Previews

Hands on with Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception on PSP

A taste of RSPCA-friendly dogfighting

Hands on with Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception on PSP

Is there a better song to fly a combat jet to than Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone? That will depend on how old you were when you watched Top Gun but, ultimately, it's a redundant question because we assure you that said song doesn't feature in Namco's Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception.

On a brighter note, you do get to throw fighter planes around a vast aerial playground with reckless abandon. We know this because we've been playing with preview code.

While the UMD also offers multiplayer options, we've yet to take these out for a test flight. We have, however strapped ourselves into the three single-player missions available and fans of aerial combat will be pleased to know Ace Combat X is mostly soaring along very smoothly.

Sure, there's a little turbulence in the way of technical niggles now and again, with a slight framerate drop when things get hectic and a disappointing lack of ground detail (aside from the odd building it's mostly composed of flat textures, though there are topographical changes, at least). But they're by no means major deficiencies and, crucially, the game delivers in the areas that matter.

For one, control is pleasingly fluid, with direction changes effected quickly through the analogue nub while the D-pad can be used to take over fine control duties, such as the precision required for aiming. Pleasingly, the flight dynamics are convincing, with a good sense of speed and responsive handling (the authenticity is further enhanced during the mini-replays, which offer a number of dramatic camera angles).

The missions in the demo code cover air-to-air, air-to-sea and air-to-ground sorties – probably the three most common situations the full game is likely to offer given that there isn't much else you can do with a jet – and the selection of planes available (Rafale M, Gripen C, Typhoon and F22 Raptor) not only vary in handling qualities but also in the type of ammunition carried.

Regardless of the plane selected, you can always count on a generous supply of cannon fire. Beyond that the weapon selection varies between fire-and-forget missiles, free-fall and lock-on ground bombs, radar jamming technology and multi-scattering bomblets that make eliminating enemy jets, supply ships, or army depots a breeze.

Indeed, the difficulty level didn't seem particularly steep, with enemy fighter planes seemingly a little shy of returning fire and easily dealt with. Having said that, the levels on offer are likely there to introduce you to the action and things are bound to get trickier the higher you get into the game.

Tellingly even with the limited resistance against you things remain reasonably compelling, which is why we look forward to being let loose behind the controls of the final game very soon. And you can bet your g-suit Kenny Loggins' classic will be blasting out of our stereo.

Joao Diniz Sanches
Joao Diniz Sanches
With three boys under the age of 10, former Edge editor Joao has given up his dream of making it to F1 and instead spends his time being shot at with Nerf darts. When in work mode, he looks after editorial projects associated with the Pocket Gamer and Steel Media brands.