ACE COMBAT 6 | Pics + Vids. GLORIOUS.

[QUOTE="-Reggaeton-"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatDreams-Visions

Thats actually true. I own al lAce Combat games(except AC3 on ps1 thats crap). And ppl who played AC on ps2 would agree on stallowneds statement.

Ace Combat Zero

Ace Combat 6

Idunno guys..I see some serious improvements.

I can't wait for the superior PS3 version.Paul_TheGreat

Sure you can, Sony has trained you very well. Keep waiting... :lol:

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="-Reggaeton-"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatStall0wn3d

Thats actually true. I own al lAce Combat games(except AC3 on ps1 thats crap). And ppl who played AC on ps2 would agree on stallowneds statement.

Ace Combat Zero

Ace Combat 6

Idunno guys..I see some serious improvements.

Please add sarcasm at the end of your posts because you can't be serious. Maybe you expected more, but clearly there are many many improvements. Your statement is bordering on the insane.

[QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatDreams-Visions

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

Yea those stills u posted just owned anybody sayin there is no improvment.

And just another point/rant. The fanboyism on these boards is getting just sickening...especially from the cows. I mean half of u ripping a preview on this game are saying "i used to play it when it was called air combat!" which it absolute BS. If that were so then besides the fact its a 360 game why would u rip it. U know this game is going to play, look, and be better than the previous ones, if u were fans of video games and not a stupid system or company ud say looks good, just man up, say it looks good, and either buy a 360 or hope it comes out on ur system.

I mean i know lemmings are fanboyish too, but i have yet to see any1 attacking sigma saying its graphics havent improved. all people say is its the same game. Uve had this series for years and the minute it goes to another system all of a sudden noooooobody likes flight games and its graphics havent improved, but i bet half of u want LAIR which is a F***ing flight game...i dont care if its a dragon, plane, or a damn unicorn its still a flight game! Cows stop being soo pathetic its unbearable

[QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatDreams-Visions

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="-Reggaeton-"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatStall0wn3d

Thats actually true. I own al lAce Combat games(except AC3 on ps1 thats crap). And ppl who played AC on ps2 would agree on stallowneds statement.

Ace Combat Zero

Ace Combat 6

Idunno guys..I see some serious improvements.

I'm a long time fan as well. Go read the preview in addition to looking at the pics and videos. game looks great. not that you really care if it does or looks good at all.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatApocalypseXIVV

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

Yea those stills u posted just owned anybody sayin there is no improvment.

And just another point/rant. The fanboyism on these boards is getting just sickening...especially from the cows. I mean half of u ripping a preview on this game are saying "i used to play it when it was called air combat!" which it absolute BS. If that were so then besides the fact its a 360 game why would u rip it. U know this game is going to play, look, and be better than the previous ones, if u were fans of video games and not a stupid system or company ud say looks good, just man up, say it looks good, and either buy a 360 or hope it comes out on ur system.

I mean i know lemmings are fanboyish too, but i have yet to see any1 attacking sigma saying its graphics havent improved. all people say is its the same game. Uve had this series for years and the minute it goes to another system all of a sudden noooooobody likes flight games and its graphics havent improved, but i bet half of u want LAIR which is a F***ing flight game...i dont care if its a dragon, plane, or a damn unicorn its still a flight game! Cows stop being soo pathetic its unbearable

lolyoujustsaidwhateveryonewasthinking

It is a improvement but not a big one. Dream Vision go play AceCombat 4,5, and belkan war and come back with your new opinon.-Reggaeton-

hmm...I OWN AC4. Played AC5. Haven't played AC6. But I bet the guys writing the previews have. I'll defer to their eyesight. If they said it looks great (which they did), why are people giving it such a hard time? You know what? People gave Gears a hard time too.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatStall0wn3d

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

If u dont need anyones views to help u then why the hell r u here, the point of this website/forum is to inform people and get other peoples opinions, if ur opinion is so masterful then go away and start ur own site

And i am an ace combat fan, and this is what im looking for, so dont group me in with ur views, u give fans of the series a bad name..

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatApocalypseXIVV

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

Yea those stills u posted just owned anybody sayin there is no improvment.

And just another point/rant. The fanboyism on these boards is getting just sickening...especially from the cows. I mean half of u ripping a preview on this game are saying "i used to play it when it was called air combat!" which it absolute BS. If that were so then besides the fact its a 360 game why would u rip it. U know this game is going to play, look, and be better than the previous ones, if u were fans of video games and not a stupid system or company ud say looks good, just man up, say it looks good, and either buy a 360 or hope it comes out on ur system.

