AC6 vs Birds of Prey

[Shaderhacker]

All:

I'm curious. I bought AC6 when it came out and it (at that time) was the best flight sim to ever grace the console. Fast forward to this year and I discover this incredible game called Wings of Prey (port from console). I haven't yet started playing the game because I'm waiting on all my flight gear (pedals, Track IR, etc..) to come in before taking flight. I'm curious why you people think this game beats out AC6. If I remember correctly, AC6 had a beautiful story, excellent characters, and enormous action sequences. It also had incredible diversity in scenery. I could fly in the canyons (which I don't see in BoP), over snow, seas, and major cities.

Just want to hear your thoughts and comparisons.

-M

[dkwookie]

Well for me it's the world war 2 setting for starters. I always prefer aerial combat with guns rather than fire and forget missiles. It requires more skill and is more personal with your opponent.
Learning to second guess what your target is going to do and getting there ahead of him is much better in a ww2 plane than in modern jet combat games.
I havnt played AC6 but have played most of the rest of the series.
My fav jet combat game is an old pc game F18 Hornet Korea. I paid a fortune for a voodoo card for my pc back in the day to get textured graphics. Seeing the graphics in BoP was a real eye opener to how far games have come

[SEE]

Never played or even seen a screenshot of AC6, same as Wookie...missiles and jets are a 'no' for me but the big question is....does it have cockpit views or at least a virtual view from the cockpit? Not tempted but interested to hear what other people think of it just in case I see it up for grabs at a silly low price!

[Shaderhacker]

I still have AC6 and won't sell it. It is clearly one of the classics of the 360.

And yes, it has cockpit view.

[Spitfire23]

Same reason as Wookie for me, i feel more of a connection to the opposition i fly against. Just waiting for the lock-on tone and releasing a missile just doesn't do it for me anymore.

Don't get me wrong i loved the Ace combat series, last one i owned was Belkan war on the PS2 seeing as they brought number 6 over to 360 exclusively. However by that time i had my own personal computer and was well into the simulation side of flying "Games".
Which is why i would take the IL-2 series over Ace combat any-day of the week, Il-2 (Not specifically BOP) is a Simulation, whereas Ace combat is the Arcade friendly game that is for people who just want to fly for the kill.

[Shaderhacker]

Are there any specifics? You mentioned realism. What else? I'm also comparing only BoP or WoP.

[Robotic Pope]

All:

I'm curious. I bought AC6 when it came out and it (at that time) was the best flight sim to ever grace the console. Fast forward to this year and I discover this incredible game called Wings of Prey (port from console). I haven't yet started playing the game because I'm waiting on all my flight gear (pedals, Track IR, etc..) to come in before taking flight. I'm curious why you people think this game beats out AC6. If I remember correctly, AC6 had a beautiful story, excellent characters, and enormous action sequences. It also had incredible diversity in scenery. I could fly in the canyons (which I don't see in BoP), over snow, seas, and major cities.

Just want to hear your thoughts and comparisons.

-M

lol carefull there, Saying AC6 is a flight sim will get you a few strange looks. BoP really isn't the same type of game as it is much more closer to what we would call a flight sim, which is why I like it. I could compare Over G fighters to BoP but not AC6. AC6's presentation blows both these games away, but that is not what is important.

I can only really compare Ace Combat to Ace Combat ( well I played the HAWX demo twice enough to know it was a pile of shit)

I do agree though AC6 is a great game with great action sequences which really made you feel part of it all. AC5 was WAAAY better than 6 on the story front though. AC6 made me want to bang my head everytime the flying with angels was said. Also AC5 actually had me caring about my wingmen, I really felt sad when that dude had to crash into the stadium field :(
AC6 does look amazing but I think AC5 was the better game.

One thing about AC6, did anybody else ever notice that the engine nacells were messed up? They expanded as the power was increased until the afterburners started. They should be expanded most at low power and contracted most at full power untill the afterburner starts up and they then open fully.

[Zatoichi_Sanjuro]

Ace Combat 4 was amazing. I didn't get the sequel for some reason, looked too similar perhaps. But the visuals and the ability to take off and land was really immersive for a console game.

I wouldn't call it a flight sim either. WoP and BoP could maybe scrape into that category or at least be a stepping stone but AC has always been very arcade in terms of gameplay.

[Shaderhacker]

You guys aren't talking about game specifics. Tell me what is so great about BoP/WoP. How is it different in feel, graphics, sound, atmosphere, etc.. to AC6?

[dkwookie]

You guys aren't talking about game specifics. Tell me what is so great about BoP/WoP. How is it different in feel, graphics, sound, atmosphere, etc.. to AC6?

