Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (2006)
Genres:Simulator
Themes:Action, Warfare
Game modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Story:The sixth installment in the Ace Combat series explores the Belkan War, a devastating conflict alluded to in Ace Combat 5. In the game's main story mode, the player takes control of a mercenary pilot, callsign "Cipher", taking part in the Belkan War by advancing through aerial combat, escort, assault, and defense missions. The story is told through the eyes of a reporter, 10 years after the conflict, uncovering secrets of the war by interviewing some of the pilots the player shoots down.Show more
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The Ace Combat series is rightfully known as one of the most accessible flight sims in history, combining realistic aesthetics with arcade physics to create an experience that feels gritty without needing an elaborate interface of instruments. But there was a brief time when the games were also known for their storytelling. Rather than relying on the most obvious, bombastic Hollywood tropes, Ace Combat told war stories more akin to All Quiet on the Western Front, or For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Even as the gameplay focuses on winning a war, the narrative concerns the people living through the war in the long term. Stories like Ace Combat Zero are more important now than ever, as we see conflicts in Palestine, Burkina Faso, and Ukraine. These are modern wars with advanced weapons produced at an industrial scale. Tools of murder are deployed against people who die never knowing why they were targeted, who made the decision, or what it was meant to accomplish.
These are stories about despair, where the individual pilot's feelings on the war are meaningless in the face of its inevitability. And they are stories about hope, in which people emerge from war more patient, more understanding, and intent on never letting it happen again.
Yes to everything user @thesmallpox said. My experience with Ace Combat comes from the perspective of a Muslim born in a post-9/11 world, where most war media was obsessed with revering Western war machines: the same machines responsible for the deaths of countless millions in neocolonial wars. Ace Combat provided a war story that, on the surface, seemed to be about heroes and cool planes—and it is—But Zero, while unable to shed the heroic framing, offered something refreshing, and something important, as user 'thesmallpox' puts it.
"These are stories about despair, where the individual pilot's feelings on the war are meaningless in the face of its inevitability."
Yet, in the more optimistic world of Strangereal, these are also stories about hope, ones that I wish more people would learn from. Once more, as user @thesmallpox puts it.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the LionsAn updated version of the PlayStation game Final Fantasy Tactics, released on PlayStation Portable and later released on iOS and Android.
"The stage is set for what history would one day record as the War of the Lions.
Experience new CG cinematics. Meet new Characters. Explore new jobs & missions. Wage new multiplayer battles. Behold a new legend!"Fantasy Historical Warfare
Star Wars: Jedi StarfighterThe game features two immediately playable craft: Nym's starfighter, "The Havoc", which features heavy armament as a bomber, and Adi's fighter, which features force powers such as lightning and force shield.
There are also nine unlockable craft which can be played on any mission: the X-wing, Tie fighter, Reti's advanced Zoomer, Adi's advanced Jedi starfighter, Saboath fighter, Jenkin's advanced Freefall, Nym's advanced Havoc, a Republic gunship, and Jango Fett's Slave I. In addition, with the code "headhunt," the Z-95 headhunter can be unlocked.Action Science fiction
Jurassic Park: Operation GenesisJurassic Park: Operation Genesis is a construction and management simulation video game for the PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 based on the Jurassic Park series.
The main point of the game is to recreate Jurassic Park - building a five-star theme park with dinosaurs, and turning John Hammond's dream into reality. In the park, the player builds paths, amenities for visitors such as food, restrooms, enclosures, and attractions. One must also keep the park safe and secure.
The park can be populated with up to sixty dinosaurs, with twenty-five different species available from the three Jurassic Park films. The player can also add attractions similar to those seen in the films, such as the safari seen in the Jurassic Park film, and additional attractions such as a balloon tour and several varieties of viewing platform.
While the PlayStation 2 version is fairly common, the PC and Xbox versions of the game are considerably rare, with the Xbox version considered one of the rarest and most expensive titles for the system, with copies of the game often selling on eBay for upwards of $100.