I mean i know lemmings are fanboyish too, but i have yet to see any1 attacking sigma saying its graphics havent improved. all people say is its the same game. Uve had this series for years and the minute it goes to another system all of a sudden noooooobody likes flight games and its graphics havent improved, but i bet half of u want LAIR which is a F***ing flight game...i dont care if its a dragon, plane, or a damn unicorn its still a flight game! Cows stop being soo pathetic its unbearable

[QUOTE="-Reggaeton-"]It is a improvement but not a big one. Dream Vision go play AceCombat 4,5, and belkan war and come back with your new opinon.Dreams-Visions

hmm...I OWN AC4. Played AC5. Haven't played AC6. But I bet the guys writing the previews have. I'll defer to their eyesight. If they said it looks great (which they did), why are people giving it such a hard time? You know what? People gave Gears a hard time too.

and they still do give gears crap cause theyre fanboys and they dont know sh*t about anything...

because some people missed the ONLY paragraph in my entire opening post. let's try it again.

from the GAMESPOT PREVIEW:

"Before we begin a proper preview of Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360, let's get this out of the way early: This game looks amazing. With wonderfully detailed jets, gorgeous explosion and flight effects, as well as some of the most realistic-looking cityscapes we've ever seen in a flight game, there's little doubt that Namco's next entry in its long-running jet-fighting series is giving the Xbox 360 hardware a serious workout."

Is that clear enough for you? Do you need the letters BIGGER?

so please...let's move past the graphics. that issue is non-existant.

[QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"][QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatStall0wn3d

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

Yea those stills u posted just owned anybody sayin there is no improvment.

And just another point/rant. The fanboyism on these boards is getting just sickening...especially from the cows. I mean half of u ripping a preview on this game are saying "i used to play it when it was called air combat!" which it absolute BS. If that were so then besides the fact its a 360 game why would u rip it. U know this game is going to play, look, and be better than the previous ones, if u were fans of video games and not a stupid system or company ud say looks good, just man up, say it looks good, and either buy a 360 or hope it comes out on ur system.

I mean i know lemmings are fanboyish too, but i have yet to see any1 attacking sigma saying its graphics havent improved. all people say is its the same game. Uve had this series for years and the minute it goes to another system all of a sudden noooooobody likes flight games and its graphics havent improved, but i bet half of u want LAIR which is a F***ing flight game...i dont care if its a dragon, plane, or a damn unicorn its still a flight game! Cows stop being soo pathetic its unbearable

show me a post of my saying NGS doesnt improve in graphics, or any1 else on this board saying that. Do u have a 360? noo, thats why u dont like this preview plain and simple, i dont trash NG cause i love that game, you on the other hand say the graphics look "horrible" u said horrible. that is the biggest fanboy statement on this place. WATCH THE VIDEO.

ohh and dont give me that bu bu i can talk about teh game. I can talk about resistance doesnt mean i have it or own it.

Ace Combat 6

Idunno guys..I see some serious improvements.

Dreams-Visions

I didn't even bother to look for better pics. Upgrade? Yes. But not that dramatic coming from those pictures alone.

because some people missed the ONLY paragraph in my entire opening post. let's try it again.

from the GAMESPOT PREVIEW:

"Before we begin a proper preview of Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360, let's get this out of the way early: This game looks amazing. With wonderfully detailed jets, gorgeous explosion and flight effects, as well as some of the most realistic-looking cityscapes we've ever seen in a flight game, there's little doubt that Namco's next entry in its long-running jet-fighting series is giving the Xbox 360 hardware a serious workout."

Is that clear enough for you? Do you need the letters BIGGER?

so please...let's move past the graphics. that issue is non-existant.

Dreams-Visions

Ace combat games have always looked great IMO and im sure AC6 will also.

Whats your opinion/concern about the controls since you are also a fan of the series and ps2 has pressure sensitive buttons.

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"][QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]is this a joke ? that looks horrible :? im not bashing but ive seen 360 do better than this, it doesnt look much better than the ps2 ace combats, not 4x the ram better thats for damn sure. no wonder the series has been going downhill it looks like the devs are just getting lazy or something, and this is coming from a longtime ace combat fan, i been playing this series since it was called air combatApocalypseXIVV

Funny...the people who previewed it here and are professionals said it looked great...why dont u watch the preview, look at the video, and come and tell me it looks like PS2...AC 4 was done in a cartoon style for the cutscenes, how can u say this

doesnt look better....fanboy

he doesn't even need the video. the stills show this game obviously looks better in every appreciable way. the video is simply the death-blow.

