David Hingtgen

Or in short: Even a mediocre AC game is better than 90% of all games out there. We were just expecting something truly amazing. (because every previous AC topped the last one)

I've seen it said that if Hitler hadn't have forced the bomber version of the Me-262, and it had thus not been delayed--it alone could have won the war in Europe. It was that much better---just too few. That's the problem the F-22 may face---being so few that quality won't help. 20 F-22's won't make any difference anywhere. But 200 sure will. With Flankers becoming as common as the F-16, frankly a large number of superior planes are needed. Or a TON of equivalent planes. We don't really have anything between the F-15 and F-22, which is where the Flanker is. We're not going to build a bunch of new F-15C's...

Buy AC 5, it's cheaper and better. I *know* 4 is a greatest hits so should be cheap, but 5's worth the extra money if it's not a greatest hits. Zero's good too---I rate it below 4, most people think it's right behind 5.

I think we're still watching, the eps just aren't interesting enough to remark about. I think they have 6 eps of story, trying to fill out a season. As for the last 2 mins----I hope it's not ---too obvious, and having Peter try to ... PS--do NOT mess with HRG. I still think he steals the show whenever he appears.

I was just about to post that. Great news, means that's certainly the version I'll get. Funny how Sony has made a cooler, quieter PS3 (when it didn't really need to), yet the 360 still overheats and drowns out overhead jets.

If my PS2 could play imports, I'd so buy VO again. There's about a .5% chance of a US release.

I've never seen that windows command---will it work/help when you get the typical "DNS not found" error when sites move? Or do DNS errors caused by places moving around depend more on your ISP getting around to noticing/routing correctly?

Still there, and the silver on the back is all wrong. It's like they got the top and bottom of the plane confused.

Yeah, but I like Bioware's stuff so much, that I bought KOTOR and Jade Empire for the PC, even after having played them earlier on the Xbox. (Just wait a little while until they're cheap---I got KOTOR for 10 bucks and JE for 8--well worth it for the extras added in, and the mods possible)

Nice---but I'm probably 12-18 months away from a new PC. (I just upgraded this one to last till then). Probably something even better----or I'll snag 2 of those really cheap. My goal for my next PC is to play Mass Effect, if/when it comes out for PC.

Cannon ammo has varied with difficulty since AC4. "Normal" on AC is "easy" on any other game---since there's 3 levels beyond that. "Easy" on AC is "hard to lose" with other games. Can't crash, almost infinite ammo, 1 hit takes down badguys, can take a half-dozen missiles without dying, etc. Hard gives 800+ rounds. (I never ran out). Just beat hard, on to extreme. (hope I see some aces, I don't want to have to go through again just to start getting them) PS--it always amazes me how "unknown" the AC series is among game reviewers---yeesh, AC4 was a best-seller, but they always act surprised that "a plane can carry 50 missiles, unlike real ones". That's part of it. It's a game, not a sim. If you want a sim, you need a keyboard, and joystick, and throttle, and still don't have enough buttons...

Better at the end? Not really. Non-spoilers because it's like every other AC: 1. You take down the big enemy squadron "one last time" and capture the capital. (Yellow, Ofnir, Strigon) 2. Uber-plane shows up. (ADF-01, ADFX-02, CFA-44). You take down the ace piloting it. 3. There's some gigantic mega-complex that nobody knew about until now that's being used to attack you. Go fight the remnants of the enemy squadron, shoot out the power generators/cooling towers/thermal exhaust port then blow it up from the inside. IMHO 5 was the most interesting because it's the most "personal" because of what's going on, and it's the least predictable. My only real complaint is the Su-47---stop putting it in games! It's just another Flanker, and there was only ever one built. At least there were 2 YF-23's, and they're not knock-offs of another plane. (I'd love to see the F-5/20 back). Having the F-16 at the start is traditional, but they make it too weak---no matter how slow another plane is, if it shows up later in the game, it'll be better than the first plane---but there's NO way a Super Hornet should come close to a -16's speed, or an F-117 as agile as the F-16, etc. They need the F-4/F-5 in all games just to allow the F-16/18 to have more realistic stats in comparison. The F-16 should be a nice "2nd all-purpose" plane. Bought fairly early, but not right at the start. (AC5 did make you wait too long for your second plane though) PS---I finally found (and took out) some XB-70's. A lot easier than in earlier games---though luckily I had the F-14 and Phoenixes at the time, so that helped.

