James' Reviews: Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (PS1) · 8:12pm Dec 6th, 2012
I'm finally doing a review on my favorite series Ace Combat. Before Namco botched it by puting it in the real world and having it not a Playstation exclusive title, they had a great set of games for the original Playstation and PS2. Of the six I have played four. But I haven't even done that, because you see AC3 has two different versions, one only released in Japan and a version for export. The export version was 1 disk instead of two, was shorter, and lacked some cutscenes and the story. And guess which version we got, the butchered one. So here we go, Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (Export) for the PlayStation.
Story:
The story for the Export version was pretty much non-existent, but in the game there are a few cutscenes, however these have no dialog. Also, on certain missions, have some exposition on what is going on. But pretty much, it takes place in the 2030's, the world is controlled by corporations, the two biggest are Neucom Incorperated(or Neuwork in the export), formally the Erusian Air and Space Agency (this would later appear in Ace Combat 04 and AC5's Operation Katina), and General Rescourse Limited, former Grunder Industries from Zero and 5. As their rivalry intinsifies, they begin fighting each other; during this the peace organization UPEO (Universal Peace Enforcement Organization) send in an AI pilot.
Another part of this that is different is the characters. Rena Hirose becomes a rogue AI program and all other characters have no name.
As far as story goes, the export version is not what one would think of as an Ace Combat game.
Graphics:
For the PlayStation 1, this game looks pretty good. The planes are detailed and imaginitive, though missiles dont seem to be on the aircraft, and the ground weapons are good looking. But it has aged poorly.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is similar to other Ace Combat games. It has flight simulator controls, pushing up makes you go down and vice versa. One thing it had that was different was the fact the Japanese release had multiple endings depending on your actions. The controls are fine unless your flying the RF-12A2 Blackbird, thankfully you only have to deal with its poor manuverability for two missions. And it is also the only game in the series to have a mission in space.
The gameplay is fun and unlocking aircraft gives it high replayability.
Music:
As per usual with Ace Combat music it is very good. It changes from Ace Combat 2's rock style to a more ambient and electronic one. The music was composed by Tetsukazu Nakanishi, who would later do music for 04, 5, Zero, and 6.
Aircraft and Weapons:
What is Ace Combat without aircraft? Well Ace Combat 3 doesn't disappoint in variety. While almost all aircraft are based on real life aircraft, both in service such as the F-22 and F-16 and those that have not been put into combat like the F-16XL, all of them are original or at least have different features. You begin the game with the EF-2000E Typhoon II and of course as you progress you unlock new aircraft, some by completing a specific mission and others by doing well on the mission (most of the time this requires an A rank). And in the spirit of Ace Combat there are added superplanes. The game also gives it's own aircraft that are completely new, these are the R-series (R-101 to R-103, R-201, and R-211) and the super fighters. This is where I have a few problems. First off the Japanese version has planes that cannot be played with in the Export, these are the A/F-117X NAV Hawk and R-311 Remora, this is bullshit, it all has to do with the fact that the missions they appear in are not in the export release. Secondly, unlocking the superplanes, for the XFA-36A Game it is fine, all you have to do is to complete mission 29 that is fine, the problem is when you get to the last three: the UI-4054 Aurora, X-49 Night Raven, and the XR-900 Geopelia. First of all to get the Aurora all you have to do is get A Rank on all mission, this would suck if it were not for the fact that you can do this on any difficulty, I'll get into why this is a pain later. Next you have the Night Raven, you have to get A Ranks in all missions on Normal or Hard, that is a pain in the ass. And the last is the Geopelia; first you have to get the mission it is in, which is hidden, this requires you to get A or B ranks on all missions in Normal or Hard, but then you have to BEAT THE MISSION IN UNDER 5 Minutes. Now it is time to get into why this is a pain in the ass, one mission called... Blackbird, I can't get a damn C rank let alone an A or B, this is because you have to fly the RF-12A2 Blackbird II, which has piss poor turning. Now that that is out of the way let's segue into mission specific aircraft, there are three missions that you have these (two which include the Blackbird): Stratosphere with the RF-12A2, Zero Gravity with the R-352 Sepia, and Blackbird which needs no introduction.
Now on to weapons, there are two weapons slots: one for guns and one for secondary weapons. For guns there are the Vulcan, Heavy Machine Gun, Cannon, Pulse laser (only on the R-series), and Laser Cannon (only on the Night Raven and Geopelia). For missiles/ secondary weapons we have Missiles, Short-Range Missiles, Ground Missiles, MIRV, and Spread Bomb as well as the Anti-Nanobyte Bomb which is exclusive to the mission Bug Hunt. Most missiles and weapons are useful, except the MIRV, it does what the name suggests it splits into multiple warheads and then converges, making it completely useless when up close. For the MIRV I find it best to launch it as soon as you get a lock on. Also of note is that if you have a Spread Bomb you can still attack aircraft, but they share the same total amount. Guns are almost pointless to use, they take forever to kill some of the enemies and the AI is to good on the higher difficulties to really use them. The only time I use guns is if I'm out of missiles or I can't lock on with the missiles.
In conclusion it is still a fun game. But if you don't love the series I suggest playing through the export only once. This is to Ace Combat fans what Mother 3 is for Earthbound fans, sure we AC fans still got the game but we might as well got a different game.
Strengths: Music, diversity of aircraft and weapons, replay value
Weaknesses: Aged poorly, Blackbird, unlock method of some aircraft, near useless guns
Next time for Ace Combat Month we will be going to my personal favorite games in the series with Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies for the PlayStation 2. And from here on out I will have more positive things to say. See you then.
My one complaint is that it really didn't matter if AC is playstation only exclusive. It should be on both consoles, unlike what they did with AC6 and made it Xbox-only.
Other that, this was a fine first review and hope to see more.
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Well, I was thinking that I will Dedicate December to Ace Combat. I got the idea from somecallmejonny on youtube who has done months of dedicating the month to a certain series, the most prominate being Sonic.
And my thinking had it that I feel the Sony exclusive titles are better.
It makes me sad to think that ISAF doesn't exist in the future of Ace Combat.
I can only assume that this is a good review of the game since I haven't played it, but what you say matches with what I have read. I'm surprised that weapons like pulse lasers and laser cannons suck because they sound pretty cool, but then again, so does the MIRV. Good job, I can't wait to see the review on Shattered Skies/ Distant Thunder.
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I can't tell ya anything about the Laser cannon I haven't unlocked the aircraft yet and as far as the pulse laser it pretty much is a gun with colored bullets, though it is hard to compare considering I mainly use the Game which doesn't have it.