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So an Ace Combat game came out for the Wii this week. For $30.

deadonthestreetdeadonthestreet Registered User regular
edited January 2010 in Games and Technology
Well, more or less. It's not technically an Ace Combat game but it's a arcadey flight combat game made by the Ace Combat guys so pretty much yeah. It has a really stupid name, though: Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces. Apparently it's based on some mediocre anime.

It got a little discussion in the weekly game release thread but it was mostly "Is this good should I buy it?" Apparently it is!

The thing is, no one is talking about it. Almost no one has reviewed it. And as far as I can tell, no one has played it.

Some talk from the reviews.
If you're right-handed, Sky Crawlers forces (or at least strongly encourages) you to use the Nunchuk in your right hand and the remote in the left. The Nunchuk, apparently because its curved shape is more joystick-like, is used as the stick of the plane. And you use all of it, meaning you're pulling back and twisting it freely in the air, which can be disorienting at first. The remote, meanwhile, is used primarily as the throttle: pull it up to accelerate, and tilt it down to slow down.

Hey that sounds kinda cool!
The overall presentation for Innocent Aces is pretty impressive, though it won't rival what players have already gotten with the best of the best Ace Combat offerings on even PS2. Many of the concepts return, and they've got their own style, but there's also a simpler overall look to it all. Still, what's there is great, including mission briefings with full voiceover, a pre-launch map where all the friendly and enemy forces can be seen on a flat paper map as if they're playing pieces in a board game – you can zoom around and check out the overall mission before deploying – and then post-mission replays that were a huge hit in the Ace Combat series. During your debriefing you can watch the mission from a half dozen different camera settings, and even watch flight lines of every friendly and enemy unit in the mission in high speed mode, showing little colored lines loop and intertwine over the mission map like streamers. Replays can also be saved and watched over again, which is a nice touch.

It's almost like the developer put actual effort into making a game on the Wii. Weird, right?
What really matters is the flying, and it's simply awesome. Sky Crawlers has always had a sort of over-the-top feel to it, with pilots pushing uncanny flight paths and maneuvers out of their aircraft that seem truly impossible even today. And while most of Innocent Aces looks and plays like a typical Ace Combat game, its got its own series-influenced additions that make you feel like a complete badass when in the air.

Yeah so this sounds pretty fantastic. But it seems like this game was sent to die because there has been zero hype. So has anyone actually bought this thing?

deadonthestreet on

Posts

  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Angels!
    Demons!
    Demonic Angels!
    Angelic Demons!

    Angels and demoooooooons, a march man's bewildering hooooooooosts [/dimmuborgir]

    Cantido on
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  • ProPatriaMoriProPatriaMori Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Color me intrigued. I've been hoping for a Wii Pilotwings with a similar control scheme (it seems obvious now that I should've sent Nintendo a letter or something).

    ProPatriaMori on
  • ScottyScotty Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Well heck...I didn't see this coming at all.
    Sounds like it may be worth a look.

    Scotty on
  • B:LB:L I've done worse. Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    I decided to watch Mamoru Oshii's The Sky Crawlers, because I wanted to check out the backstory of this game.

    The 2-hour plus long movie should've been called No Country For Young Flyboys.

    There's a good spoiler-filled review here:
    http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/sky-crawlers/theatrical-release

    Story spoilers:
    Making a videogame of this story is META AS FUCK.

    The game definitely needs one line to be said over the comm:

    "DO NOT PURSUE JINROH CHIGURH."


    I liked it enough to try and pick up the game if I see a good deal on it.

    B:L on
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  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    B:L wrote: »
    "DO NOT PURSUE JINROH CHIGURH."

    :^:

    Cantido on
    3DS Friendcode 5413-1311-3767
  • Idx86Idx86 Long days and pleasant nights.Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Has anyone played this? I might have to give it a spin. I LOVE Ace Combat.

    Idx86 on
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  • ShadowfireShadowfire Vermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    I've played and finished this... working on playthrough #2. I love the presentation, which is the damn good production values Project Aces is known for. The story, meh... it was ok, but nothing to write home about.

    The gameplay I started out saying "huh, this is weird... I don't know that I like it very much." Over time, I got used to the odd controls and really started to dig them. A lot. That said, if you can't get your head wrapped around the controls, classic controller support is there too.

    Shadowfire on
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  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    I've played and finished this... working on playthrough #2. I love the presentation, which is the damn good production values Project Aces is known for. The story, meh... it was ok, but nothing to write home about.

    The gameplay I started out saying "huh, this is weird... I don't know that I like it very much." Over time, I got used to the odd controls and really started to dig them. A lot. That said, if you can't get your head wrapped around the controls, classic controller support is there too.

    That is news to me!

    Dang, that's pretty awesome.

    Renzo on
  • BursarBursar Hee Noooo! PDX areaRegistered User regular
    edited January 2010
    Renzo wrote: »
    Shadowfire wrote: »
    I've played and finished this... working on playthrough #2. I love the presentation, which is the damn good production values Project Aces is known for. The story, meh... it was ok, but nothing to write home about.

    The gameplay I started out saying "huh, this is weird... I don't know that I like it very much." Over time, I got used to the odd controls and really started to dig them. A lot. That said, if you can't get your head wrapped around the controls, classic controller support is there too.

    That is news to me!

    Dang, that's pretty awesome.

    It's even got GameCube controller support! As far as controls go, the stick/remote combo works pretty well, except that I can't slouch in my chair as is my usual gaming wont because it restricts me from slowing down, turning left, or diving very far. Luckily, the Manual Moves make up for the lack of precision control, and the TMCs coupled with the extremely forgiving autoaim really cut down on the endless circling that Ace Combat dogfights tend to turn into.

    I'm into Mission 7 so far, and I... don't hate it, but it's not blowing me away like the Ace Combats did. I'm starting to think I should plug in my PS2 and see if it's just nostalgia factor of if the textures in SC are really this poor. The music's been forgettable thus far (except for the mission briefing tune, which has become downright irritating). Tossing me back out to the tutorial menu between missions is a bewildering UI decision.

    I can't fault the story or the writing on the Project Aces people, but I wonder if XSeed had much of a hand in the localization because there are some odd word choices and turns of phrases (sorry... It's something I've started noticing). Also, stop throwing a map of Europe at me with real cities clearly labeled in English, then tell me I'm assaulting the city of Kirikiri on the banks of the Yamagawa River, which is apparently in the middle of Germany.

    I don't regret purchasing this, especially for $30, unless the story goes just horribly wrong (which, again, being based on a movie is not something the game designers can choose), but I wonder how much Ace Combat 6 is now...

    Bursar on
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  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    edited January 2010
    So I had this arrive a couple of days ago and got around to playing it today. I'm about a dozen missions in thus far and only mission six gave me any trouble (the one with the camera, which was fine until you had to cover your wingmen) and like it a lot.

    It certainly feels like Ace Combat and the controls are very intuitive, though I've just been using normal controls, not expert so I'll have to take a look at that too.

    Kelor on
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