Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is a 2001 arcade-style combat flight simulation video game developed and published for the PlayStation 2 by Namco. It is the fourth title in the Ace Combat series. Gameplay. The player assumes the role of a fighter pilot through 18 story missions and a split screen versus mode. Each mission features different objectives including air-to-air combat, ground attack and escorting friendly units. The player's aircraft is armed with a machine gun and standard missiles that can lock on to air, ground and naval targets. Special weapons  including air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, rockets and bombs can also be equipped. At the end of each mission players are ranked on their performance and awarded credits to buy new aircraft and special weapons. The player has the opportunity to purchase 21 different planes including real-world production and prototype models as well as fictional planes. Every plane has two alternate paint schemes that are earned by shooting down enemy aces hidden in each mission. The gameplay is simpler and more action-oriented than other combat flight simulator games. The player aircraft carries much more ammunition  than a real plane and has infinite fuel. Multiple difficulty levels can be selected which determines the number of enemies, the AI skill and damage thresholds for both players and enemies. On easier settings the player can survive several missile hits, while on the hardest a single missile can destroy the player. Plot. Setting. The game is set in the alternate universe of Strangereal where Earth has different landmasses and history. Four years prior to the events of the game, a massive asteroid enters and breaks up in Earth's atmosphere. The impact events cause over 500,000 deaths in the  first two weeks as well as an international financial crisis and refugee crisis. Just before the game starts, the Federal Republic of Erusea invades and occupies the neutral country of San Salvacion. Erusea also captures an array of anti-asteroid railguns codenamed Stonehenge which was developed to destroy the asteroid's fragments. Stonehenge is repurposed as a long-range anti-air weapon. Erusea is opposed by the Independent State Allied Forces (ISAF), but ISAF is forced to retreat outside Stonehenge's range to the island of North Point. Erusea gains control of most of Usea's mainland. The player controls  the game's silent protagonist, an ISAF pilot known by the callsign Mobius 1, while interludes are narrated by a man from San Salvacion writing a letter to Mobius 1 after the war recalling his childhood memories of wartime. Synopsis. Mobius 1 and ISAF repel Erusean bombers from destroying ISAF headquarters and enable ISAF troops to evacuate to North Point. Mobius 1 takes part in a series of air raids to disable Erusea's "invincible" Aegir Fleet, halting Erusea's attempts to invade North Point by sea. Bolstered by their victories, ISAF planes strike deeper into the continent but take  heavy losses to fire from Stonehenge. ISAF then launches a ground invasion of the Usean mainland, establishing a foothold on the continent. Mobius 1 gains a reputation as a promising ace. Meanwhile, a boy witnesses the death of his immediate family when an Erusean fighter with a yellow-painted 13 tail number shoots down an ISAF aircraft which crashes into the boy's home. The boy is taken in by his uncle, an unemployed alcoholic who lives above a bar in San Salvacion's capitol city. The boy describes his experience of the Erusean occupation. He earns income by playing  music for Erusean soldiers in the bar. There he meets the Erusean ace pilot with the callsign Yellow 13, who captains the elite Yellow Squadron. Although the boy resents Yellow 13 at first, the captain and the rest of the squadron befriend and adopt the boy as one of their own. The boy speaks of Yellow 13's desire to face a worthy opponent and praise for Mobius 1's growing skill. The ISAF invasion marks a turning point in the war against Erusea. This causes logistical problems for Yellow Squadron. The boy discovers that the barkeep and his daughter  are agents of the resistance, though the daughter is fond of Yellow 13. The daughter bombs Yellow Squadron's airfield, damaging the aircraft flown by Yellow 13's wingman and close friend Yellow 4. ISAF launches an attack on Stonehenge in which Mobius 1 disables the railgun array. Yellow Squadron scrambles to defend Stonehenge. In the resulting dogfight, Yellow 4 is shot down by Mobius 1 and fails to eject. Yellow 13 quietly mourns the death of his wingman. As ISAF forces approach San Salvacion, Yellow 13 catches the barkeep's daughter after she attempts to plant explosive detonators. The  boy intervenes, calling Yellow 13 a "fascist pig." Yellow 13 is upset by the boy's words, but allows them to go free. ISAF liberates San Salvacion's capitol. The boy and the barkeep's daughter follow the retreating Erusean forces. ISAF forces push through Erusea's final defensive line to the Erusean capitol. As ISAF sieges the city, Mobius 1 engages and defeats Yellow 13 and the remainder of Yellow Squadron. The boy and the barkeep's daughter find and bury Yellow 13's handkerchief. The Erusean leadership surrenders to ISAF. However, a rogue group of young Erusean officers  take control of Megalith, a superweapon that uses rockets to shoot down asteroid fragments in orbit. Mobius 1 leads the newly formed Mobius Squadron into battle against the rogue officers while a special forces unit infiltrates the Megalith facility. Mobius 1 flies into the missile ports to destroy Megalith's generators. The special forces unit opens Mobius 1's escape route at the last moment and the squadron celebrates Mobius 1's heroism. Many years after the war, the boy (now grown) reflects on Yellow 13's life and death. He writes to Mobius 1 that "it must have brought  him an unexpected joy to have an opponent like you, at the end of that meaningless war." Development. The development team viewed "Ace Combat 04" as a return to the origin of the franchise after the mixed release of "". This design philosophy was reflected in the marketing tagline "It's Changing Everything Again." Gameplay was given more of an arcade feel with an increased focus on score attack objectives and fewer story cutscenes. Studio 4°C developed the interludes that play between missions as slide show cutscenes, which was a cost-effective alternative to the fully-animated cutscenes in  Electrosphere. As opposed to the "Top Gun"-inspired rock music in "Ace Combat 2" and the electronic music in "Electrosphere", "Ace Combat 04" features a blend of rock, orchestral, and synthesizer music, as well as a Latin chorus, which cemented the style of "Ace Combat" soundtracks going forward. Sound director Tetsukazu Nakanishi designed the music to flow like a movie soundtrack. Audio was recorded from F-4s and F-15s at Hyakuri Japanese Self Defense Base. Reception. "Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies" was a commercial success. By 2008, it shipped 2.64 million copies worldwide, making it the highest-selling "Ace Combat" game until   surpassed it in 2021. "Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies" was critically acclaimed at launch, being given the Gold Hall of Fame award from "Famitsu" and listed as an Editor's Choice by "IGN". On the review aggregator website "Metacritic", "04" holds an 89/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". IGN gave the game 9.1 out of 10 and "Famitsu" magazine scored a rating of 33 out of 40 on release. It was nominated for "GameSpot"s annual "Best Story" and "Best Shooting Game" prizes among console games, which went respectively to "Final Fantasy X" and "".