The graphics in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere are simply amazing. It pushes the PlayStation’s capabilities to the limits, and then a little bit farther. You’ll find yourself flying over detailed cities with no dropping of frames, and the draw-in distance is far enough away to not even be considered. Some of the effects in the game are really nice as well, from the explosions and missiles to the rain coming down everywhere in some of the missions. Look towards the sun and you get white-out, and a few pretty lens flares to boot. This game is simply gorgeous. The plane models are quite detailed as well, and if you have it set up where you see outside your plane every time you get a kill, you can really appreciate the work put into the graphics. The HUD is clean and understandable, not distracting in any way. And the menus themselves are very nice, in a woxil* sort of way. Once you figure out what the three rows on the boot screen are for, you’ll find yourself trying to make them all look good.

The music in the game is suitable, if pretty much the same generic music we’ve been hearing for the past while. Nothing to write home about, but not bad either. The sound effects are very nice, however, from the guns to the missiles to the explosions and the ‘commentator’ with her ‘Bullseye’s and ‘Bingo’s.

The presentation of AC3 is almost impeccable.

The gameplay is almost impeccable too. Starting off with a meager weakling dogfighter, missiles and a machine gun, you’re thrown into the first few missions after a quick briefing. Ace Combat 3 makes judicious use of the Dual Shock, and it’s highly recommended if you want to get the maximum enjoyment from the game. You’ll zoom, swoop, and fly behind enemy planes to launch a few bogeys up their butts, or cruise close to the surface in an attempt to hit a few targets there. The terrain is varied, with mountains and hills and even full cities as obstacles for your low-flying fun. And the enemy planes are always there, chasing after you, launching their own weaponry, and generally making your life a pain.

Each level is mission-based, and although never on the level of something like G-Police: Master of Weapons, you’ll find that your goals for the various missions will change while you’re in them. You can’t review the briefing in mid-air, but you have a nice map that shows you (in red) everything that you’re supposed to be killing/taking pictures of/whatever. Very nice.

The combat itself is fast and furious, and you’ll find yourself zooming around and cutting your engines to try to get a better angle on your opponents. Cut too much, though, and you can stall, which is a Bad Thing. Whenever something like that happens, the controller rumbles satisfyingly, and as you come out of the stall, the rumble fades away. This is a really nice feature.

My only real dish with Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere is that the starting plane handles like a submarine would in mid-air. You’ll find yourself flying far out of your way and then coming back, just so you can get a decent bead on the planes. Luckily, most of the later planes are a hell of a lot more maneuverable, so that ceases to be a problem.

I’ll admit that I’ve never been a big fan of aerial combat games, but this one has me hooked. There’s a plot somewhere, but you’ll find yourself not particularly caring. Blowing stuff up is where it’s at.

There are three selectable difficulty levels -- Easy, Normal and Hard. The game keeps track of how much you’ve completed in all three of them. In Easy, the enemy planes don’t even start really shooting at you until you’re five or so missions in, but in Normal they start harassing you from the get-go. And Hard is, well, pretty damned hard, especially as you get deeper into the game. If you’re not a completist bastard, however, just pick the difficulty level that you feel suits you and have at it.

Once you understand the controls of the game, they’re amazingly easy to use and very intuitive. The HUD with its virtual horizon and whatnot is invaluable, as is the little pointer to your next target. AC3 does everything necessary to make people who aren’t even into the genre enjoy the game, from tight controls to cool menus. Sure, you may get frustrated at first by the way the beginning planes handle, but in the end you’re going to be having an absolute blast. Pick this game up if the genre interests you, and if not, at least give it a rental. You may enjoy it despite yourself.

* woxil (wahk-SIL) - adj. Having a certain minimalist-techno look, as popularized by Wipeout and its sequel, Wipeout XL.