Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War
North American boxart
Developer(s)	Project Aces
Publisher(s)	Namco Bandai
Director(s)	Naoto Maeda Kosuke Itomi
Composer(s)	Keiki Kobayashi Tetsukazu Nakanishi Hiroshi Okubo Junichi Nakatsuru
Series	Ace Combat series
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Genre(s)	Arcade, combat flight simulator
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (エースコンバット・ゼロ　ザ・ベルカン・ウォー, Ēsu Konbatto Zero Za Berukan Wō) is a semi-realistic flight simulator developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is part of the Ace Combat series of games. In Europe the game was released under the title Ace Combat: The Belkan War.

Introduction

The game takes place in 1995, 15 years before the events of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, revolving around the conflict between the nation of Belka and the Allied Forces; a multinational military alliance with forces from the nations of Osea, Yuktobania, Ustio, and Sapin among others. Several characters from Ace Combat 5 make an appearance in Ace Combat Zero, but they appear in tertiary roles. The player plays as a mercenary pilot, callsign "Cipher", hired by the country of Ustio, which was invaded by Belka.

The game features primarily older versions of fighter aircraft seen in its predecessor game, such as F-15C Eagle, F/A-18C Hornet, and several second and third generation fighters like the Saab 35 Draken. The player will go up against enemy ace squadrons who feature enhanced weaponry and combat prowess. Players who destroy everything without regard to hostility will receive the Mercenary rank, players who instead spare neutral targets will receive the Knight rank, and those that strike a balance between the two will earn the Soldier rank. These ranks will affect which enemy ace squadrons a player will face throughout the campaign. A split-screen versus mode is included with the game, but no online feature exists. A notable, if unfortunate, difference with previous and following game of the series is that the player does not have the ability to choose the aircraft his wingman will be flying, but is able to choose his SP weapon.

The game contains many references to the Arthurian legend, in the form of aircraft, weapons, structures and locations.

Story

The Belkan Federation has launched an invasion on the nearby Republic of Ustio, which had recently seceded from Belka, in an attempt to seize the newly discovered natural resources required to boost its struggling economy. Ustio and the nations of Osea, Sapin, and Yuktobania form a coalition to fight off the advancing Belkans. Most of Ustio is overrun by the powerful Belkan military, and as a last hope, the Ustians hire mercenary pilots to serve in their air force. Two of the mercenaries are Cipher and his wingman Pixy (nicknamed "Solo Wing" due to an historical accident involving the loss of one of his aircraft's wings), who together form the Galm Team. Cipher soon earns enough notoriety and respect that he is given the nickname "Demon Lord of the Round Table" after eliminating most of the enemy aircraft guarding "the Round Table" (a spot where ace pilots have battled numerous times in the past) almost single-handedly.

Cipher and Pixy join forces with other Allied air pilots, and together with ground and naval forces, they launch a counter-offensive which succeeds in driving the Belkans out of Ustio. The Allied forces then push into southern Belka, conquering and demilitarizing much of the country and knocking out its industrial capabilities. Meanwhile, Pixy starts to question the validity of the invasion, especially after participating in a mission where Allied planes indiscriminately bombed civilian targets.

In a last-ditch attempt to save the motherland of northern Belka from invasion, Belka detonates several nuclear weapons on its own soil to fend off the advancing coalition forces. In the midst of the confusion of the nuclear blasts, Pixy commits an act of treachery by firing upon Cipher's aircraft. He then flees, and Cipher is ordered to pull back into friendly territory. Pixy is then replaced as Cipher's wingman by fellow pilot PJ.

After witnessing the nuclear explosions, many members of the Allied forces called for a cease-fire. Soon after, the Belkan government falls and is replaced by an interim government, which orders all Belkan forces to cease-fire. Some Belkan forces, however, continue to resist. As Cipher and PJ finish off the final Belkan resistance, the cease-fire treaty is signed, which reduces the size of the Belkan military and requires Belka to cede much of its resource-rich territory, which is to be divided up between the Allied countries.

As the Allied countries argue over the newly-gained territory, a coalition of disillusioned pilots and soldiers from all five superpowers openly defy the treaty; they form a terrorist organization called A World With No Boundaries (AWWNB) that seeks to erase the concept of borders between countries and create a unified world. The first battle with the terrorists is when PJ and Cipher engage the XB-0 Hresvelgr, a Belkan superplane stolen by AWWNB and used to attack the cease-fire treaty signing site. During the engagement, the Galm Team encounters the XB-0's defenders, a renegade squadron from Sapin. After they shoot down the squadron and the XB-0, Cipher and PJ are sent to destroy Avalon Dam, which houses an experimental V2 MIRV with nuclear warheads. AWWNB plans to use V2 to erase all borders in the world. On the way to Avalon, Cipher and PJ are intercepted by an ace squadron over Area B7R (either Sorcerer Squadron's 8 F-15S/MTDs, Gault Squadron's 8 Su-47s, or Wizard Squadron's 4 F-16XLs and 4 YF-23As, depending on the player's path during the game). After destroying the squadron, Cipher and PJ proceed to Avalon through a canyon narrowly escaping enemy SAMs, and proceed with the destruction of the V2 control systems, preventing the missile's launch.

Right afterwards, Pixy returns. He is revealed to have defected to AWWNB and is flying a stolen superplane, the ADFX-02 Morgan, equipped with a laser, a ballistic missile launcher, and an ECM system (all previously seen in Ace Combat 5, which takes place 15 years later). Pixy shoots down PJ with the laser, and launches the V2 manually. Cipher engages his former wingman and shoots him down; with the loss of communication to Pixy's plane, the V2 explodes harmlessly in the upper atmosphere. A World With No Boundaries was defeated.

This entire story is told through a documentary made several years after the war, concentrating on Cipher's role since he had disappeared right after the final battle. The reporter making the documentary is Brett Thompson (many players incorrectly believe he is the same reporter from Ace Combat 5, Albert Genette). Many of the enemy aces Cipher fought managed to eject from their planes and survive the war, either being sent to prison or going on to lead normal lives. The narrator manages to track them all down and interviews them about their battles with Cipher from their own perspectives. The final person he interviews, who was also helping to narrate the story and was seen at the start of the game, was Pixy, who survived the dogfight with Cipher. He is disillusioned with his ideals, but continues to try to find meaning in them. He also thanks Cipher, in hopes that he may be watching the interview. Pixy's last words to Cipher are his catchphrase: "Yo buddy, still alive?" The narrator concludes that there's not enough information to find out who Cipher really was, but the fact that all of Cipher's former enemies smile when they recall him is enough for him.

Characters

Main article: List of Ace Combat characters

Reception

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War receives generally favorable reviews. IGN gives the game 8.8 out of 10, praising the game to be polished and refined successor of a former game in every way.

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	75.38%
Metacritic	75/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	7.9/10
IGN	8.8/10

External links

• Ace Combat Zero Official Site Template:Ja icon
• Ace Combat Series wiki