Well the ww2 setting is very atmospheric. The music and voice over by joss ackland really help this.
As for feel I find it easier to identify with the story as it's real history rather than some fictional future conflict.
As for graphics, you get more chance to get close to the ground and really interact with it more due to the slower speed of the aircraft. Some of the low level acrobatics I have seen and done in BoP couldn't be done on a jet sim.
Ground attack is another area it has the edge. There's nothing like a dive attack with free fall bombs. No laser guided cluster bombs, just big old fashioned thousand pounders

[Shaderhacker]

Hahahaha!

I see. What do you think about the ME-163? That plane looks like the Coors jet! I can't wait to fly that thing!

[gbtstr]

All:

I'm curious. I bought AC6 when it came out and it (at that time) was the best flight sim to ever grace the console. Fast forward to this year and I discover this incredible game called Wings of Prey (port from console). I haven't yet started playing the game because I'm waiting on all my flight gear (pedals, Track IR, etc..) to come in before taking flight. I'm curious why you people think this game beats out AC6. If I remember correctly, AC6 had a beautiful story, excellent characters, and enormous action sequences. It also had incredible diversity in scenery. I could fly in the canyons (which I don't see in BoP), over snow, seas, and major cities.

Just want to hear your thoughts and comparisons.

-M

Well, it's a little more difficult to compare AC6 to WoP since they're not on the same platform. Generally, I think there are more positives to gameplay on the PC because you are allowed more depth in the game (it's easier for people with the skills and interest to mod and patch PC games) and a better/wider choice of input devices (gamepad vs stick, pedal, throttle, Track IR, etc.). The big drawback of PC stuff is the smaller audience. However, with that said, the small audience is usually a lot more faithful than the generally fickle console crowd. On consoles you have flavor of the week games, whereas on PC you can still find lobbies and things for games ten years old, or more.

Don't have WoP, but going off BoP I generally agree with the sentiments. It's a lot more fun going head to head with an opponent in a test of airmanship and gunnery than it is to go up against a bazillion targets with point and push type guided weapons. I've had many more interesting/rewarding experiences in BoP: getting my 109F-4 into a flat scissors with an La-7, getting a good snapshot attack on a Spitfire in my P-47, etc. Compare this to: standing off of a giant furball in my Super Tomcat and lobbing XLAAs into the cluster, or get into that ridiculous furball and try to QAAM or MSSL someone.

The control scheme is significantly better in AC6 than BoP, but with WoP being on PC you can probably do better still. The story in BoP, in my opinion, is just background and doesn't really add or take away from anything. In AC6 it has a bit more to do with the mission flow, but was annoying at some parts.

Sorry to go this route, but aside from eye candy and a few more MP options, Over-G Fighters, I think, was better than AC6. The physics in OGF weren't perfect, but they were nowhere near as overblown as AC6. Weapons ranges were dumbed down, but the weapons themselves seemed to react a lot more realistically - the Phoenix flew its ballistic arc for long range targets, the AIM-9X not only was all-aspect, but also had the off-boresight seeker. LGBs and iron bombs actually fell in a realistic manner, rather than launching forward off the racks. The best part, by far, OGF had and still has the best executed set of controls for a flight game on the console - without resorting to a flight stick. Why no one has duplicated that format, I have no friggin clue. Probably because none of them have played OGF because it received such a bashing by the reviewers who didn't have the common sense to check the options menu to change their controls from arcade to realistic.

Anyway. There's something awesome about eight .50 caliber guns chewing through your enemy and getting to that point. Something you don't quite get flying straight and level pushing buttons and vaporizing your enemies BVR.

[Shaderhacker]

Excellent post!

[Robotic Pope]

You guys aren't talking about game specifics. Tell me what is so great about BoP/WoP. How is it different in feel, graphics, sound, atmosphere, etc.. to AC6?

Well I can compare the graphics AC6 V BoP(XB360). AC6 has more detailed aircraft and more epic landscape (canyons, mountains, lol underground tunnels) more suitable for the mach 2 action. BoP though has much, much more detail in the landscape, with forrests made of indiviual trees, churches farms, roads, railways, rivers, bridges, towns, in berlin even idividual rooms of bombed buildings are modeled. Being set in real places It is quite a flat world though with slight rolling hills now and then (no action packed canyons here).
While the planes themselves while looking very good arnt quite as nice as the AC6 ones, the planes in BoP that do have cockpits have ones that look a lot more realistic than the AC6 cockpits which look a little cartoony to me. BoP also has a wide range of choosable weather and time for each map which can completely change the tactics needed to fight well. AC6 runs at a higher frame rate though with less ocurances of slow down..

In feel and atmophere i would say AC6 is like playing an action blockbuster movie compared to Birds of prey like playing an episode of dogfights.

Sound effects are ok in both games, can't say which is better.

Both are very enjoyable games for me still.