Air Force Delta Strike Review...

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

I bought AFDS a few weeks ago since I had a surplus of money@ my disposal. SOme of you wonder what its like and a lot of you hear it either sucks or is alright. Here is my opinion on the game after going through it twice.

Graphics-The graphics are good. Not as good as air force delta storm, and this one in comparison will lag for a few seconds if a bunch of planes are on screen. Not too bad however. Everything is about average, and what you would expect from PS2....

UNTIL

You get to the sea missions. "aw man this plane modeling ain't that bad, it's decent...not as real lookibng as AC4 but it's got it's own spunk...wait...what the...WHAT THE F****?THE WATER LOOKS LIKE PS1 GRAPHICS!!"

Yes the water looks like crap. seriously. Street fighter sprites from SNES got more realistic movement than the slow moving waves. OR should I say 3 frame stuttering waves.

Breakdown. Planes and graphics in general GOOD. water? jesus christ.....

Plane selection-GREAT. Instantly better than AC4's plane selection and very very good. Being able to use the F-105 thunderchief with Holst and upgrading to the F-15U plus is like witnessing the birth and transition of 2 great eras in time. And hell nothing beats using some of the century fighters and ESPECIALLY vietnam era fighters and realizing they still got good traits even amongst the techie generation planes. It also helps that most of konami's famed shooter aircraft from way back then like the vic viper are usable and unlockable. Weapon selection is good as well.

Music/sounds- Sounds in this game are good. Chatter is OVERKILL in some areas. I wish Pierre would STFU. However its pleasant to shoot his ass down 1 second after boasting. Music seems to be the theme music remixed in every possible way, and while this is an okay theme, this REALLY needs to have VARIETY. BGM's from 80's shooters are put in as well when using the respective planes. HOwever the music is NOTHING compared to Ace Combat 2. This is not saying the music is bad but it really needs more flavor and diversity. AC4's music wasn't any better either but at least it had more different tunes.

Gameplay-I like the phase turn thing and I do not mind having to rebuy a plane. However rebuying its color scheme and special weapon after getting it shot down SUCKS. What the hell?

Being able to do branching missions is GREAT!! Standbuys were a good addition too. THe apce missions I actually like since it's different!! It's done good!! However,...goodness this game is DIFFICULT. This game will piss you off till no end most of the time but I find when in trouble or doubt, go to gamefaq's faq for this by flying eye. oh yea nd use the AIRBREAK!! THis game would have been a LOT more enjoyyable had the missions been better thoughtout and was EASIER!! A lot of people think this game was rushed. I am a firm believer in this.

Flight Control- If you want Ace combat configuration use expert its almost the same. If you want OPTIMISED use ACE controls! WAY better since it gives you "controlled" throttle!!(throttle with increments, not HAVING TO HOLD R1 FOR AFTERBURNER!!! With this one once you get to afterburner the burner will stay lit unTIL you throttle down to idle. In ace combat you cannot do this!! Ace combat is=HOLD r1 to go faster HOLD L1 to go slower. AFDS=peress R1to required engine thrust and it will stay or L1.

The flight modeling for this game by all means isnt hardcore simulator like Janes F-15 but is inbetween aerodancing/elite and AC4. NOWHERE near as arcadey as AC4!! HEll they even hgave an angle of attack meter!! and In AFDS you can do instantaneous pitch up and let go of stick wher ethe nose will drop a few degrees, in AC4 it merely just puills up. SO YES THIS is quite realistic in that respect and more akin to the older planes/high AOA's and AERo elite flight modeling. And attackers? UNLIKE Ac4 you can't realy turn a A-10 or A-6 in AC2 into a fighter here. put it this way it reflects reality. Try dogfighting in an A-7 and....well....GOOD LUCK. Oh and high speed groundf attack? If your using brian FORGET IT(unless you got his better planes). You need HOlst with his thundercheif. CObra kicks all kinds of ass and I realize what David was talking about when he brouight up the YF-17 CObra fighter.

Oh and you cant pull a tight ass turn when your below 200 knts unlike AC4. And dodging missles is hard as balls too. I am VERY VERY satisfied with the flight modeling in this game. Not like AC4 but WAY better even if not as realistic as Aero elite.

All in all

-I really do enjoy this game. It is fun and the amount of planes to be earned and the semi dynamic storyline and multiple unlockable endings/missions/planes/ellen is good. Using planes with sometimes DRASTICALLY different flight modeling is a GREAT BREATH OF FRESH AIR......especially since AC4 makes you able to turn the A-10 into an asskicker of migs so easily....now YES in reality you could do this but AC4 makes it seem so easy...in reality its diffficult. I like how some planes are just not good on some missions where as AC4 makes every plane a "can do everything" type pf plane in each mission. For example don't use Jaime to dogfight unless you are extremely bored. Which BTW you are not FORCED to use jaime so if you don't want to, just forget him. The graphics are on their own level till you see the water, but while it has it's own spunk the graphics are not as realistic looking as AC4. The replays, though less options, are MUCH better than AC4!! Looks all artsy in some angles and exaggerated which is cool. F-14 has better sweepings wings here than in AC4. But yes this game is difficult as hell at times. AC4 is a more enjoyable experience overall. AFDS does feel very rushed and though it really doesnt seem like the masterpiece it was intended to be, it is a very good game nonetheless.

