First up is Ace Combat 6. This is the first version for the Xbox, so I've never really seen it before. Take a look at the intro movie here -- I love the cities, the sky and the water, it certainly makes FS look a bit lame visually. Of course it doesn't cover the whole world, so I don't complain too much.
The speed is just incredible -- nice framerates, and you get a nice range of views. I play the demo at 720p, which from memory is 1366x720, not ultra-high (I run FS at 1680x1050) but it certainly looks crisp and clear on my 22" screen.
I would hire this, but I wouldn't buy it without trying the full game first. The demo leaves me wondering what all the fuss is about, really. Apart from the visuals (which I'm into, don't get me wrong) there doesn't seem to be much to flying. It is just like steering a big gun around the sky, not much skill involved, but I guess I've been brought up with the simulation aspect. You can fly from the cockpit, (I always do, even with FS) but I don't really feel like I'm in an aircraft. I die a lot in the demo, but mainly by clipping another aircraft -- the skies are pretty crowded.
The story is very strange, I can't get my head around it. I guess this shows its Japanese origins, but the plot twists and turns make are just amusing.
A surprising appearance on Xbox live this week was Blazing Angels II -- secret missions of WWII. I played the first one, but I didn't really get into it. There was a weird screen tearing, which annoyed me a lot. And back then I only had the Xbox connected to the TV, so things were a bit low-res. This one, though, looks a lot better, and is actually a hell of a lot of fun to play. The gameplay appears to be: undertake various missions against other aircraft, ground targets, and give your wingman various very simple commands. Pretty standard, but it works well. The visuals are great, but you only have one view -- outside your aircraft. I keep going on about this, but it has always seemed strange to me, like steering the car ahead by remote control.
There's a great choice of aircraft -- including some strange experimental -- but based on fact -- craft. You get a good sense of being in the middle of a battle, and you don't seem to have to do all the work yourself -- it seems with a lot of these type of games that your wingman is just there to get in the way, but this is better.
These are games, and I like them as such. This suits me -- Xbox = fun, PC = serious.