If u dont need anyones views to help u then why the hell r u here, the point of this website/forum is to inform people and get other peoples opinions, if ur opinion is so masterful then go away and start ur own site

And i am an ace combat fan, and this is what im looking for, so dont group me in with ur views, u give fans of the series a bad name..

[QUOTE="Taz720"][QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="BlueBarad"]

Dammit!!!! So many games so little time/money.

Blue Dragon and Mass Effect should take me to the end of the year. But then Halo 3 is comming out and Bioshock.

Riverwolf007

hard to be a 360 owner.

really, it's hard to own any system this holiday season.

So true, im still finishing my XBOX 1 collection of the best XBOX games, just got Otogi 2, now need Otogi 1, Conker, Phantom Dust, RalliSport 2 and Stranger

It's a good thing RSC2 is not backwards compatible I would never buy another racer.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"]

because some people missed the ONLY paragraph in my entire opening post. let's try it again.

from the GAMESPOT PREVIEW:

"Before we begin a proper preview of Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360, let's get this out of the way early: This game looks amazing. With wonderfully detailed jets, gorgeous explosion and flight effects, as well as some of the most realistic-looking cityscapes we've ever seen in a flight game, there's little doubt that Namco's next entry in its long-running jet-fighting series is giving the Xbox 360 hardware a serious workout."

Is that clear enough for you? Do you need the letters BIGGER?

so please...let's move past the graphics. that issue is non-existant.

-Reggaeton-

Ace combat games have always looked great IMO and im sure AC6 will also.

Whats your opinion/concern about the controls since you are also a fan of the series and ps2 has pressure sensitive buttons.

If they would just give us that sweet controller for free/cheap we wouldnt have to worry about it, but i feel theyll stay with the control scheme for the most part

im here to be brainwashed by gamespot editors into believing crap is gold when its really not ? is that what you are trying to say ? they have hyped bad looking and bad performing games before (not saying it will perform bad). you really have no ground to stand on now, you arent even arguing with any merit or anything with worth, you've gotten to the point of telling me to go make my own website and where that comes from i have no idea besides not having nothing to add to the debate:lol: notice where i say "many" ace combat fans, maybe you dont have great comprehension which would be understandable in your case but i know some ace combat fans dont care about a good graphical improvement, you seem to be one of them. but graphics was always a staple of the series, and this isnt the jump many if not most were expecting, especially considering the massive jump it made from ps1 ace combat 3 to ace combat 4 on ps2Stall0wn3d

did u really just say i care about graphics and u what dont, before u came on here, i said it looks great, and i feel it will play great and have that story they throw into the game to keep u locked in. I didnt just go that game looks horrible like u did. Id love to see u show me where im the graphics whore and not u, considereing this thread was just about the game in general and not just graphics, just like the preview was, but all u seemed to mention was how u thought the graphics looked bad..u didnt say anything about the actual gameplay that they talked about in the preview, which makes me a graphics whoe? :lol:

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"]

because some people missed the ONLY paragraph in my entire opening post. let's try it again.

from the GAMESPOT PREVIEW:

"Before we begin a proper preview of Ace Combat 6 for the Xbox 360, let's get this out of the way early: This game looks amazing. With wonderfully detailed jets, gorgeous explosion and flight effects, as well as some of the most realistic-looking cityscapes we've ever seen in a flight game, there's little doubt that Namco's next entry in its long-running jet-fighting series is giving the Xbox 360 hardware a serious workout."

Is that clear enough for you? Do you need the letters BIGGER?

so please...let's move past the graphics. that issue is non-existant.

-Reggaeton-

Ace combat games have always looked great IMO and im sure AC6 will also.

Whats your opinion/concern about the controls since you are also a fan of the series and ps2 has pressure sensitive buttons.

I'll have the flight sticks.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"]

Ace Combat 6

Idunno guys..I see some serious improvements.

StealthSting

I didn't even bother to look for better pics. Upgrade? Yes. But not that dramatic coming from those pictures alone.

uhh...where the hell did those first 6 pics come from? I didn't post those. and there's something called "resolution" that you must consider as well. trying to directly compare pics that are 450x350 to pics that are 1280x720 is just silliness.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"]

Ace Combat 6

Idunno guys..I see some serious improvements.

