At a glance...

Reviewer	Platform	Publisher	Developer	Players	Screenshots
	PlayStation 2	Sony	Namco	1-2	Here
Requirements					Buy from Amazon.co.uk
75kb free memory card space.					Click here to buy Ace Combat: Distant Thunder.

Ace Combat: Distant Thunder review

The game is set in the not to distant future after a asteroid has hit the earth. Out of the disaster there are always people that profit and this game is no different. The Eursean government is the one to take the advantage of the situation. They enable ground forces which take control of the major military bases and air strips.

The aim of the game is to pilot various planes with various weapons and try and take back control of the world by eliminating the Eursean forces. If you are like me, you won't tend to take much notice of the story line and just want to get to flying the planes.

You start off with a certain amount of money so you can buy your first plane and a weapon for it. Depending on how well you do on each level you will get a cash reward so you can but bigger and better planes and weapons. But bigger is not always better. With more than 15 different types of planes you can be spoilt for choice. The planes range from F16, F14, F15, Migs, the British Tornado, the new Euro Fighter, and many more including Stealth Planes which are not picked up on radar.

Depending on the mission the right weapon can be crucial; with Air to Air, Air to Ground, Heat Seeking missiles, Cluster Bombs and Multi target missiles for air, land or sea. If you have the wrong weapons you will be in a whole lot of trouble, but the good thing is that you can always return to base and change your weapons, and get your plane fixed when it has been damaged. You do have the choice of trying to land and take off the plane your self or if you don't want to risk it the game will do it for you.

Most levels have a time limit on them in which you have get a certain amount of points to progress to the next level. Some levels may have more than one mission so you need to watch out for mission updates. You could be doing a ground attack and then the mission update tells you that you have incoming enemy planes. So you may need to return to base to change you weapons. Also, if you have run out of weapons you can return to get a full complement again.

The two-player mode is a dog-fight versus mode. It can be very interesting playing against a friend, as it is harder to judge what they are going to do next. Once you complete the missions you can play on any level you wish.

The control system is very good and quite easy to pick up, which is also a bonus as it make the game easy to play.

This is one of my most played games and I have over 30 PS2 games.

Ratings

Graphics	A lot of care has gone into creating the game.	9/10
Gameplay	You will want to keep coming back to this one. I can't put it down.	9/10
Value	At the time of writing, we did not have a value for money ranking.	0/10
Lifespan	The game is quite easy to pick up and once you have masted the basics you will find it quite rewarding.	8/10
Audio	Helps you get into the swing of the game	8/10
Overall	Speed, Planes, Dogfights and blowing things up. What more do you need?	9/10

Click here to buy Ace Combat: Distant Thunder from Amazon.co.uk.

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