Ace Combat 3

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Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere
Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere Japanese box art
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Release date(s) May 27, 1999 (Japan), March 20, 2000 (US)
Genre(s) Simulation
Mode(s) Single player
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone (E)
Platform(s) PlayStation
Media CD(x2)

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere is the third installment in the Ace Combat series of games. A major departure from every other game in the series, it featured a futuristic storyline involving a war between a group of multinational corporations, shades of the Armored Core series of games.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The plot, taking place in the distant future, revolves around a war between a group of corporations fighting over territorial disputes, and eventually a prototype fighter known as the X-49 Night Raven. During a period of financial chaos, the many governments of the world have eroded to nothing but corporatocracies. These corporations, not unlike the governments they control, have disputes often, and eventually a war is sparked.


Image:generalresource.gif

  • General Resource LTD. is a successful company, formed through a merger of many worldwide financial assets. It was once Gründer Industries, a military corporation found in Ace Combat 5. Focusing on the domination of common products, General Resource is always in constant disagreement with Neucom. A massive corporate war was sparked when General Resource's armed forces engaged fire with Neucom's forces. General Resources has a para-military force called General Resources Defence Force (GRDF). Dission and Keith are members of the GRDF.

Image:upeo.gif

  • The UPEO (Universal Peace Enforcement Organization) is a military organization controlled by the U.N. and originally a General Resource puppet, ultimately dedicated to stopping the corporate war. However, it is referred as a paper tiger, since it requires weapons from the corporations to support itself. UPEO is supervised by NUN General Secretary Gabriel Clarkson. UPEO's military arm is named Special Armed Response Force (SARF). Main Character , Rena , Fiona and Erich are members of the SARF. Gilbert Park is the commander of the UPEO and SARF, however he is distrusted by almost every character in the game. (reason of which later revealed) After all hell breaks loose at the near the end of the game, main character and Erich decide to take the battle to Park in order to save the UPEO from corruption and stop the Ouroboros, while trying to save Rena from her cruel fate.

Image:neucom.gif

  • Neucom Inc. is a generally struggling corporation that focuses on progress through technological advances.It was once the Erusian Air and Space Administration (EASA), a corporation found in Ace Combat 04. Formed by a group of defecting scientists from General Resource and a former government agency, Neucom has similarities to real-life defense contractor McDonnell Douglas. Neucom's para-military force is named Neucom Emergency Unit (NEU) and it's only side that uses its own design aircraft. Cynthia is a member of the NEU (as is Fiona, defecting along with the main character if player wishes, in the later missions). For some reason, Neucom is named Neuwork in the seriously downgraded english versions of AC3.

Image:ouroborosac3.gif

  • Ouroboros is a mysterious organization formed from members of all units, with its own shadowy agenda. According to the story, Abyssal Dision seems to be its lead pilot and executive officer while Gilbert Park, commander of the UPEO is actually its leader, operating behind the scenes. Cynthia (and main character, if player wishes) later join Ouroboros for unknown reasons although she later realizes the madness behind the organization's true intentions and decides to escape. (again, with main character)

[edit] Gameplay

AC3 was the first game in the series to feature a third-person 360-degree camera that could be rotated on all three axes with the right thumbstick; allowing the player to keep enemies in constant sight. A welcome feature, this was carried over to later games. It was also the first game to allow the player to choose their aircraft's armament.

It is the only game in the series so far to feature a mission in outer space. Although there is only one, it featured a reasonably accurate physics model of a zero-gravity situation. The game was also a departure in other ways; the style is reminiscent of the Wipeout series of games, especially the Head-Up Display (though some found it was too bulky and interfered with the player's view). The company logos of Neucom, Ouroboros, General Resource and the UPEO bear resemblance to the works of The Designers Republic. The soundtrack consists of a variety of electronic music, largely ambient mood setting tunes (as opposed to the rock music found in Ace Combat 2), composed by much of the same team responsible for the critically-acclaimed Ridge Racer soundtracks.

[edit] Aircraft

Note: some of the planes only appear or are flyable in the Japanese version. *

UPEO Aircraft:

General Resources LTD. Aircraft:

Neucom Aircraft:

Ouroboros Aircraft:

[edit] Non-playable Aircraft

  • AH-66B Comanche (Attack Helicopter)
  • B-1C Lancer II (Supersonic bomber) *
  • C-17B Globemaster III (Transport Plane)
  • EC-17U Super Hornet EW (Jammer Craft) *
  • EK-17U (Tanker Plane)
  • KC-777 (Tanker Plane) *
  • R-501 Rhincodon (Transport Plane)
  • R-505|R-505U (NUN Transport)
  • R-531 Mobura (High-Altitude Transport)
  • R-701 (Attack Helicopter)
  • R-808 Phoca] (Space Shuttle)
  • UI-4052 Cralias (Bio Blimp)
  • UI-4053 Sphyrna (Attack Blimp)
  • V-22B Osprey (Multirole Plane with VTOL capability)

