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Hands-onAero Elite: Combat Academy

We take a look at Sega's upcoming flight combat simulation for the PlayStation 2.

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While not necessarily as popular as Namco's Ace Combat series, Sega's series of aerial combat simulations, which started with the Aero Dancing games on the Dreamcast, has succeeded in capturing a loyal following. The latest game in the series, Aero Elite: Combat Academy, essentially expands upon the previous games by adding more combat missions, more maneuvering missions, reconnaissance missions, and different types of aircraft. Thanks to the PlayStation 2 hardware, the series' graphics have also received an increase in detail, which is clearly visible in the aircraft models and the environments. All these things should make for an enticing package for anyone starving for some dogfighting action on the PlayStation 2.

Aero Elite: Combat Academy features several different modes to choose from, each with an emphasis on a different aspect of flight. Perhaps the most important mode in the game is the training simulation. This will give you an opportunity to familiarize yourself with all the basics of flying an aircraft, starting with takeoffs and turning and ending with more-advanced maneuvers. The training option also gives you a general feel for the game, which you'll find isn't incredibly realistic but still holds true to the mechanics of flight--you can't turn on a dime, for example, and stalling often becomes a problem.

When you're done with training, you can move on to modes that will put your new skills to the test. One such mode, aero meet 2002, will actually let you focus solely on different types of skills. For example, if you want to test your dogfighting abilities, then you can select the air-to-air option, in which you'll go through a progressively more difficult series of dogfights. The surface option in aero meet 2002 forces you to attack a series of ground targets, which is more difficult then you might initially suspect, since some missions require you to fly in low and use only your guns. The maneuvering portion consists of a couple of different challenges--some require precise gunning, while others simply test your ability to fly through rings, similar to the missions featured in the Pilotwings games from Nintendo. Lastly, there's recon, in which your only objective is to take photographs of various targets while avoiding enemy fire.

While the aero meet 2002 challenges will probably keep you busy for a while, Aero Elite: Combat Academy also features an arcade mode filled with dozens of different missions. At the beginning of the arcade mode, you'll have the opportunity to select from one of four different craft, such as the F-14, the F-15, the F-16, and the F/A-18, all of which have different capabilities. What makes these missions particularly interesting is that there are often various environmental conditions involved, so sometimes you'll be flying at night over a brightly lit city or through thick layers of fog.

The last of the modes in Aero Elite is free flight, which allows you to engage in battle, fly solo, or take on random missions. In the mode's air attack option, you can select the map, the number of enemies, the type of enemies (which includes everything from MiGs and A-10s to AV-88s), the available weapons, and the difficulty and then jump into battle.

Visually, Aero Elite features jet models that are pretty detailed and accurate. The environments in the game look good at a distance, but, as in most flight sims, the textures tend to get a little muddy when you get close to the ground. There are also some nice lighting effects on the plane during the daytime missions, as well as convincing environmental effects such as harsh storms and fog. Aero Elite: Combat Academy is scheduled for release on March 11.

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