Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation Is Set To Takeoff For The Xbox 360

 Takeoff to the skies of seventh generation console as Namco scrambles Ace Combat 6 to the Xbox 360.

The Ace Combat series has always been known as the pinnacle of flight games on the console. AC's formula for success is simple:

• Take the best features of arcade-style games and simulation-style games, throw em' in a blender and you'll get the best of both worlds with minimal compromises.
• Don't base the universe on real locations or countries. Create a new fictional universe where everything can be added, changed or expanded later.
• Simplify the control scheme where every button is easily memorized and aircraft movements made fluid and responsive.
• Dedicate time to write an actually good storyline. Yes, something that isn't America VS Badguys Inc., which would usually alienate most people.
• Get an orchestra to perform most of the music, in this case, the venerable Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. Ace Combat Zero's track no. 18 "ZERO" still bangs my Winamp playlist, showing no signs of getting old.

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Namco has announced that Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation is currently in the making and set to be released on November 13th 2007 (USA) and December 30th 2007 (JPN) for the Xbox 360. The exclusivity is only temporary: it will first be exclusive for the Xbox 360 but later on will be released for the PS3.


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• Japanese name: Ace Combat 6: Kaiho e no Senbi.
• Ace Combat 04 director Hiroyuki Ichiyanagi is serving as the game's producer, with Ace Combat 04 planner and Ace Combat 5 main planner Natsuki Isaki taking on directorial responsibilities.
• Dynamic Mission system: dynamically changing, large scale battles. During missions, you fight alongside a number of ally pilots and squads whom you can send them off to perform separate tasks. Success in some of these mini-missions may be required in order to clear a stage, but this isn't always the case. As you clear tasks, new ones will present themselves, expanding the battle in new ways. The game supports up to six tasks simultaneously.
• Ace Combat 6 takes place in 2015 in the Anean Continent, north of Yuktobania, a country featured in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War.
• It also features the effects of the Ulysses Asteroid, as seen in Ace Combat 04.
• The game will have new countries: the Republic of Emmeria, Kingdom of Nordennavic and Federal Republic of Estovakia.

• The player's squadron is the 28th Fighter Squadron, 8th Air Wing "Garuda", with the player's callsign being "Talisman".

Here are some high-res screenshots from the official site. Although I welcome this great news as an Ace Combat veteran and old timer, I'd still wish Namco would do a remake of Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere. That game has so much potential to be a memorable title yet it missed its chance in the international market. Nonetheless, I look forward to more of the same enjoyment I have with the Ace Combat series once I got myself a new console sometime next year.

Artwork via Pixiv.

BUY ACE COMBAT 6: FIRES OF LIBERATION ON AMAZON 

The trailer is already out! Grab it now!