1. Gameplay
    Arcade mode 

2. Plot
    Setting  Characters  Story 

3. Development

4. Hori Flightstick 2

5. Reception

6. References

7. External links

Ace Combat 5 features more than fifty licensed real-world jet aircraft.^[3] Nonetheless, the game's events and locations are set in a fictional world.^[4] The game's main campaign is set during a war between the fictitious nations of Osea and Yuktobania. The storyline revolves around the player character "Blaze," an Osean fighter pilot who leads a four-plane unit known as Wardog Squadron. The Unsung War follows this squadron's exploits as they attempt to ward off the Yuktobanian invasion of their homeland and uncover the truth about the war.

Although a majority of the gameplay in Ace Combat 5 remains similar to that of its predecessor, Shattered Skies, several notable additions were made. Among these additions are an arcade mode and the ability for the player to interact with wingmen. The multiplayer mode present in previous titles, however, was scrapped during development. The game received generally favorable reviews, although critics noted that the game was not the "revolutionary step forward for the series" that Shattered Skies was.^[5]

In September 2018, Bandai Namco announced that Ace Combat 5 will see a PlayStation 4 release in 2019, as part of a pre-order bonus for Skies Unknown.^[6] Bandai Namco has since clarified that it is not a remaster, but instead a port of the PlayStation 2 original, running natively on the PlayStation 4 at higher resolutions.^[6]

Gameplay

The gameplay of Ace Combat 5 is divided into three modes: a campaign mode, an arcade mode, and an optional tutorial.^[7] Unlike its predecessors, AC5 does not include a multiplayer mode as developers did not have enough extended time to implement one.^[8] Like previous games in the series, Ace Combat 5 features gameplay that is a cross between that of an arcade flight game and that of a flight simulator.

The game features more than fifty licensed jet aircraft,^[3] including military and experimental aircraft from the United States, Europe, and Russia. The game's planes are divided into fighter, attacker, jammer and multirole categories. The game's aircraft feature some differences in their handling that reflect their real-world capabilities, although these distinctions are not as severe as they are in reality.^[4] The game's main superfighters are the X-02 Wyvern from Ace Combat 04 and - for the first time as a playable unit - Ace Combat 2's ADF-01 Falken, which players can unlock by destroying specific mission targets. It is revealed in the 2011 franchise artbook Aces At War: A History that a plane called the ADA-01 Adler was supposed to be included in the game as a third superfighter, but gameplay balance issues and problems with programming the aircraft so close to the game's release deadline scuttled the inclusion (the Adler would become a playable vehicle in a 2016 update for Ace Combat Infinity).

Most of the game's planes are inaccessible at the game's start; planes must both be unlocked and purchased to be used in the game's campaign mode. Certain planes are unlocked as the player progresses in the campaign, while others are unlocked via the game's "technology tree" system. In this system aircraft are grouped into "families", and earning a certain number of kills with a particular plane can unlock one or more variants or derivatives within that aircraft's family. After an aircraft is unlocked, it can be purchased for use in the campaign by spending credits that are awarded according to the player's performance during missions.^[9] Unlike Ace Combat 4, there is only one type of special weapon available for each aircraft, something that critics often pointed to.

The game's heads-up display includes a radar display and other flight instrumentation, as well as displays for the plane's damage rating and available weaponry. During gameplay, an aircraft's default weaponry typically consist of a supply of guided missiles and a gun. Additionally, each aircraft is also armed with a particular special weapon, examples of which include various types of air-dropped bombs and specialized air-to-air, air-to-ground, or air-to-ship missiles.^[4]

In addition, Ace Combat 5 is the first in the series to feature wingman interaction. During most campaign missions, the player can issue orders to the AI members of his or her unit using the DualShock controller's directional pad. The player also must purchase and assign aircraft for each of the squadron's pilots prior to each mission. Additionally, players may choose to respond to YES/NO questions during missions by squadron mates or other characters in the game. Although the player's response or lack thereof may affect the game's dialogue, the effect these questions have on gameplay is minimal, although the player's answer will affect which one of two missions they will undergo at two different points of the game.^[9]

Arcade mode

In addition to the main campaign, the game features an arcade mode in which the storyline has been greatly reduced in favor of gameplay. The basic plot of arcade mode is a continuation of the narrative from Shattered Skies. The player assumes the role of Mobius One, the player character from Shattered Skies. Assisted once again by the crew of AWACS SkyEye, Mobius One is assigned to destroy the military capability of "Free Erusea", a resistance organization that formed after the conclusion of Ace Combat 04.^[10]

