cipher, "So, have you found a reason to fight yet? Buddy." Cipher was forced to face Pixy alone in a final dogfight, in which Cipher emerged victorious after shooting down his former wingman.

The story ends with footage of interviews from several aces of prominent squadrons shot down by Galm Team, the last being Pixy himself. He is shown fighting on a disputed border in present-day Usea. He had changed his perspective on why people fight for national identities and borders. The last thing he says during the interview is a question he had asked Cipher during several missions:

"Yo, buddy. Still alive? And thanks friend. See you again."

The game was tremendously entertaining. I was happy to see the return of the Select Weapon feature Namco had gotten rid of in AC:5. I was further impressed with the new soundtrack and new replay features of the game.

Gamespot Review gave it a 7.9:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sim/acecombatzero/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review

However the predecessor to the ADF-01 Falken was a major let down. Even though the ADFX-02 Morgan is a prototype, the design of it just doesn't appeal to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADFX-01_Morgan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADF-01_Falken

I know there are several AC fans on this site, so I want to know your opinion about the game.

I give it an 8 out of 10. :downs:

Trailers of the game can be found here:
http://www.acecombat.jp/ace-zero/index.htm

Mr Buckshot
June 12th, 2007, 09:50 PM
I'm not much of a flight-sim fan, but I've played the Ace Combat series at a friend's house and the mechanic of flying a bad-ass jet around blowing stuff up never gets old. To hell with Gamespot's reviews, Ace Combat is some good old-fashioned fun that should not be missed by Playstation fans.

Pooky
June 15th, 2007, 08:47 AM
I have to try that, love complex storylines

ThatCrazyFox
June 15th, 2007, 04:05 PM
It was Air Combat (The first Ace Combat) that made me buy a PS1 back in the day and it still is a fantastic series, and 0 is no exception.

Though way too pricey IMO there is going to be a bundle for Ace Combat 6 with a flight stick and throttle. Definitely seems like AC6 will give you the most "realistic" feel of the series if you're willing to shell out $150 USD.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sim/acecombat6/news.html?sid=6172571