StealthSting

I didn't even bother to look for better pics. Upgrade? Yes. But not that dramatic coming from those pictures alone.

HAhahahah it's funny that you downsized the ps2 pictures because they suck.

[QUOTE="ApocalypseXIVV"]

[QUOTE="Stall0wn3d"]

im here to be brainwashed by gamespot editors into believing crap is gold when its really not ? is that what you are trying to say ? they have hyped bad looking and bad performing games before (not saying it will perform bad). you really have no ground to stand on now, you arent even arguing with any merit or anything with worth, you've gotten to the point of telling me to go make my own website and where that comes from i have no idea besides not having nothing to add to the debate:lol: notice where i say "many" ace combat fans, maybe you dont have great comprehension which would be understandable in your case but i know some ace combat fans dont care about a good graphical improvement, you seem to be one of them. but graphics was always a staple of the series, and this isnt the jump many if not most were expecting, especially considering the massive jump it made from ps1 ace combat 3 to ace combat 4 on ps2Stall0wn3d

did u really just say i care about graphics and u what dont, before u came on here, i said it looks great, and i feel it will play great and have that story they throw into the game to keep u locked in. I didnt just go that game looks horrible like u did. Id love to see u show me where im the graphics whore and not u, considereing this thread was just about the game in general and not just graphics, just like the preview was, but all u seemed to mention was how u thought the graphics looked bad..u didnt say anything about the actual gameplay that they talked about in the preview, which makes me a graphics whoe? :lol:

uh...you guys wanna move that conversation out of the thread? you're wasting bandwidth.

uhh...where the hell did those first 6 pics come from? I didn't post those. and there's something called "resolution" that you must consider as well. trying to directly compare pics that are 450x350 to pics that are 1280x720 is just silliness.

Dreams-Visions

They came from various gameplay pictures from multiple games in the series. As for the "resolution" Well I didn't have much of a choice on that one and I can honestly tell you those pictures actually present the gameplay of the games much better then the pics you posted. Probably the same situation falls into AC6 wich is something I already touched upon.

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"]

uhh...where the hell did those first 6 pics come from? I didn't post those. and there's something called "resolution" that you must consider as well. trying to directly compare pics that are 450x350 to pics that are 1280x720 is just silliness.

StealthSting

They came from various gameplay pictures from multiple games in the series. As for the "resolution" Well I didn't have much of a choice on that one and I can honestly tell you those pictures actually present the gameplay of the games much better then the pics you posted. Probably the same situation falls into AC6 wich is something I already touched upon.

[QUOTE="StealthSting"][QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"]

uhh...where the hell did those first 6 pics come from? I didn't post those. and there's something called "resolution" that you must consider as well. trying to directly compare pics that are 450x350 to pics that are 1280x720 is just silliness.

Stall0wn3d

They came from various gameplay pictures from multiple games in the series. As for the "resolution" Well I didn't have much of a choice on that one and I can honestly tell you those pictures actually present the gameplay of the games much better then the pics you posted. Probably the same situation falls into AC6 wich is something I already touched upon.

lol okay. problem is, it's really impossible to compare pint-sized screens to HD-quality screens. And surely we all have brains big enough to show that if we were looking at AC4 or 5 on an HDTV and sat it next to AC6, comparisons be laughable. The GS preview said the game looks awesome; why can't you leave it at that? You haven't played it, so why persist? People like you bashed Gears for months...we all know how that turned out.

Does the game look like a movie? No. But what game does? Let's keep our expectations reasonable.

We should be seeing this. :(

We should be seeing this. :(

Timstuff

what's the difference? :?

We should be seeing this. :(

Timstuff

That's it inverted?
It looks good, though I guess the white one is just trying to match the console. Of course theres the Elite...

lol okay. problem is, it's really impossible to compare pint-sized screens to HD-quality screens. And surely we all have brains big enough to show that if we were looking at AC4 or 5 on an HDTV and sat it next to AC6, comparisons be laughable. The GS preview said the game looks awesome; why can't you leave it at that? You haven't played it, so why persist? People like you bashed Gears for months...we all know how that turned out.

Does the game look like a movie? No. But what game does? Let's keep our expectations reasonable.

