XGC FLEETLEADER APPLICATION
XGC Fleetleader Application
GT XGC Fleetleader Name XGC Fleetleader
General over XGC Section 8
I love to do anytype of news.
ACE COMBAT 6 Fires of Liberation Review
The Ace Combat series has evolved rather than reinventing itself over the past decade. From Ace Combat 4 up till now there has been little change over the four games, Ace Combat 4, 5, Zero, 6. The controls are almost the same in all of them, although Ace Combat 6 adds High G turns to the mix. The series also maintains many constant themes such as, “What are we fighting for?” and, “Can more bloodshed really create peace.” In these way Ace Combat 6 is almost no different from previous titles, except for an annoying phrase,”Dance with the Angels.” It’s an obvious referral to aircraft in a dogfight. Don’t get me wrong it was great to see a little girl saying it on top of a tank, but seriously after like the 400th time of hearing it in radio chatter and almost every cut scene it wore out its welcome. Maybe it translates better into Japanese. The story itself is nothing revolutionary, but the campaign is a ton of fun to play. Aircraft support has been greatly improved from previous titles. In the past wingmen were practically useless and would get a kill for every 20 of yours. That ratio may be more like 1/5 now in the new game. You only have one wingman but he is competent at the very least and you can always put him in an aircraft with some kind of lock on special weapon which is essential to him doing anything with it. The greatest improvement though was the addition of a focused allied attack on all targets on your 12 O’clock. This attack brings in all allied aircraft and the sheer amount of firepower just obliterates all of the units on your screen. This support power is activated by the player giving a superb effort for about five minutes to fill up a kill meter in the bottom left of your screen. Once unlocked this attack can be used several times in a row and is often the finale of a mission. Overall the campaign and story are really nothing special, but at least fit the bill of a typical Ace Combat game.
When it comes to the planes available in both multiplayer and the campaign many were disappointed that his title only contained 15 planes. Many previous titles had 30 or more in each game. I personally loved this feature because when I looked back on my combat record from the previous 3 games I found out that I used only five planes most of the time. What I also love about this is how they improved the graphics of these planes to the point of near realism. Future Ace Combat titles will inevitably be forced to have more planes, but this lack of planes does not ruin the overall experience of aircraft selection and armament. Also more aircraft are available for download from Xbox Live these aircraft change the skins of the planes you already have, but greatly alter their flight characteristics. I like to think of them as variants, but my complaint is that these aircraft cost a minimum of 200 Xbox Live Points and most are 300-400. Some planes are free and there are in fact four plane packs for 400 each, but these prices are extremely high in comparison to Forza 3 which sells ten cars for 400 points. My suggested buys are the SU-33 Crimson and the F-22 Mobius if you’re short on cash.
Graphics and sound are both superb. The move from the PS2 to the Xbox 360 did good for the series. Frame rate issues are non-existent and the detail of the ground, sky, and clouds give you a good feel of speed and atmosphere. Even when you pull in close the ground it still looks stunning with small details as cornfields with dirt roads dividing them. One particular map is over a San-Francisco style city and the skyscraper details are precise and crisp. One mission the map is a night during a fireworks show really shows off the graphical capabilities of the 360 and Ace Combat 6. The sound is appropriate for the game. It emphasizes accuracy of engine noise and missile launches, which are the two most common sounds in the game. Radio chatter is also well done and doesn’t interfere with the mission but rather provides a feeling of reality and tension in the mission. Some may complain the writing for these voice actors is pretty bland, but I simply disagree. It’s a battle and these radio communications should be pretty standard and clear language that gets strait to the point. The best audio improvement over the previous titles was the missile lock on warning. Instead of constantly beeping at you like in Ace Combat 4 and 5 the new game beeps by proximity. If a missile is farther away then you may here no beeps at all, but if the missile is right up on you then the thing goes nuts. I compare it somewhat to the vibration on your controller during a Madden game when you play quarterback. As the defenders get closer you it starts to warn you with a harsher vibration. This is simply an audio version of the same system. Vibrations in Ace Combat 6 are used to show afterburners activating, hits on your plane, and near passes with other aircraft or the ground.
The greatest improvement over other Ace Combat games though was the addition of online 16 person multiplayer and 4 person co-op. The Ace Combat servers are stable and use a unique connection feature that is very technical, but basically maximize the potential of even the worst person’s connection. Lag is almost non-existent and I can only think of a handful of times I ever saw an aircraft or missile acting screwy. Multiplayer is a little hard to navigate though and is now showing its age after three years. The menu options and the co-op missions are sometimes hard to navigate and my biggest complaint is the inability to switch maps or mission modes while in the lobby. You have to manually go back to the multiplayer server screen and set up a brand new mission and this kicks out all the people from your room and you have to re-gather. Overall thought the multiplayer is solid and a ton of fun to try out and get used to.
My final thoughts on Ace Combat 6 are simple. If you don’t have it buy it. You will love it and understand why the few complaints I put down here are drown out by an overall superb layout and control of your aircraft. Multiplayer is an essential part of the game today and with a brand new Ace Combat title coming out next year I will be interested to see if Ace Combat continues to evolve or it chooses to reinvent itself.
The End of GameStop (Opinion)
Who doesn’t love used games? They’re cheaper than news games and almost always operate the same way. Times are changing though. A war is raging in the court rooms over whether GameStop can sell games used. The video game industry claims that this hurts their overall sells by adding a middleman for used games. Some individual games are fighting back outside the courtroom. The new game Madden 2011 released by EA Sports has a feature on it that forces users to use a onetime only online access code. Although it is still unclear how this system works it seems to be linked to the particular system or account you activate it on. For example, if use Madden 2011 on your Xbox and activate the online mode and then you sell that game to GameStop then the next user who buys it will have to pay a ten dollar fee to activate the online usage. This featured is also rumored to be included in other games coming out soon from EA Games.
The real question comes down to this. If GameStop is forbidden by the courts or the game industry from selling used games what will us the consumer do? For me personally this whole issue enrages me. I don’t believe that GameStop is anything more than resell shop. Also GameStop helps the gaming industry by making Pre-Ordering available, but that game industry doesn’t pay them a commission of any type. So I now ask how you feel about this issue. Does it matter to you? Does it affect you?
XGC Fleetleader