Fighter Ace 3.5

OK … admit it. All of us at some point have been fascinated with the idea or fantasy of being an ace pilot. Who can blame us? Planes have always captured the mind and imagination of all ages. Remember the first time you ever saw a 747 take off and mom or dad pointed it out? You were probably amazed. What’s one of the most popular movies in America? Top Gun. Heck, even Snoopy would hop aboard his trusty doghouse every couple of months to continue his ongoing rivalry with the Red Baron. Well, it’s no surprise that flight and combat sims which revolve around flying are almost always top sellers either on PC or console, and Fighter Ace 3.5 won’t do anything to stop the momentum.

Fighter Ace 3.5 is a WWII flight simulator that has you playing the role of a pilot flying for one of 5 different countries. You can represent the good old U.S. of A, Great Britain, Japan, the Soviet Union, or Germany and your mission is simple … do your part in the aerial portion to help win the war. To do this, there are over 96 different planes to choose from, each country having a variety of actual ones that were used like the Mustang, Lightning, or the infamous B-17. That’s right, be an escort or a dogfighter, be one of the key players by unloading tons of bombs on key targets, or even fly supply and paratrooper runs through anti air shelling in enemy territory. The choice is up to you.

One thing that Jaleco did well with this game is make it realistic enough to be enjoyable, but not complicated to the point that only current or ex-pilots would be able to enjoy it. You begin out on an airstrip and have to take off, adjust flaps, raise landing gear, and watch speed … then you’re off and cruising. If you need to re-fuel or re-load ammo, you will need to throttle down, adjust flaps, drop landing gear, and come in for a good landing on an airstrip. This sounds like a lot, and can be a little complicated, so they were nice enough to add a bunch of offline training missions to help you learn how to do everything from start the plane to run bombing missions. After an hour, I was prepared to start running.

The keyboard / mouse controls have a learning curve but are pretty simple to memorize … even if there are quite a few to run through. The arrow keys roll the plane and make you go up and down, and the Z and X keys adjust your vertical flap for light turning or adjustments. There’s a bunch of other ones that I won’t list out because it would be 20% of the review, but those are the basic flying controls. While using the keyboard, I was having a rough time doing things like throttling down to land and making some fine tuned adjustments, and the outside camera view of my plane was pretty funny watching it bounce up and down and rotate all over the place trying to do something specific. Basically, the keyboard is playable, but also can be a little rough to get along with. In addition, hitting a wrong button can do something way off and cause more problems or crashes than precision … but let’s be realistic. If you are going to play a flight sim, you probably already know that a joystick is crucial, right? Right. Let’s move on.

Now, the first time I tried this game, it was offline and using the keyboard / mouse controls only. The offline version of the game will allow you to create scenarios or select one of a number of pre-made ones, and it didn’t hold my attention too long because it was me and … well, me. I pretty much flew along quietly for about 30 minutes, then started unloading on my intended target. I got ripped apart in the process by anti air guns, so I was up and respawned back where I started from and not feeling much like flying 30 minutes again. I did however take this opportunity to go ahead and start playing with a Sidewinder Precision 2 flight stick and re-do the training missions, and suddenly saw what a world of difference that made. I went online at that point, and was ready for war. 

I can tell you up front that Fighter Ace 3.5 is intended to be an online game … period. The offline mode is good for practice and playing around, but when it’s time to get serious, it’s time to play against others. Well, my B-17 started off on an airstrip with two Lightning fighters manned by two other live players. After a brief hello exchange, we decided it was time to take out a naval port in Germany. They gave me the go ahead, so I taxied down the runway and into the sky. A quick glance behind me showed that they were doing the same, and soon we were set to autopilot, flying in formation, and making acquaintances. Suddenly, gunfire ripped through my left wing, and I watched as my two newfound friends and wingmen broke off and took out after a Japanese pilot who I guess was feeling lucky. Well, I dropped altitude and switched to a bombardier view that prepared me to deliver a couple of thousand pounds of explosive greetings on my target, and got drilled by anti air fire and a couple of other players waiting patiently for us. No luck on that try, so I messaged my wingmen that I was back on the strip and we would try it again.