Dreams-Visions

I know that was not directed at me, but let me be clear that was not my point, nor was I bashing it in any way.

My point is that by looking at the pictures you posted and from what I have seen personaly from the games, they simply do not look much better visualy. That was all really.

I wasn't insulting the game by comparing it to lesser hardware, sure that may concern SW on what you may call the standards of 360 but I really don't give a rats ass about it. If I could get AC6 I would get it regardless of how it might compare to any other games in its series.

[QUOTE="Timstuff"]

We should be seeing this. :(

Dreams-Visions

what's the difference? :?

PS3

[QUOTE="Dreams-Visions"][QUOTE="Timstuff"]

We should be seeing this. :(

Timstuff

what's the difference? :?

PS3

patience, young padawan.

June 15, 2007 - Seeing a series migrate from one system to another always raises a few eyebrows. Why did the developers make the switch? Was it the superior hardware of one console over another? Maybe it was a dispute with the bigwigs at a given company? Or maybe it was some feature that one console had over another. In the case of Ace Combat's migration to greener, Xbox 360 pastures it was the latter. Xbox Live was what coerced the folks at Namco-Bandai to bring their perennial Playstation powerhouse over to Microsoft's console.

Online play is a big part of what differentiates Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation from past titles, and the Xbox 360's solution was simply a better fit for the gameplay that Namco was trying to bring to the game. We got a brief chance to fly through the skies of Ace Combat 6 at a recent Namco preview event, and while there were no multiplayer modes on display, we do know that the game will feature deathmatch, team deathmatch, and co-op play. A developer on-hand said that they've currently got the game running with 16 players online, but they're hoping to bump that number up to 32 to make the skies nice and crowded with enemy planes.

What we were able to get our hands on was a demo level that gamers will get to check out for themselves once E3 rolls around. The level began with a gorgeous real-time cinematic that showed pilots scrambling to get to their jets and get into the air. Apparently an attack had just been launched by a foreign country. Roadways, bridges, and buildings were shown being pummeled with missile and machine gun fire. While the locales are fictional in the game - the main setting being the Anean Continent - the necessity for a counterattack was made very clear.

Ace Combat 6 has what's being called the "Dynamic Operations System" which allows for up to six persistent battles to be going on around you. You can play a role in them or not, but the outcome of each incursion is up in the air and happening in real time. As I flew my F-15 around the sky I saw a group of what looked like paratroopers, but as it turned out they were actually enemy pilots who had been shot down and were trying to parachute down to safety. They didn't make it.

What's even cooler about the Dynamic Operations System is that they aren't all air battles. You could see two squads of ground troops on a collision course and decide to help one of them out with some air support, or maybe a naval battle is about to break so you decide to send off a few missiles on a collision course with the hull of an enemy aircraft carrier.

The actual aerial combat looks fantastic in the game. The model of your jet looks just as it did in Top Gun, which is to say it looks awesome. You can use the right analog stick to swivel your head around the cockpit, just like Goose did for Maverick. The standard machine gun and missile combination is your main offensive tool, but you'll also have the ability to call in support from naval ships, other pilots, and ground troops provided you help them out when asked. And yes, the missile cam that debuted in Ace Combat 4 is back and as cool as ever.

The story of the game centers around seven pilots, yourself included. No real specifics were given other than that the Republic of Emmeria, Kingdom of Nordennavic and the Federal Republic of Estovakia are the new countries being added to the action. Also, the Ulysses Asteroid will be featured within the storyline. In what capacity, we have no idea.

In a nod to flight-sim enthusiasts, Namco is releasing a flight stick called Ace Edge. It's a two piece set. One holds the throttle controls, and the other changes your pitch and yaw. We got a chance to put our hands with the flight stick - though we didn't actually play the game with it - and it feels very solid and conforms very nicely to your hand. There are a ton of buttons on the thing, though the controls weren't mapped out anywhere so there was no way to tell what did what. The whole package (game included) will retail for $149.99.

It's too bad that Sony lost one of its consistently solid franchises to Microsoft, but that's what you get when your online initiative sucks. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation should deliver some great moments on Xbox Live, and the closer the developers can get to 32 players the better. The gameplay that we got a chance to check out felt like ****c Ace Combat fare, but the build was still early, and it was tough pay attention to anything other than the awesome water effects from a few thousand feet up. We'll have more on Ace Combat 6 as soon as we can get a build into the office and check it out first-hand.

this is a solid engine they're using.