GAMEPLAY:
The player's main objective is to create a theme park/zoo featuring dinosaurs, make it popular, and make it safe with a 5-star rating. Gameplay functions are very similar to the SimCity and Tycoon game models. It is necessary to build feeding stations where herbivores can get bales of plant feed, while carnivores are fed live cows or goats. However, herbivores become unhappy if they don't have enough trees around them or enough nearby dinosaurs to socialize with. Likewise, carnivores have an innate desire to hunt other dinosaurs, so even a constant stream of livestock will not keep them happy.
To create a dinosaur, fifty percent (50%) of the particular dinosaur's DNA is needed. The higher the percentage of DNA, the longer that dinosaur will live, unless it dies by means other than natural causes, such as malnutrition or being attacked by another dinosaur. To obtain a dinosaur's DNA, the player must extract it through fossils or amber. Higher quality specimens will yield more DNA.
To obtain fossils and amber, the player must send a fossil-hunting team to dig in one of nine dig sites around the world. Additional dig teams can be purchased later in the game. Each dig site contains fossils from three particular dinosaurs. Fossils of some dinosaurs, such as Brachiosaurus, can be found in more than one dig site. The chance of finding fossils depends on the quality of the site. There are 6 classifications on the quality of a dig site, ranging from "excellent" to "exhausted." It is still possible to find fossils and amber at sites that have been exhausted, although they are often of low quality with little DNA to provide. Valuable items such as silver, gold, or opal are also discovered infrequently by the dig team(s), and can be sold for profit.
Attractions help make the park popular, and increase its rating power and income when correctly configured. Attractions must be researched before they can be constructed, and include the Balloon Tour, Safari Adventure and Viewing Dome. Viewing Vents and Viewing Platforms do not need to be researched. The Safari Tour and Balloon Tour attractions allow for the player to "take over" the ride for the purpose of park exploration and photography, but only when a visitor in the game is using it. The player may also observe the dinosaurs from the Viewing Dome, Viewing Vent, and Viewing Platform by selecting the "View" option after clicking on the building.
Amenities such as restrooms and restaurants are needed for visitors. Additional buildings such as a gift shop and a resting area must be researched before the player can add them into the park. Vaccines for diseases–such as tick infestation, gastric poisoning, rabies, and the fictional Dino Flu–must be researched before a sick dinosaur can be treated for a particular illness.
DINOSAURS:
There are a total of 25 dinosaurs featured in the game, some of which were featured in the films. They are divided into four main sub-groups. Small Herbivores such as Gallimimus and Pachycephalosaurus are easy to care for and do not take up much space, but are not as popular with guests. Large Herbivores such as Brachiosaurus and Triceratops are very popular with visitors and do not require expensive fences, but need large spacious exhibits.
Small Carnivores such as Dilophosaurus and Velociraptor do not generally need vigorous security as their larger counterparts, but can still harm guests if they escape. Large Carnivores such as Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus are the most popular dinosaurs in the game, but require large exhibits with high security fences and are prone to rampaging when stressed.
MISSIONS:
The game has 10 missions the player can complete. In some websites like IGN and GameSpot, early previews indicated that there were originally to be 12 missions. There are about three or four general types of missions, including taking photographs of dinosaurs to try to rack up a certain amount of points from the photos in a safari mission and dinosaur control missions where the player has to retire the carnivores (preferably large ones) to protect the herbivores.
SITE B:
After all the missions are completed, the "Site B" mode is unlocked, which allows the player to create an island without any fences or buildings for people, similar to Isla Sorna in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III. Visitors are not allowed on the island. The player can place up to eight hatcheries and create up to sixty dinosaurs, which live on the island without diseases or the possibility of becoming stressed. As long as they have food, water and living space, the player can simply watch the dinosaurs interact and live out their lives.
