Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Platinum Hits)

So I ended getting this game used for a very low price and it works flawlessly on my Series X. While the cellophane on the case has a hole in it on the back, the case is in better shape than I expected for a $8.31 used copy. Got here about a day later than expected. As a veteran of the Ace Combat series since Ace Combat 04, I can say this is a good game but not as good in some aspects compared to 04, 5, 0 and 7. First what’s great, this maybe one of the best games in the series when it comes to gameplay mechanics. ESM was introduced in this game first, it was partially added in 7 but you only really got to use it in 7s multiplayer and SP mission 1. Here it’s a very helpful mechanic which boosts your missile tracking, lock on speed and reload speed. This is also the first game to introduce high-g turns. High-g turns are very useful for turning around faster but it bleeds airspeed. The enemies in this game especially the Ace squadron that you fight multiple times throughout the campaign are very aggressive and fast. This was the last game to have the wingman command window which is more limited in this game with only “cover” and “attack”. But you can now use your other Allie’s in the mission to your advantage. You can order your Allie’s to attack enemies in front of you by holding down up on the D-pad and cover by holding down down on the D-pad where they attack enemies that are attacking you, which includes both aircraft and anti-air vehicles on the ground. Every enemy that’s destroyed by you, your wingman and your Allie’s add to your score unlike in previous games where only those destroyed by you and your wingman count. Whereas other Allie’s kills don’t count towards your score. This is nice and is very effective and efficient which can help make up for a poor weapon load out or if your low on ammo.Now the parts that aren’t so great. The story is your typical Ace Combat story. The story itself is okay, not as good as previous or future games but is passible. This is the shortest campaign in the series with only 15 missions however the missions are much longer in duration due to the battles being much larger in scale. It’s a target rich environment. Some parts of the dialogue make no sense, in one mission your ordered to retreat and the Ace Squadron you fight throughout the campaign attack. Despite being told to retreat, the return line vanishes forcing you to fight them in what is self defense. Then in the story you get punished for this. Which is really stupid, it’s not like in 5 where the characters were framed.The boss fight in mission 13 is the most poorly balanced boss in the entire series which says a lot. Normally the bosses are one of the best parts of this series. But this one was not done well.This concludes my review of Ace Combat 6. It’s a good but flawed game. Definitely recommend if you haven’t played it yet.

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is the sixth Ace Combat game in the series and the first to be on the Xbox 360 console. The main story is about a country called Gracemeria being taken over by Estovakia, a country under military dictatorship after asteroid crash landings, destroying their economy, leaving their citizens under a cardboard box. You are Garuda 1, flight lead of Garuda team sent on different missions to liberate Gracemeria. With enhanced graphics and the return of the wingman system from Ace Combat 5, I think Ace Combat fans will enjoy this game.~Pros~-Excellent story-Controls are the same, whether you're a rookie or an experienced ace, the controls can be adjusted to your personal taste-The wingman system, with only one wingman and whole other squadrons at your command-Includes a New Game+, which features infinite replayability without starting new save-Includes your favorite aircraft from the previous Ace Combat games, including a unique one-Very beautiful cinematic cutscenes; I love the overall narration-Different objectives to complete, which will give you over 40 hours of flight combat-Impressive visuals, especially for airplane models-Awesome sounds and music; it will want you to play it again just for that reason-Huge maps for much bigger operations-Different number of operations assigned in a mission, leaving you different choices on how you want to complete the mission~Cons~-Fewer planes to choose from, since it doesn't have different versions of different aircraft like in Ace Combat 5-Lip-syncing could use some attentionI think this is 2011 Game of the Year for me. The story is very impressive, graphics are beautiful, and the flight combat has always been my favorite since Ace Combat 5. I'd be happy to play through it again.5 out of 5, best Ace Combat game in the series.