Day one in GamesRadar's weeklong look at Fires of Liberation begins with an all-encompassing overview of the game's new features. Everything you've come to expect from the series is intact - a huge roster of planes, a creepily huge flying fortress and mission after mission of intense dogfighting action. But this has been the case since the series' debut more than a decade ago. What's new for the 360 version? A whole hell of a lot, actually.
Namco was founded in 1955 and merged with Bandai in 2005. Between that long period, they have produced some of the most memorable franchises in gaming.
Namco Bandai has dominated the air combat genre with "Ace Combat" for years without much competition, but Ubisoft is taking the series head on with the Tom Clancy-branded "HAWX" in March. A Ubisoft developer told MTV Multiplayer one of the big differences between the two games is the element of realism brought to "HAWX."
IGN reports, "Leading video games developer and publisher Namco Bandai Games America Inc. announced today that the Ace Combat series has surpassed 10 million units sold worldwide, and that Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system has surpassed one million units sold in North America. Fueled by consistently entertaining and accessible gameplay as well as cutting-edge graphics, the series has remained a critical and commercial smash hit since its introduction in 1995."
-Wow, looks like this is going to be a good one. I especially enjoyed this part of the preview;
"After all the gameplay additions, the biggest news for Ace 6 is without a doubt the inclusion of Xbox Live. While the PSP game had four-player local versus matches, this game's going all the way with worldwide deathmatch modes, team versus, even a selection of co-op missions for you and your jet-jockey pals to tackle. Online rankings will be listed in a global and regional scale, so all you Ace fans can finally decide who's the best make-believe pilot in the world."
-Now that sounds like fun and those pics look great.....I can't wait to smoke somebody for the first time in a high altitude "dog fight", while they scream in disgust as fragments of there plane falls to a fiery death! -yeah, thats another kill for Phoenix. (don't laugh)
Has anyone seen anything about a release date?
When I traded my PS2 in for an Xbox (what seems like a lifetime ago now), there were three games on the PS2 that I really missed:
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Gran Turismo 3
- Ace Combat
Well, GTA was eventually released on the Xbox. Gran Turismo, I'm afraid to say, is still not matched (but that could soon change with the release ofr Forza 2). I know Xbox had Forza but for some reason I still preferred GT3. However, I must admit to being a big Project Gotham Racing fan now. Anyway, Ace Combat was absolutely fantastic and until recently I thought I'd never get to play it again. Now that its set to be released on the Xbox 360 there are no (current) PS2 or PS3 exclusives that are making me want to go out and buy a PS3.
This release of AC is looking sharp and its certainly come a long way since its PS2 predecessor. I am in gaming heaven with my Xbox 360 at present.
I'm not sure what else you could ask for, except I prefer real country names (ala Command-and-Conquer Generals), but that's a very small complaint. The visuals, the on-line, the surround sound--holy crap this is going to be sweet. gCM