FAN MODIFICATIONS:
Because of the PC version's modular file structure, the game is very easy to modify with nothing more than a regular text editor. It is possible to create almost completely new missions, exercises, dinosaurs, dinosaur designs, new visitor appearances, and play options. The Indominus rex, a genetic hybrid dinosaur from Jurassic World, was made available in June 2015.
Thanks to the open ended design, a small community of fans have come together to improve realism, unlock unreleased features, and design new features to be included. A group of people have formed the Community Expansion Project and the Genesis Expansion Project, which takes previous modifications and designs new ones for release in a patch for the overall community.
The team's main aim is to recreate the dinosaurs to be as realistic as possible, mainly expanding and creating new behavior. Two other modification sets, the Film-Canon Mod (FCM) and Novel-Canon Mod (NCM), are from Jurassic Park fansite, JPLegacy.org. The NCM includes dinosaur designs and islands based on the Jurassic Park novels. The FCM includes film-based dinosaur designs, music, sounds, and islands. Since the release of the first expansions, many others have appeared, with increased sophistication to make the game more realistic.Action Science fiction Sandbox Educational
Approaching InfinityA sci-fi turn-based, tile-based Traditional Rogue-Like of incredible scope, accessible to new players, challenging to experienced rogue-likers. Explore an infinite procedural open-world universe full of unique environments as you lead your ship and crew to victory or death. Okay, mostly death.Science fiction
Riptide GP: RenegadeRiptide GP: Renegade drops players into a futuristic world of illicit hydro jet racing, where armored riders kick out death-defying stunts over massive waterfalls, outrun cops, and boost at breakneck speeds across surging waves. With a deep career mode and both split screen and online multiplayer, Riptide GP: Renegade is the first game in the popular racing series designed especially for modern consoles.Action Science fiction
ComancheA cancelled Super FX game.
Comanche: Maximum OverkillComanche: Maximum Overkill is a helicopter combat simulator that showcases NovaLogic's groundbreaking Voxel engine, rendering lifelike terrain and objects surpassing contemporary polygon-based graphics. Players control the experimental RAH-66 Comanche light attack helicopter through over 20 scripted campaign missions. The game features a simplified flight model and increased helicopter durability, prioritizing accessible gameplay over strict realism. Weapons are portrayed with enhanced accuracy and power, creating intense combat scenarios. As the first in NovaLogic's series of helicopter simulations, Comanche: Maximum Overkill combines innovative graphics technology with engaging gameplay, offering players a unique and visually impressive military combat experience for its time.Warfare
Werewolf vs. Comanche 2.0The sequel to NovaLogic's Comanche is actually two games in one: Werewolf and Comanche 2.0. Both are action-based helicopter sims very similar to the original Comanche. A notable difference is that in some missions you are allowed to land and refill your helicopter with fuel and ammo. The only real difference between the two games is the helicopter you fly: either the RAH-66 Comanche or the Ka-50 Hokum. There's an option to link both games to play over a network.Action
Comanche 2Comanche 2 is a helicopter combat simulator that builds upon the foundation laid by its predecessor, Comanche: Maximum Overkill. Players once again pilot the RAH-66 Comanche attack helicopter through various combat missions. The game retains NovaLogic's Voxel engine, likely with improvements to terrain rendering and object detail. Comanche 2 probably introduces new mission types, environments, and enemy challenges while refining the flight model and combat mechanics. The game likely maintains the series' focus on accessible gameplay and intense action, balancing simulation elements with engaging combat scenarios. As a sequel, Comanche 2 aims to expand and enhance the helicopter combat experience, offering both new and returning players an improved version of the Comanche series' signature blend of advanced graphics and action-oriented helicopter warfare.Action Warfare
Comanche 3Over 90 stages with multiple endings. Active Mission System triggers distinct missions during each battle. Auto formation system generates conquest routes for each castle level.The best selling Comanche series returns with this fast-paced action game that places you at the controls of a Comanche RAH 66 helicopter. In 6 single player campaigns and multiplayer, the game combines serious firepower with effortless controls and stunning, interactive terrain.Action