The incredibly challenging gameplay and the interchangeable plot lines make the game well worth the its cover price.
User Rating: 7.6 | Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception PSP
Flying alongside allies, fighting over overwhelming forces of advanced aircraft, and making comading decisions about the mission route are all a part of playing Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception. Although you may not be at all interested in the actual story of the game, it does have a few strong points in the plot, and the fictional adversaries in the game create for some formidable battles. I played the game on hard, and it took me about 20 tries to beat the last level because the game's original enemies were so freaking frustrating to kill. Dogfighting in the game is hard to get a grasp on at first, but once you are able to utilized the radar and fly among 10 to 15 planes at the same time, you will have a general idea of when you should stop chasing someone so that someone chasing you doesn't get the chance to shoot you down. The game boasts impressive graphics for the PSP, and the sound is top notch. The gameplay is about half and half as far as arcade style and simulation go. Some of the disappointing areas of the game are you can't control your wingmen, and they never seem to be much use at all. They can spend 15 minutes chasing one aircraft around and never shoot them down. Also, you can't look left or right in the cockpit view, only straight ahead. Anyone who loves to keep it real will notice the disadvantage this places on the pilot, because you have to turn the entire plane to see what is over in the left or right direction. The various array of aircraft keep the player wanting to finish the next level, and the game also has created some interested spin offs of present day aircraft and it presents some totally new aircraft with upgradeable parts. Personally, I'm a big fan of the real-world aircraft, and Ace Combat X does a good job of representing some of today's best. Like I said, the graphics do the aircraft a lot of grace. All in all, Ace Combat X is a fun game to run through once, but I wouldn't see anyone having a strong desire to do it a second time because you get all the good planes on the first run through.
