January 14, 2005 -

Master Pilot

The only thing missing is an eject button.

Ace Combat 5 is the best flight sim ever made on the consoles. Not that this claim faces a great deal of competition, but even so, the game is graphically stunning to the point of tears.

If you enjoyed Ace Combat 4 in any way, shape, or form, you're going to appreciate all the improvements in the latest installment. This time, you can issue flight commands with the d-pad to the other three wings in your squadron, and someone must not have skipped work on programming day, because the allied A.I. is actually useful for the first time ever. For example, after issuing the "attack" command and going after a squadron of enemy planes, I actually saw missiles soar forward from my rear, and my wingmen scored a pair of kills. In case you never played Ace Combat 4, the point here is very clear. In 4, you basically faced the entire enemy continent by yourself. Sure, there were other planes out there that you could not control, planes that never once scored a single ounce of usefulness. In 5, however, your squadron is an invaluable part of the missions. They can even cover you if an enemy locks on. Brilliant!

The story so far is very well done, incorporating subtleties from our own real-world fears to keep things interesting. Graphics, story, and gameplay all receive the highest marks possible.

The single drawback is the exclusion of the 2-player mode, which was available in AC4. This produced hours of roommate-slaughtering fun for me, and apparently for many customers I've spoken to who were also fans of that mode. For this reason alone, AC5 gets a 9/10. Even so, while the 2-player mode was fun, the story really makes this game, and the FMV inclusion this time (as opposed to still-image storytelling last time) makes for some great between-mission eye candy.
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Resident Evil 4.

If this game does not TERRIFY you to the brink of your sanity, then you, my friend, are not a human, and you are braver than the brave Sir Robin. I played the demo of this game and, I'm not going to lie to you, I wet myself. Then I laid down in my bed, rocked back and forth, and cried like a little girl. I even sucked my thumb a little. The graphics are absolutely astounding. They blow every previous Resident Evil game out of the water. Controls are also very user-friendly. The enemies...well, they don't like to die. No matter how many times you shoot them. And the game taunted me after I checked my first corpse by delivering the rewarding piece of info: "Not a zombie." So, I'm not even entirely sure what you're facing, but the man with the potato sack over his head and the chainsaw is not a very happy person.

Yup. There it is. I just wet myself again. Buy this game immediately. And don't buy the guide. It's so much more fun to have the HOLY FUCK scared out of you than it is to know what's coming. Not for the squeamish.

Coming up, reviews of Mercenaries, The Getaway: Black Monday, and Suikoden IV.

- Don