Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

Overview

Ace Combat 04:  Shattered Skies is a flight combat game developed by Namco for the Playstation 2.  It was released in Japan and America on October 23rd, 2001 and in Europe on February 8, 2002 where it was named Ace Combat: Distant Thunder.  It was the first Ace Combat game released on the Playstation 2 and was met with critical and commercial success.

Story

The story of Ace Combat 4 begins in 1999  when a massive asteroid impact known as Ulysses 1994 XF-04 struck the continent of Usea.  The impact killed half a million people and caused widespread destruction.  In the aftermath, the country of Erusea saw an opportunity to catch it's neighbors off guard and occupy much of the continent.  Helping the Eruseans in their conquest was Stonehenge, a giant railgun system the Eruseans had developed to shoot down incoming asteroids.  The Eruseans realized quickly that Stonehenge could be used in warfare to gain air superioty.

The game starts at the high point of the war for the Eruseans.  The player takes the role of Mobius 1, a skilled fighter pilot for the Independent States Allied Forces, or ISAF for short.  The ISAF finds itself pushed back to the extreme east coast of Usea with most of its military might located on a small island known as Northpoint.  Mobius 1 stops a bombing run against Northpoint, singlehandedly saving the ISAF military.  A counter attack is then launched with the ultimate result being the liberation of the continent Usea with the defeat of the Eruseans.  Mobius 1 is in large part responsible for many of the military victories and as such becomes seen as a hero throughout the game.

The story is told through narrated pictures in between missions.  These cutscenes tell the tale of a young boy who lived through the war, occupation and subsequent liberation.  At the beginning of the war, this young boy sees his parents killed when a jet fighter crashes into his house.  The jet fighter was shot down by an Erusean pilot named Yellow 13.  The boy goes to live with his uncle, a drunk who lives above a tavern.  Following their city's occupation, Yellow 13 and his squad become stationed there and frequent the tavern that the boy lives above.  The boy ultimately befriends Yellow 13 viewing him as somewhat of a father figure.  At the end of the game, Mobius 1 shoots down Yellow 13 and these cutscenes are revealed to be a letter from the boy to Mobius 1. 

Gameplay

Ace Combat 4 is an unrealistic flight combat game.  The game has 18 singleplayer missions and two (splitscreen) multiplayer modes.

Singleplayer

Multiplayer

Aircraft list

• F-4E
• F-5E
• F-16C
• A-10A
• MIR-2000
• F-14A
• TND-1D5
• F/A-18C
• F-15C
• MIG-29A
• F-117A
• EF-2000
• R-M01
• F-15E
• F-2A
• SU-35
• F-22A
• SU-37
• F-15 ACTIVE
• S-37A
• X-02