Ace Combat X, Still the great and here's why
First for those that don't know Ace Combat, it is a series of semi-flight combat simulator (with a big focus on fun instead of realism) that places you as an ace commander of a squadron and allows you to fly a number of real world and fictional modern aircraft with varying stats on missions that take place on big, wide open maps which you can freely explore and have to carry out timed objectives (u run out of time, you lose, though the time limit isn't very harsh) as well as fight land, air or sea enemies with land, air, or sea allies. After a mission you earn points that can be spent on new weapons. Some missions also allow you to engage other fighter aces (Ace Combat duh).
It is the focus of fun that makes this game cool as it's real easy to fly a plane. The controls on this one are almost perfect and you will not have a problem with learning them as there are 2 main types (Novice and Normal), one gives you a little more control of the plane and each has its own sub types. The planes are all easy to control, with complex looking but simple HUD and you can pull off some crazy manoeuvres as there are no stalls or anything however all aircraft DO have different stats and yes the games focus is purely on combat. As you select a plane you can also select a special weapon and change its colours before takeoff. Combat gives you modern weapons and a machinegun with really huge ammo counts, though it stays true to the spirit of dog fighting so you'll have to get up close and personal as your normal missiles aren't that accurate, which makes for some fun but sometimes annoying and hard air to air sorties(although unless on Ace, the game isn't that hard). Ace X adds in a new feature which allows you to change the story by the way you choose to advance in the campaign. This added with being able to collect over 40 aircraft gives you a load of replayability.
Then there's a fun and fast paced multiplayer that's sadly not online but it is so fun to blow your opponents to smithereens using advanced missiles. The story does have typical Ace Combat cheese and only one character to care about but it is interesting enough and is presented in a cool way(like Ace Combat 4), and the music is really nice techno and the voice acting is Ok. The game has great graphics and looks photo realistic in snowy areas but land textures are sadly very very poor for buildings. Overall though, Ace X is a fun package even for those who don't like airplane games.