Review: Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (PSP)

As far as video games are concerned nothing much gets as breathtakingly awesome as sailing through the skies at supersonic speeds whilst engaged in a dogfight. It's why Crimson Skies can be considered a forgotten classic on the Xbox and it's also why we're constantly craving a Top Gun game. Aiming to fill the void while we await this or a Crimson Skies 2 (if we ever do get one, of course) is the latest in the Ace Combat series - this time on PSP. But what we've just mentioned about speed and dogfights is sadly absent from Skies of Deception. So does it live up to it's name?

Before taking to the skies we checked how to control our jet and found a boost button perfectly placed on the right trigger. We may be playing on a PSP rather the Playstation 2, but we still want to feel like we're piloting a fighter jet. However, the sensation of speed - even when boosting - cannot be felt. We don't want the cavern walls or the ground to move past at a snail's pace giving us ample time to avoid collisions. We want to feel insane speeds where we feel vulnerable when approaching the ground. It's only until you unlock the later jets that the speed starts to pick up. However, unlike we do feel vulnerable when simply controlling our jet. You use the analogue nub to spin and quickly move and the D-pad is used for slight adjustments in direction. Using the nub can leave you incredibly disorientated as instead of simply holding left to turn instead you need to turn your jet on the side and then push up to fly to the side. It takes some getting used too, but luckily once it does the game becomes quite enjoyable.

The story is played out through anime cut-scenes which is quite peculiar when the actual game itself - set in a futuristic world - feels very real. But it does grab you into the story about two warring nations. Before each mission you're given a stupidly long briefing before being able to choose where you start each mission, as well as tuning and buying various jets each becoming unlocked as the story progresses. The missions themselves are the standard for the genre ranging from simply kill all the enemies to protecting your comrades.

Once the mission starts it's quite easy to shoot down your opponents with around fifty missiles at your disposal, each with a lock-on ability. It makes the first few missions a walk in the park, probably a good thing because the dogfights (an important part in the genre) are quite poor. The range of your main gun is terrible, and you have to get in really close to actually do any damage. Our final problem is the way you receive damage and the lack of actual impact you feel. One particular mission has you fighting a giant aircraft carrier that fires a beam of light that damages anything in its way. We stupidly thought we were out of range because we didn't feel a thing, not a slight judder as we get hit. But looking at the damage shown at the corner of the screen we were on our last legs. Some warning would've been nice.

From what has been wrote so far you may think we hate the latest game in the Ace Combat series, but underneath all the faults we did find ourselves enjoying flying around and blowing up enemies. There's certainly a decent sized campaign and there is the added multi-player to increase longevity, albeit not online enabled, and graphically the game is very impressive for a PSP game which means long loading times are not created along the way.

But overall, it's disappointing that Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception doesn't quite live up to our expectations for the acclaimed Ace Combat saga - series veterans will get a kick from it, but this is more Stealth than Top Gun.

Rating: 5 / 10

Words by Adam Gulliver