Basic gameplay in arcade mode remains the same as in the campaign, although certain new rules take effect. There are a total of sixteen stages in arcade mode, although only seven can be played in one playthrough due to branching mission paths.^[7] The player begins each stage with a set amount of time and a target number of enemy units that must be destroyed. The player must destroy the specified number of enemies before time expires in order to advance to the next stage. Although the player begins with a limited amount of time, each target the player destroys adds time to the clock and also awards the player a set number of points. The player's weaponry is more restricted in arcade mode than during the campaign; although destroying certain marked targets replenishes the player's stock of weaponry, the player can still end up without any if they waste too much ordnance.^[7]

Plot

Setting

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War takes place within the Ace Combat series' game setting, referred to as the "Strangereal" universe, during the year 2010. 15 years prior to the game's story (as detailed in the game's prequel The Belkan War), a war instigated by the bellicose nation of Belka against its neighbouring countries through an expansionist manner, led to a joint task force consisting of the affected countries and two of the world's superpowers - the Osean Federation, and the Republic of Yuktobania. To avoid being occupied, Belka detonated seven nuclear weapons on its own cities, effectively ending the war.^[11]In the war's aftermath, the former state of South Belka became a protectorate of the Osean Federation, although Belkan citizens remained hostile to Osean occupation.^[12] In the present day, the peace endured by both superpowers ends after an unprovoked attack on Osea's airforce by Yuktobanian forces occurs, prior to surprise attack on naval and airforce installations, leading to all-out war between the two nations.

The game's story focuses on members of the 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Osean Air Defense Force (OADF), operating under the callsign of "Wardog", and stationed on Sand Island - a small island housing an airbase of the OADF, which serves as a front line base during the events of Ace Combat 5 after the "fragile peace" established between the superpowers and Belka during the previous war, comes to an end.^[13][14]

Characters

The player's character during the game is an Osean fighter pilot known by the callsign "Blaze" (initially "Kid" (or "Booby" in the Japanese version)). The player's tough squadron mates throughout most of the game include: Kei Nagase ("Edge"), a female pilot with an interest in the Demon of Razgriz legends; Alvin H. Davenport ("Chopper"), a brash and talkative pilot; and Hans Grimm ("Archer"), a rookie pilot unsure of his flying skills. They collectively form a fighter squadron known alternatively as Wardog Squadron (or Sand Island Squadron), initially operating as pilots-in-training (nuggets). The squadron is led under the command of Captain Jack Bartlett ("Heartbreak One"), a veteran pilot who operated in the Belkan War, and during the time had formed a relationship with a female Recon Major in the Yuktobanian army, Nastasya Vasilievna Obertas.^[15] The squadron is served by mechanic Peter N. Beagle ("Pops"), who in reality is a former Belkan pilot known as Col. Wolfgang Huckebein that defected to Osea near the end of the Belkan War rather than assist in the use of nuclear weapons on his own country. Following his defection, his actions were covered up by Barlett to prevent him facing reprisals.^[16]

In addition to the squadron, the story features a cast of secondary characters that include: Albert Genette, a freelance reporter on assignment to cover the Sand Island Squadron, who also narrates the game's story; Captain Marcus Snow ("Swordsman"), a fighter pilot aboard the Osean aircraft carrier Kestrel; Captain Nicholas Andersen, the Kestral{{'}}s commanding officer and a sea-worn veteran commander; Colonel Orson Perrault, a portly and pompous Osean Air Force veteran and the base commander of Sand Island; Captain Allen C. Hamilton, Sand Island's Base Adjutant Commander operating under Perrault; and Vincent Harling, a calm-natured pragmatist and the 48th President of the Osean Federation, who seeks to restore peace at the beginning of the conflict with Yuktobania.

Story

After a majority of pilots from Sand Island are killed during an attack by unidentified aircraft,^[13] the surviving pilots, all still trainees - Kei Nagase, Alvin H. Davenport, and a rookie known by the callsign "Blaze" - are assigned to Wardog Squadron and assist in disrupting unidentified recon aircraft into Osean airspace. During their second mission against the aircraft, the squadron's leader, Captain Jack Bartlett, is shot down and subsequently becomes MIA when he cannot be found by a rescue team.^[14] As a result, Blaze is assigned as the new squadron leader, after Nagase refuses to take the position. At the same time, the Union of Yuktobanian Republics declares war on the Osean Federation, launching a massive assault on Osean air and naval forces. During a Yuktobanian air-raid on Sand Island, Wardog is joined by Hans Grimm, a pilot in training, who assists in the base's defence.

After countering further attacks over their territory, Osea launches a full-scale invasion of the Yuktobanian mainland with the intention of quickly capturing the capital city of Cinigrad. During the invasion, Wardog is reprimanded for an unprovoked attack on civilians by the upper echelons of the military, despite the pilots claiming an unknown squadron designated as the 8492nd were responsible. The charges are dropped following a surprise attack on the Osean capital city of Oured, whereupon Wardog subsequently defend the capital and complete successful operations that boost the morale of Osean forces, leading the squadron to be nicknamed the "Demons of Razgriz". However, distrust from the top military officers of Osea continues due to the lingering suspicions surrounding Bartlett's disappearance.^[15][17] When Yuktobanian forces attack November City while the Osean Vice President is making a speech in the city, Davenport suffers extensive damage to his plane during his squadron's defensive operations, forcing him to crash it into open ground to avoid civilian casualties, and losing his life as a direct result. Spurned in by his sacrifice, Wardog continue to assist against Yuktobanian forces, helping to successfully destroy a key installation near Cinigrad.

