What more can be said about the visuals than Wow-wee! Easily the best looking flight title to date with incredible detail on the planes, environments, and even the cut scenes that move the story along are done stunningly well. The environments look damn near photo realistic this time around, and the lighting, attention to detail on the terrain, mountain tops and water are just breath taking. While things do get a little murky if you are close to the ground, we’re not gonna fault the developers for that…heck you shouldn’t be down there anyway right? Keep in mind that there are no real world locales to fly around; as a matter of fact some are so fictional that you’ll think you are part of a low budget Sci-Fi Channel film. The aircrafts are amazing vehicles to behold and are intricately detailed down to the landing gear. In short, the game is a visual love fest and easily a testament of the power of the Xbox 360.

Unfortunately the love can’t be brought over to the audio side of things…at least not entirely. Let’s just get this out of the way; the in game action sounds are amazing. The aircraft ambiance, radio wave chatter, and of course the explosions sound dead on accurate. Where things get a little off kilter are the voice-overs in the cut scenes which sound more like forced dialog and fake emotions. Not to mention the game’s soundtrack isn’t rockin’ at all and is completely forgettable. At least with the custom soundtrack option you can hear any music you like even a bit of “Danger Zone”.

Where the game matters most is where Ace Combat 6 delivers in spades. While some of the missions set ups are slow and sometimes cumbersome, we can’t quite fault the game’s playability for it. Sure the game leans more towards arcade style game play, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t in for a white-knuckled good time. The controls themselves are solid, including finding a use for each and every button on the controller. The A.I. is smart, especially in the later missions where they no longer hold your hand like a tutorial would. The pacing for the first few missions is dreadfully slow, but like any good fighter plane, once the game builds momentum, expect nothing short than the ride of your life.

Ace Combat 6 offers a wide variety of planes to navigate in the wide blue yonder; including the F-15 Strike Eagle, F-22 Raptor, and the Tornado. Topped off with downloadable content such as planes and skins, you’ll find there are enough of these raw powered machines to play host to and keep your interest high. Sure there may not be as many of these crafts from the get go, so let’s hope that Namco delivers the goods in future online updates. Speaking of online, you have online multiplayer over the skies of Xbox Live. While taking on others head to head in team death matches and dogfights is a treat, the co-op missions are where you and a co pilot of your choosing can conquer enemy territory with great delight.

With very few flight titles available, Ace Combat 6 is the best one on next gen platforms hands down. Even with more competition, it is hard to keep veterans like this from reigning supreme. Top it off with the optional flight stick bundle for even more realistic flight goodness and gamers who love to take matters into the sky will find no better place to take their adventures than in Ace Combat 6’s world.