Ace Combat Zero
The Belkan War
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Game Information
Release Date: April 25, 2006
Developers: Project Aces
Publishers: Namco Bandai
Platforms: Playstation 2
Genre: Arcade, Combat Flight Simulator
Players: 1, Multiplayer: 1-2

Synopsis
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War thrusts players back in time, 15 years before the events of "Ace Combat 5," and reveals the events that led up to the last chapter of the franchise. Players will take on the role of a mercenary hired to fly for Ustio, a small country bordering Belka, and face off against rival pilots throughout the game. Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War introduces rival pilots to the series' traditional dogfighting action. Players will encounter highly skilled enemy pilots that they will engage throughout the course of the story. Adding even more tension to the game's dramatic air battles, these rival pilots utilize advanced battle tactics to attack the player while directing their own squadron.

Plot
A war had begun in the year 1995 in March after Belka had attacked the republic of Ustio. Belka's intent was to steal and obtain resources from Ustio. After Ustio was severely defeated, Out fro Ustio's desperateness, Ustio hired mercenary pilots to aid them in exchange for money and wealth. Out of these mercenaries were pilots Cipher and Pixy. Later on, Cipher becomes notorious for disrupting Belka's plans to take control over Ustio and with that, Belkan forces refer him as "The Demon Lord of the Round Table". After hearing about the so-called "Demon Lord", Belkan aces took upon this time to see if this Demon Lord was a true ace or just a plain mercenary who was fighting for just wealth. Later on, Cipher's wingman Pixy betrays him and decides to go his own separate way. Cipher then continues to support Ustio's ground forces to push the Belkan ground forces out from Ustio. Cipher is then notified to locate and destroy Belkan's Super weapon the V-2, which is a nuclear missile site that contains nuclear warheads headed for Ustio. When Cipher gets within range of the V-2 launch site, he is intercepted by his former ally Pixy who is piloting Belkan's prototype aircraft thats codenamed "Morgan". After Pixy gets struck multiple times, he then commences the launch of the V-2. Cipher is then ordered to shoot down Pixy in order to stop the V-2. After Pixy is shot down, the V-2 then explodes upon the V-2 launch site and Cipher then returns back to Ustio to gain knowledge the war has ended thanks to his help.

Gameplay
Ace Combat Zero will greatly addict players to the fantastic and adrenaline pumping action the game posses. Players will engage in multiple combat scenarios. Players will start off with the basic unimpressive aircraft but as they progress through the game, players will unlock more aircraft to purchase. The player will be given a style as they progress through the game, ranking from Mercenary to Soldier, to Knight. The player's style is determined by what the player destroys. If the player destroys everything in their path including non-targets, then they most likely have a mecernary style. By not destroying any non-hostile targets, the player's style will increase. Players will also come in contact with the enemy's top ace squadrons. Depending on what the player's rank is will determine what ace squadron they will be facing up against on that mission. Players will have to engage and destroy super weapons the enemy has acquired. Players will also have engage in missions where they have to get to a certain destination without being discovered such as staying below a certain altitude or don't fly within the radar sites. Players will also be able to use fictional aircraft that are the enemy's prototype aircraft after meeting certain requirements. As the player progresses, a journalist will have an interview with one of the squad members that the player had shot down previously and offers great detail from their side of the story rather than just from one perspective. The game's soundtrack is astonishing as each soundtrack fits perfectly with each mission and for me, enhances the gameplay to make it more enjoyable.

Ace Squadrons
After completing the objectives on a certain mission, the player will be intercepted with a Belkan ace squadron that the player must takedown in order to complete the mission. Depending on the player's style, the enemy ace squadrons will vary.
Mercenary Style Squadrons
Rot Squadron


Schwarze Squadron


Sorcerer Squadron

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Soldier Style Squadrons
Grun Squadron


Schnee Squadron


Gault Squadron

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Knight Style Squadrons
Indigo Squadron


Silber Squadron


Wizard Squadron

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Story-Based Squadrons
Gelb Squadron


Espada Squadron

Graphics
The graphics in Ace Combat Zero aren't much of a difference to its predecessor Ace Combat 5 but does stand out for much of a better quality. Each and every aircraft are well diverse in shape, design, and structure. The explosions in the game look stupendous as if the explosion had appeared right in front of the player. The cutscenes of the interviews with the Belkan ace members look very well done and have their own unique appearance. The movements of the character's facial expressions are marvelous and don't look distorted when they are speaking. As for the terrain and layout of the battlefield, it has been enhanced to show some colors that stand out to catch the player's attention and minimized the amount of blotchiness that appeared in previous installments. The cockpit view has been altered a bit to give the player a better view but the cockpit view will vary depending on the aircraft the player is using. Overall. not too many drastic changes but still is remarkable.
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Belka's Prototype Aircraft
Codename: Morgan

Belka's Super weapon
Excalibur

Belka's Super Carrier
Hresvelgr

Controls
Ace Combat Zero's controls haven't really changed since the installment of Ace Combat 4. Depending on the player's controls, the player can always have the stick layout changed from inverted to have a more comfortable feeling with the game. As with each aircraft, the feel for mobility will alter depending on the statistics of the mobility for the aircraft so the player will have to either ease off on the analog stick when maneuvering their aircraft or put down more force on the stick to maneuver better. For returning players to the Ace Combat Series, the controls are nothing to cause any problems unless of course the player hasn't played any Ace Combat Series game for a long time. As for the new players, they are gonna have to take the time and liberty to gain and experience the feels for the controls and button configurations in order to have an easy play-through.

Rating
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 9.8/10
Controls: 9.7/10
Overall: 10/10

Extra Information
Some of the Ace Squadron's names are words and colors translated in the German language.
"Galm" is a mistranslation of "Garm", which is the name of a powerful demon hound in the Norse mythology that guards Hell.
The XB-0 Hresvelgr itself a reference to the Norse mythological giant Hrsvelgr.