During their flight home, Wardog is attacked by the mysterious 8492nd aggressor squadron, but survived the ambush. Upon returning to Sand Island, the squadron finds their mechanic, Peter N. Beagle, being accused by the base's commander, Colonel Orson Perrault, of being a spy, due to his military background being only known through Bartlett's word.^[18] Labelled spies themselves and forced to flee, Wardog escapes from Sand Island with Beagle and Albert Genette, a freelance journalist covering the squadron's operations, resulting in all of them being branded traitors. The squadron later receives aid from Captain Marcus Snow, the only remaining fighter pilot stationed on the Kestrel, an aircraft carrier and flagship of the Osean 3rd Fleet, who helps the pilots to fake their deaths in order to get to the truth behind the war between Osea and Yuktobania.

Beagle works with the Kestrel{{'}}s captain, revealing that he was former pilot of Belka, who defected from his country when they decided to drop a nuke on their soil to avoid the joint military forces of both Osea and Yuktobania; his AWOL (absence without leave) from Belka was covered up by Bartlett, in order to prevent him facing reprisals for his actions. Beagle further reveals that the war between the two nations was instigated by an organisation known as the "Grey Men" - a secret Belkan confederacy who sought revenge against both superpowers for their role in Belka's defeat 15 years ago. Intelligence about the organisation revealed that they used the 8492nd squadron, a Belkan air squadron, to pose as aircraft from one country who would then attack the other, and vice versa, in order to escalate both countries into going to war against each other. In effect, the war would drain each country of their resources,^[19][20] while the Grey Men would secretly profit from the conflict by selling weapons to both sides from their own factories, through the multinational corporation Gründer Industries.

Through intelligence gathered by the Andromeda, the 3rd fleet's intelligence gathering ship, Wardog learns that the Osean President, Vincent Harling, was kidnapped by the 8492nd squadron and taken to Belka, and thus oversee a rescue operation to recover him, with Beagle assisting them in a support role from the Kestrel. Upon Harling's safe return, he re-designates the squadron as a special forces unit under his command, renamed "Razgriz Squadron." While conducting operations to stop the Belkans using nuclear weapons against the major cities of both superpowers, Razgriz learn that the citizens of both countries have become increasingly opposed to the war,^[17] but that coups led in both countries, instigated by the Grey Men, removed each country's leader from power, due to their stance on peaceful relationships between the two - Harling's abduction allowed Osean military officers who opposed his mainly peaceful agendas, to take control, while the Yuktobanian Prime Minister, Seryozha Viktrovich Nikanor, was removed from power in a coup d'état by his own generals.^[21][22] Upon discovering that secret, coded messages were sent out by Bartlett, one of the first POWs of the war, Razgriz go to his assistance to rescue him and Nikanor, whom Bartlett had found and secured.

Despite initial difficulties in getting a ceasefire between the superpowers, Harling and Nikanor transmit a joint message from Oured, over TV and radio, revealing the Belkan's deception to the world, and call for all of their soldiers to cease hostilities. Meanwhile, Razgriz find themselves tasked with stopping the Grey Men's ultimate plan of using a weapon of mass destruction known as "V2" - a MIRV missile, launched from an orbital weapons platform codenamed "SOLG", that would be capable of destroying many of the major cities in either Osea or Yuktobania.^[23] A resistance movement that sought to overthrow the military leaders of Yuktobania, reveal evidence that the organisation's true goal was to weaken both sides so as to be unhindered in their efforts to reunite the partitioned Belkan territories.^[24] However, while the Razgriz Squadron was being briefed, the Kestrel is attacked by an unknown submarine and was subsequently sunk, but not before launching the Razgriz Squadron into the air for the final battle against the Grey Men.^[25] Joined by a coalition of soldiers and pilots from both Osea and Yuktobania who heard Harling and Nikanor's speech, Razgriz successfully destroy the SOLG's control facility within the Gründer Industries headquarters. In a final desperate act, the Belkans direct SOLG to re-enter the atmosphere and crash into Oured, but Razgriz managed to destroy the structure, effectively bringing an end to the war and restoring peace between the two superpowers.

