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Ace Combat is a pretty popular series consisting of numerous entries. I’ve seen them described as “combat flight simulators” and I think the word “simulator” is what kept me away for so long. Not that I don’t like simulators but I assume that means the gameplay aims for realism and that can make things complex. Do I need a flight stick and throttle? Pedals? These are the questions that typically come to mind when I hear “flight simulator”. If I’m going to play a simulator, I want to go all out if possible. Well I decided to find out for myself what this series is all about and, of course, I started with the first game, Air Combat. Developed by Namco and published by Namco Hometek, Air Combat was released for PlayStation in 1995. I should say this is the first console entry because from what I understand, it is based on a 1993 arcade game of the same name. I do not own the PlayStation Analog Joystick but my research tells me Air Combat does not officially support it. However, the sequels, Ace Combat 2 and 3, do.
The story in Air Combat is pretty forgettable. In fact, by the end of the game I had completely forgotten who I was fighting and why. According to the intro, a terrorist organization carried out a coup d’etat and attempts to free the country have been foiled by surprise attacks. In response, a mercenary air force is assembled to stop the terrorists. The story is vague and plot developments are primarily conveyed through briefings. Luckily, you don’t need to know what’s going on in the story to enjoy the gameplay and that’s good because the gameplay is great.
One of the best things about Air Combat is that it’s easy to pick up and play. It comes with two control configurations, novice and expert and I chose expert. You start missions already in the air and can yaw and roll left and right, air brake, and trigger the afterburner for more speed. Your aircraft is outfitted with guns and missiles and you do have a limited amount of ammo for each. There’s also a fuel indicator which, as far as I can tell, is more like a mission timer. There are three difficulty levels and two game modes; the single player story mode and two player versus mode. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try the two player mode.
The story plays out in missions. You begin at a map screen where you can view and select your aircraft and a mission to play where you’ll then hear a briefing and can see what type of enemy forces you’ll be up against. You can buy and sell aircraft and only store a certain amount on your first run through the story. After reaching a certain point, you can hire a wingman to accompany you on missions. They fly different aircraft and come with different experience levels and before starting missions, you can issue an order to them like guard your tail and secure constructs for example. I did play through the story on the Normal difficulty level and through a portion of it on Hard and I can honestly say I’m not really sure how much help my wingmen were. I’m pretty sure I saw at least one shoot down an enemy and I think I heard another go down at one point but I didn’t really keep track of them and couldn’t tell you what they were doing most of the time. I was doing most of the work and in hindsight, I’m not really sure why I kept wasting money on hiring these people.
Destroying enemies and targets and completing missions does reward you with money that can be spent on new aircraft and wingmen. Progressing through the missions also unlocks aircraft for purchase and additional wingmen. I’m not an aircraft aficionado but the ones here seem to come in two types, the standard fighters and stealth and each one has different stats in defense, power, mobility, offense, and stability. Missions do get more challenging as you progress and success can depend on which aircraft you choose, especially on the Hard difficulty level. I have two big complaints with Air Combat and, luckily, neither affected my enjoyment of the game. The first is the lackluster visual presentation which I’ll get to in a bit. The second is the behind-the-aircraft camera view. It sucks. I’m not sure what the other one is called so I’ll call it the cockpit view despite there being no visible cockpit. I found it to be far superior simply because the HUD in the cockpit view is much more informative. You can bring up a map of the area at any time and the cockpit view features a radar on the HUD which is quite helpful.
Every mission will have you destroying something whether it be fighters or buildings or structures. There’s one mission where you’re tasked with escorting and protecting a plane but even then, I was destroying the enemy aircraft in an effort to protect it. That said, there’s not a lot of mission variety but the gameplay is so much fun that I didn’t really notice. To put it bluntly, Air Combat is extremely fun to play and part of the reason is because of how easy it is to get into. The controls are easy to master and the gameplay doesn’t require too much from you. You will automatically lock onto enemies in range and your missiles will home in on whatever target you’re locked onto. You can roll and flip and basically fly around the area freely. Dogfighting is a lot of fun and even when my aircraft was shot down, I was eager to jump back in. The gameplay can be addictive. I would say the challenge comes from learning how to evade enemy shots and missiles. You are warned when a missile is locked onto your aircraft and coming for you. There are no countermeasures so you need to learn how to evade which becomes more important in the later missions. It’s also worth mentioning that the story does ease you into things. The first few missions are pretty easy and are great for getting the hang of things.
Visually, Air Combat is not very impressive. Maybe it was more forgivable during its heyday but the environments lack detail and just look very plain and pop-in is rampant. On the plus side, enemies and targets are always clear. I particularly enjoyed the night attack mission probably because it’s the only one like that. More night missions and urban environments would have been appreciated. I do like some of the visual effects like the missile smoke trails and explosions look satisfying. On the audio side, the sound work is decent and as you fly around, you’ll hear someone frequently shout stuff. I’m not sure who it’s supposed to be but you will hear the same lines often. As for the music, it’s fantastic. Air Combat features an amazing soundtrack with some cool heavy metal sounding jams along with other catchy tunes. I love it. On the technical side, I can’t say I encountered any problems.
I had a great time with Air Combat. I can only assume the sequels improve things and I am looking forward to playing them. Honestly, when you get right down to it, Air Combat is pretty simple and straightforward and I think that’s what makes it so much fun. It’s not super complex or hard to get the hang of. Anyone can pick it up and have a good time. It throws you into missions and you get to the good stuff immediately. You’re free to fly around and do whatever you need to do to get the job done. You’ve got your guns and your missiles and plenty of enemies to blow away. The replay value comes from the multiple difficulty levels and unlockable stuff. That, and it’s just simply fun to play and feels good to play. Plus, there’s a two player mode. The difficulty does ramp up nicely as you progress and choosing the right aircraft and knowing how to evade enemy shots and missiles is the real challenge here and there’s plenty of aircraft on offer to experiment with.
I absolutely recommend Air Combat. It marks the beginning of the Ace Combat series and after playing it, I can definitely see why it was successful. The story isn’t very deep and it’s not the greatest looker but the gameplay is phenomenal. It’s easy to pick up and play and is a lot of fun. Personally, I found it addictive. If you’re looking for a game that offers fun dogfighting action, definitely check out Air Combat.