I'll have to say I fall in that category---mainly because frankly, I've never had anything to practice with. 1 hour in driver's ed really isn't enough, and few people will trust you with their car to learn. (perpetual source of shame for me, as my dad's truck has an 18-speed and he can double-clutch it)

Yup--I disliked 3 almost immediately. Plot was incomprehensible. AC 2 had very little plot, but it made sense and tied in with the missions. I didn't find out about the "real" AC 3 for years, long after I had sold it. Anyways---played online last night, hooked up with Apollo Leader. I had already been playing like 3 hours so couldn't go much longer. Suggestions for people online (particularly hosts): 1. 5 min games, maybe 10 mins. Anything else is so long nobody has a chance to join in with friends. 2. Limit planes to Level 3. That allows everything BUT the uber-plane, which is just insanely cheap. 3. 8 players is "the perfect number" IMHO. Others have so many there's no fun in trying to get "revenge" or ganging up on someone. Also takes forever to get 12+ people to join. There's one annoying thing with online though---you can't change stages. I got sick of "Team battle 3" after a while, but couldn't change it without kicking everyone out and starting a new session. They really should allow stage changes while keeping all the other settings the same--it's not like I wanted to change it to co-op or anything.

...I only found pics of one. (a CRJ) Anyways-- Official Grumman Iranian Tomcat promos!

Still it seems insanely slow. It is nothing more than "send form into giant warehouse that only has 15 different discs in it" and wait, is it not? There's plenty of companies with like 50 employees that stock thousands of different products and get hundreds of orders a day that ship stuff out same-day.

Others include: Beat entire game in 2:15 of flying time. Beat entire game using only attack/fighter/multi-role planes (3 different medals) (shouldn't be too hard, though "attack" might be A-10/F-117 only---could be hard against Strigon) I really wish each of the medals was worth like 5 pts. Not giving any points until you get ALL of them is asking a bit much IMHO. I can get about half pretty soon, most with a little work. But all? Maybe if I played 500 hours...

A few more missions until I have (I think) all operations. Got gold marksman---200 gun kills. Don't know if it requires 100% of damage to be done with gun, or just the killing blow. (I think it was AC 0 where it had to be pure guns to count) Plan to be online tonight, say midnight CST. PS--I just saw a list of medal requirements. Some of them I think I'll never get. (Such as, beat entire game using only machine gun, and beat entire game without ever taking damage)

Dobber--just remember it's pronounced "n-sock"----then you know it's NSAWC. PS---you getting Century's VF-41 release?

6 is far better than 3 of course, it's just notably below 4/5/0. Mission 10---I only had to go through one tunnel. #3 I think. You never have to (and usually can't) complete EVERY objective and every operation in a mission. Usually 2 of 3 or 4 of 6 operations to get a mission to go to "part 2" which half the time means Strigon shows up. Currently trying for the "all operations" goal---you'll do most of them just going through once, should be easy to get all of them the second time. Currently at mission 6 of 2nd play. Have yet to find an ace to shoot down--they're either rare, or hidden way out there in parts of the area you'd never fly to. (I'm sorta hunting around in likely spots) I'm thinking few people will get the final medal, which looks like "All S on Ace of Aces mode". Which is a level beyond what was "Ace" in 4/5. (Extreme is what 6 calls the former Ace level). I'm betting there's a "S on all operations in all missions" goal/requirement in there somewhere too. Guessing "gold" for machine gun is 250 kills. Sigh. Probably have like 100 now, maybe.

Personally, I'd much rather say "forget the 5 free this from these 15 and free that from this" and just let me pick 3 of ANYTHING. I'd gladly trade quantity for quality. (That goes for both HD and Blu)

Or you could just use the controller. I do, despite being a HUGE jet-nut. (I even play flight sims using the numeric keypad)

Any reviews on that? That's only a little more expensive than a 360's add-on. And I'd rather have a stand-alone.

I just beat 13 (with the Strike Eagle, 'cuz it's on the box art)---wondering what's going to be in the next 2 missions or so (assuming it's a 15 mission game).

Maybe, haven't been online yet. (I keep wondering if I should hold off until I'm "really good" again, with awesome planes--or take what I have now, while there's lots of newbs with just F-16's out there) PS---I just bought (but haven't used) the Strike Eagle, and there's no longer a need for the F-15C. It offers a pure air-to-air configuration, with 6-at-a-time AMRAAMs. Yeah.