Other Aircraft:

[edit] Weapons

Machine Guns

  • M61Vulcan Machine Gun 20mm
  • Heavy Machine Gun 25mm
  • Cannon 30mm
  • Pulse Laser
  • Neutron Beam
  • Laser

Missiles

Special Weapons

  • Anti-Nanobite Bomb
  • Spread Bomb
  • OSL (Orbital Satellite Laser)

[edit] Missions

The following missions are from the U.S. / European version, some of the mission titles were also changed. Unlike in the Japanese version, the mission progression is completely linear, with no possible variation in the order.

01. Transport
02. Interference
03. Joint Maneuvers
04. Megafloat
05. Scramble
06. Target Acquisition
07. Fragile Cargo
08. Demilitarization
09. Moonlight Flower
10. Maze
11. Escort
12. Stratosphere
13. Claustrophobia
14. Reaching for Stars
15. Guardian Angel
16. Zero Gravity
17. One-Way Ticket
18. Bug Hunt
19. Blackbird
20. Fjord
21. Counterterrorism
22. ECM
23. Swarm
24. Damage Control
25. Conspiracy
26. Intercept
27. Plumber
28. Pathfinder
29. Ouroboros
30. Search and Destroy
31. Tunnel Vision
32. Night Raven
33. Geofront Attack
34. Aurora
35. Electrosphere
36. Geopelia (Hidden Mission)

[edit] Development history

Released in 1999, the Japanese version is extremely story-driven, featuring anime cutscenes, detailed characters, and 52 missions, with multiple paths through the game and 5 possible endings. The Japanese version introduced some elements carried over to Ace Combat 04, including radio chatter between comrades and enemies, and intelligent wingmen. The American and European versions, released a year later, have been extremely criticized for removing almost all of the story elements, including all of the cutscenes, and cutting the game down to 36 missions. Fans of the game feel there is no excuse for Namco Hometek to have taken a year's time to release it in America, only for it to be a shell of what it once was. Features such as the intelligent wingmen and all individual characters were also removed. The anime cutscenes and the fictional aircraft also alienated Japanese fans of the series, who were expecting something closer to the arcade style of Ace Combat 2. However, sales in Japan were still strong, but the cutting down of the storyline led to a lack of success in other markets.

Despite the lack of initial success, the game has gained somewhat of a cult following in recent times, being a major departure from the rest of the series.

[edit] Trivia

  • Neucom planes are largely named after the scientific names of various sea creatures, such as the phoca, delphinus, and remora.
  • The F/A 32C Erne is based on the real world X-32 Joint Strike Fighter, but the Erne has a slanted air intake and has two engines, while the X-32 has only one.
  • Some of the planes in the game have an operation system called "Connection For Flight Interface" COFFIN system. This system allows aircraft to be piloted by your own thoughts, thus giving better reaction time and fighting capabilty. However, as the name suggests, this system is quite unstable and dangerous since it requires complete concentration of pilot. There is a risk that pilots might be psychologically damaged during operation, therefore only a handful of pilots are allowed to use it, namely Rena and Cynthia.

[edit] References

As a side note, Ridge Racer 6 contains an extremely large amount of references to Ace Combat 3, including cars sponsored by Neucom and General Resource, the UPEO logo plastered on quite a few cars along with the Data Swallow logo, and a small Electrosphere sponsor logo on various cars. This shows that Namco has definitely not forgotten about the Ace Combat 3 universe, and may plan to revisit it. Also, General Resource LTD. is featured in Ace Combat Advance as the enemy with their own squadron, the A.S.F. (Air Strike Force). There are also many other Ace Combat 3 references in the game.

[edit] See also

Ace Combat War Time Line

Ace Combat series
Video games
Air Combat | 2 | 3 | 04 | 5 | Zero | Advance | X: Skies of Deception
Objects and locations
Countries / Organisations: A World With No Boundaries | Aurelia | Belka | Erusea | Gründer Industries | ISAF | Leasath | Osea | Sapin | Usea | Ustio | Yuktobania
Planes: ADF-01 Falken | ADFX-01 Morgan| X-02 Wyvern | R-100 Delphinus | XFA-27 | XFA-36A | R-311 Remora | X-49 Night Raven
Superweapons: Arkbird | Excalibur | Hrimfaxi & Scinfaxi | Megalith | SOLG | Stonehenge | XB-0 Hresvelgr | Gleipner | Fenrir
Other
Aircraft of Ace Combat | Characters of Ace Combat | Ace Combat X Super Aircraft

[edit] External links

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