Overall if it was easier and there wasnt so much dialogue between characters(most of the stoery sucks BTW other than getting to know some of your characters...its pretty useless dialogue for the most part). REplays are SUPERB!!

So no this doesnt unseat AC4 from the throne. But its a good 2nd place. Far better than topgun on PS1. Think of AFDS as AC2 on PS2 with more planes and difficulty rasised up many notches with a lot of people blabbering about stupid shi*. So when AC5 comes out what will happen? I do think Ac5 will truly be th3e greatest arcade sim on PS2 but howevere AFDS will still be a good 3rd place by then. AFDS has a unique approach depending on how you look at it. Had it had take offs and landings and refuels and more special weapons it would be more on par but unfortunately it does not.

my advice? Give it a chance. I would give it a 7.5/8 out of 10. I know most people don't like it but I do. BTW use ace configuration....if you use alex and his VTols in expert configuration you can only do VTOL mode when holding L1 for a while. In ace mode just press up on teh Dpad and he goes to VTOL automatically. And yes you can batturn with the tomcat. Cockipit displays are almost all unique per plane and accurate to reality in some cases(cockipit ) BUT some are placed too far down. FOr example its hard to aim gun in TOMCAT since....well flight reticle is facing cockpit rather than through HUD. you can see through HUD but for a gun kill to aim better you gotta position the VIew to look through it better. SOme of the incockpit views are too low.

[Graham]

I also like AFDS, although not of course as much as AC4.

FYI, we previously had a 6 page thread discussing AFDS here, which contains some interesting information.

I agree that the game is difficult. Too difficult in places IMO. I found that after getting about halfway through the game, I found the difficulty level on some of the stage really increases to the point that I couldn't complete them and I was getting so frustrated that I was throwing my control pad on the floor and shouting and swearing at the bloody game I figured that it was time to give the game a rest and move onto another game. I'll have to go back and re-try it someday.

Graham

[David Hingtgen]

You haven't won? You're missing out on the best planes! Though IMHO, the later the missions, the weirder they get. AC usually has at least "plausible" missions, AFDS just gets plain silly at times.

[Gaijin]

Hardness and way out-ness aside, I enjoyed it. Hope they continue the series. It's a nice alternative to AC.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Had they not rushed the game(its truly obvious they did...look at those water textures!!) I think they really could have had a chance to unseat AC4 and perhaps 5. I think they should continue it. Even though it was not on Xbox like its predeccessor what it lacked in grraphics it made up for in gameplay and story. They should diminish the dialogue and make the story better and a lot less crappy(SPOILER oooo la la shoot dragon in head in mars...uh yea.........hmmm)

It could have beena more solid game but who knows? I too hope they continue and it will be in a league of it's own. FRom what I hear its much better tha lethal skies and as it seems a good 2nd place to ace combat. No doubt in my mind ace combat 5 will dominate this thing to the ground but I also feel that though it will be inferior, AFDS will still have a place in my gaming library.

BTYW theres a konami plane in there that looks likea na advanced single seat tomcat. Think jherry mouse? Very nice!! I also got MX5000, F-15 hybrid with canards....very AWESOME!! Still need the tomcat lookalike though. huge ass airbrakes.

[hellohikaru]

I am beginning to have some interest in this game but i still hate the "Halo" like flight suits the pilots wear.

Some aircraft i like

such as the F-15U Plus, F4D-1, S-55, YAK-141

Japan and US Version seems to feature slightly different aircraft lineups.

Il-10 Sturmovik for Spitfire ?

X-32A for F/A-32

[hellohikaru]

hmmm...the much older AF Delta Storm already inclkuded the I-2000!

http://www.konamistudio.com/ad2/air.html

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

X-32A and B are in teh game. B is VTOL and is alex' plane. Ken has the A version which is based on the mod they were originally going to do by adding a tailplane but was never made. IT also has the gun in the game unlike the B. sturmoviok and spitfire are with jaime depending on how far you get with him. THe flight suits and some CG sequences are half assed in many ways.

Holst is cool so is pedro though he cannot be used. Brian matures towards the end but he is a nuisance...so sad as he is the only one representing naval strike attack.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

BTW Air force delta storm on XBOX has a VASTLY superior plane selection and graphics engine!!! They say there is a F-14G hellcat II plane. SOmeone please post pics here of it~ I never saw it and thought it would be in strike but it unfortunately is not.

Well plane selection is good in AFDStrike but we lack cool stuff like the one on xbvox like the airacobra and such.