Development

Namco first announced it was in development of Ace Combat 5 in the 2002 Tokyo CG festival, in a presentation focusing upon computer graphics.^[26] Later, in 2003, Namco launched an official website promoting "Project Aces," originally thought to be a working title for Ace Combat 5.^[27] "Project Aces" was later revealed to be the name for the internal Namco development team responsible for the Ace Combat series; AC5 was the first title to directly credit its development to the "Project Aces" team.^[2]

To ensure accuracy in the depiction of the game's aircraft, "Project Aces" was given permission by participating aircraft manufacturers to examine in person the planes that were to appear in the game.^[28] The visual team also made use of satellite images from the Japan Space Imaging Corporation in the development of the game's environments. Moreover, "Project Aces" incorporated full motion video into the cut scenes of The Unsung War, as opposed to the still images used in the plot sequences of previous titles.^[28]

Hiroshi Tanaka, the Namco localization producer for Ace Combat 5, highlights wingman interaction as one of the key distinguishing features between the game and its predecessors. Tanaka says that the wingman interaction feature introduces a "strategic and fun aspect of battle." Tanaka also states that because wingmen play a role in the story, the player can become more involved with the characters and the drama than in Ace Combat 04.^[29]

The background music of the game's main campaign mode is primarily orchestral,^[30] although the arcade mode features rock music to complement its missions' more frantic pace.^[31] The game additionally features three vocal tracks. One is "The Unsung War," a Latin choral piece performed by the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra, that reiterates the "Demon of Razgriz" legend introduced in the game's campaign.^[32] Another is "The Journey Home," a recurring song that implies a theme of peace during the campaign. The game also features the licensed track "Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd, which is featured during the game's opening trailer and closing credits.^[33]

Hori Flightstick 2

Officially branded as the Ace Combat Flightstick 2, the Hori Flightstick 2 is a game peripheral specifically designed for Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.^[34] According to Hiroshi Tanaka, Namco and Hori worked together closely to ensure "that the game, the stick, and the controls matched exactly how it should play."^[29] Unlike the original Flightstick peripheral designed for Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, the Flightstick 2 was released in North America in addition to Japan. In the United States, the accessory was released exclusively as a bundle with Ace Combat 5; only 20,000 bundles were made available in the limited edition offer.^[34]

The Flightstick 2 connects to the PS2 through a USB port. Unlike the PS2 DualShock 2 controller, the Flightstick 2 uses a HOTAS, or "hands on throttle and stick" design similar to that used in actual aircraft. The right hand controls the flight stick, which controls the plane's attitude; the left hand controls the throttle. Buttons, D-pads, and rudder controls are placed directly onto either the flight stick or the throttle. Although the Flightstick 2 does not offer force feedback, it does have a vibration feature. Although the Flightstick 2 was targeted specifically for use with Ace Combat 5, not all of the buttons on the peripheral are utilized in the game.^[35]

Ace Combat 5 is the only game officially sanctioned for use with the Flightstick 2. In a review of the peripheral, IGN commented that although the Hori Flightstick 2 was "nearly perfect in what it does, [...] at the moment it really only does one thing and that's play Ace Combat 5."^[35] However, the Flightstick 2 is also compatible with Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies and Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.

Reception

Overall, critics' reception of the title's gameplay was positive, particularly for the game's intuitive control schemes and large assortment of playable aircraft.^[4][38] The gameplay was also applauded for its "ideal" place between "overtly arcadey rubbish and inaccessible hardcore simulation."^[5][9] On review aggregator website Metacritic, the game has a score of 84/100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[41]

Reception of the game's new features, however, was mixed. The game's redesigned "target view" function was decried as "almost broken."^[5][9] Although GameSpy welcomed improvements to the game's radar display, other additions such as wingman commands were seen as "gimmicky" and having little effect on gameplay.^[9] The game's arcade mode was described as fun but lacking in features and storyline.^[4]

The game's presentation was better received. Various critics praised the way that the game's storyline ties cohesively with the missions, allowing for better and more involving gameplay. GameSpot praised the game for its "captivating storyline."^[5][38] IGN applauded that the game recognizes the player's accomplishments, adding a "sense of worth" to the campaign. Although GameSpy felt that the menu interface was not optimized in terms of usability, it lauded the look of the game's cinematics and briefing screens. Although others believed that the player's responses to wingmen had little effect on gameplay, Game Informer felt that the feature was a "brilliant way to create atmosphere."^[38]

The game was acclaimed for its graphics, particularly its improved special and environmental effects and its authentically modeled aircraft.^[4][5] However, critics note that the high level of visual improvement in some areas contrasts with little improvement in others.^[5][9] The game's voice acting received mixed reactions. Although some felt that taken as a whole the radio chatter sets the game's atmosphere and creates a "hectic feel,"^[5][38] most critics felt that much of the chatter was contextually inappropriate or annoying. GameSpy compared the voice work in AC5 negatively with that in AC04, feeling that the dialogue seemed "forced" and that sometimes "characters start to blabber just because they can."^[9]

References

External links

• Official Japanese site

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