Anyway, you can probably see how rich the experience can be when you get online and play against others, and it is well worth the $9.95 monthly tag … trust me. There are only a couple of things that I can see that could have been done a little better, none of which will decrease overall enjoyment of the game. Doing things like bombing or torpedoing can be somewhat difficult to master for some, and switching views to ensure accuracy means that you can’t see what’s going on around you. Again, it’s me kind of nitpicking, but it’s still there regardless. Also, you can find yourself doing nothing but flying for about 20 – 40 minutes at times, which can get a little dull … so polish up on your friend making experience! Trust me, partnering up makes those flights a lot of fun and a lot more bearable.

On the graphics side, there are some pretty amazing things that were done. You can fly during the day or night, and time passes so realistically that it takes about 45 minutes for the sun to get from the horizon to the sky. Rolling the plane around causes some really awesome lighting reflections and effects, and the black explosion clouds of incoming fire from anti air guns are almost so realistic you will flinch and start trying to dodge the screen. The ground unfolds around you in a patchwork pattern of fields, water, and hills, much like it looks when you are actually flying. Even some low hanging clouds are present here and there to amplify the realistic experience, and they did one heck of a job with it. The downside here is that the entire world that is on the ground seems empty, and some extras like towns, cities, or at least somebody not flying would have made it unbelievable. Also, coming in for a landing out in the middle of nowhere or swooping down close shows that the little patchwork fields don’t really get much bigger than they were from the sky, and they get pretty pixelled at an up close view. Again it’s not anything that will make you turn it off and walk away or not want to play anymore, but it is there.

Overall, this is one heck of a fun and “realistic enough to make a great experience but not real enough to be annoying” game, and is an awesome online flight simulator. The online fees are worth it, and I have gotten sucked into playing where multiple hours have gone by without me even noticing. Obviously, you are going to need a flight stick of some sort to really enjoy the game, but even if you have to use a keyboard only it is still a great time … just hard to master. If you enjoy flight sims and air combat, this is a good game to get for that Iceman on your list this year.    

Gameplay: 8.2
There is enough realism to make this really cool, but not too much to get on your nerves. Flying is easy, and doing basics like turning and take offs are simple with a keyboard or the joystick. The problems come into fine adjustments and tuning, and landing with the keyboard can be a severe pain. The MMO style and flying against tons of online friends and foes at one time is a blast, and there was enough going on most of the time to almost make me forget that it was a game. 

Graphics: 8.3
Mostly, one word … fantastic. Awesome lighting effects and real time day / night transitions were awesome. The planes themselves look great, and rotating the camera around outside the plane and over water almost looks like you are watching TV … only a little more pixelled. The ground, while completely absent of any life, has that patchwork look to it like it would if you were actually in a plane. Upon closer inspection, it keeps that smaller patchwork look and gets a little rough around the edges.

Sound: 8.3
Not bad, not much. The planes will drone along in the sky, and altitude or throttle adjustments reflect accurately in tone and pitch. There is no in game music, which wasn’t missed at all by me since I was so sucked into playing, and flying bomb runs over docks or factories will result in audible air raid sirens going off.

Difficulty: Medium
Well, it depends on the type of peripheral you are using to play. The keyboard is playable and still relatively easy to learn, but can get frustrating to play with. A joystick is also easy to learn, but makes the whole game a lot easier so that even my 8 year old was able to sit down with no instruction from me and hit the sky.  

Concept: 8.4
Yes I’ve played flight sims, but this one gave me a great title that really pulled me in and made me feel like I was flying in WWII. A little more complete picture of a live world and maybe an auto bomber function to have the AI hit intended targets while you fly would have been great. Regardless, it’s definitely worth the price and a blast to play.

Multiplayer: 8.8
This is ultimately where the enjoyment comes in. Offline play is practice only, but getting online will allow you to fly with comrades, and even do things like form up in squadrons or fly in formations. It will have you sitting for hours in front of the screen.  

Overall: 8.1
I’m going to tell you to go buy this game … you know it, don’t you? Well, if you like flight games and aerial combat titles and use a joystick, it’s definitely worth the price of the game and the monthly fee as well. Even a keyboard is fun for a while, but can get old quickly. Here’s the deal … if you can and will get online with this, get it. If you can’t get online or are just going to stick to the keyboard, you might want to drop 1.0 on the score and skip it or keep the receipt. Happy flying GZ readers … be looking for me later shredding your six o’clock!