Ace Combat 04
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| Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Namco {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | October 23, 2001 (U.S., Japan) February 8, 2002 (Europe) |
| Genre(s) | Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is a game for the PlayStation 2 developed by Namco. It is a semi-realistic fighter pilot simulation. It is part of the Ace Combat series of games.
In Europe this game was released under the title Ace Combat: Distant Thunder.
Contents |
Game premise
The player takes on the role of the top fighter pilot, Mobius 1, of the Mobius Squadron in the air force of the Independent States Allied Forces (ISAF), fighting against the Erusians who have occupied almost all of the Usea continent after an apocalyptic event in 1999. A massive asteroid, codenamed Ulysses 1994 XF-04 struck Usea, killing 500,000 people and turning many into refugees. Erusea used this as an opportunity to occupy the continent after a prolonged military buildup. The Erusians have achieved supremacy via the superweapon Stonehenge, a battery of railguns which was originally designed to destroy asteroids but has been found to be effective against airplanes as well due to the massive shockwave it produces. Consequently, ISAF has been pushed back to the eastern coast of Usea.
Between the missions the story is told through letters written to Mobius 1, from a boy whose parents were killed when a fighter jet crashed into their house in San Salvacion. The fighter jet was shot down by Yellow 13, the Erusians top fighter pilot, and a member of their Yellow Squadron (the Erusian equivalent of the ISAF Mobius Squadron). As he is forced to move into a nearby occupied town, he befriends Yellow 13.
Story
The Euro-Asian Public Network is established. This is a Usean Government operated broadcast system, allowing for announcements to be made across the entire continent.
Erusea takes Stonehenge despite ISAF and UN agreements and begins to open fire on Usean forces. The Erusian military then begins it's sweep across the Usean continent. The ISAF is caught completely by surprise and are easily pushed back by the onslaught. Despite many attempts to destory Stonehenge through Air Attacks, the ISAF Forces are inevitably forced to retreat towards the Usean East Coast. ISAF GHQ was moved from Los Canas to the neutral country of North Point off the Usean North Eastern Coast.
After the XFO4 Ulysses fragments fell on the USEA continent the super weapon created to destroy it, called "Stonehenge", becomes the catalyst of a war. The Republic of Erusea launches a war on the Independent States Allied Forces (ISAF). The ISAF is pushed back to the United States of Euro-Asia's (USEA) east coast and are nearly defeated. The ISAF, months later, counter attack Erusian Forces. The first facility to fall is the Rigley Air Base; a former ISAF facility taken over by Erusian forces to operate long range bombers. This attack knocked out Erusia's only chance to attack North Point and ISAF's GHQ. Erusian high command then dispatched their "Invincible" fleet to the East coast to prepare for an all out invasion of North Point and ISAF GHQ.
The ISAF then attack "The Northern Eye", a large radar facility a top Mount Schezna in the Northern area of USEA. This radar facility has been monitoring all ISAF movements and giving guidance to ground and air forces, to further delay an ISAF withdrawal from the continent. The Northern Eye is successfully disabled and ISAF forces withdraw from northern USEA to North Point, in order to prepare for an ISAF counterattack.
Erusea's "Invincible" Aegir Fleet reaches Comberth Harbor and to resupply and prepare for their push north to invade North Point. ISAF command knows that the 7th fleet guarding North Point cannot stop this fleet when they are under way, so resupply routes are targeted. The first routes to be attacked are Erusian air supply route corridors. Thought this slowed them it was not enough to stop the invasion.
The ISAF then executes a bold move and destroys the main petrol plant supplying the "Invincible" fleet and immobilizes them inside Comberth Harbor. An invasion of North Point is now delayed indefinitely. Seeing a prime opportunity ISAF orders a large scale air attack against the Aegir fleet. The Aegir fleet is destroyed, this is an amazing blow to the Erusian war machine.
Seeing the Erusian military staggering ISAF GHQ commits yet another bold move by attacking a large Solar Power Plant which is supplying Erusian forces. The attack is successful but many aircraft are lost in this battle when Stonehenge attacked unexpectedly. This reminded ISAF Leaders that Erusian still had air superiority over the mainland.
ISAF forces gathered at North Point and prepared of an invasion of the mainland to begin to push back Erusian forces. Before this invasion can occur a vital military satellite must be launched from the Riass Space Launch Facility in the Comona Islands; located in the south eastern sea of USEA. Also seeing the vitality of this launch Erusian high command orders all land and sea based aircraft to completely wipe out the entire facility. The largest air battle in history occurs on this day. It is said that over 200 aircraft from both sides had participated in this aerial battle. Erusian high command also deployed the Yellow Squadron; an ace squadron said to be the best of any military on the planet. Mid-way through the battle Erusian B-2As appeared, but were dispatched immediately. The Yellow Squadron was also forced to withdraw due to fuel consumption and their leader Yellow 13's aircraft was damaged badly.
The air battle ended in ISAF's favor and their satellite was launched Successfully. Now ISAF's invasion plans began and Erusian forces went on high alert. The ISAF invasion force took a foothold on the southern coast with a D-Day style landing on Caranda, Halle and Crowne beaches. After organizing their landed forces ISAF Command sent ground forces to retake Los Canas, a vital city outside of Stonehenge's range. At the same time air strikes against Isalis Fortress began. Isalis Fortress, a system of bases and positions dug into a mountainous terrain system; this fortress stands in the way of an ISAF advance. The ISAF air strike successfully knocked out the fortress, though Stonehenge fired at them. The ISAF successfully captured Los Canas and a forward HQ was established to further support an ISAF thrust inland.
The ISAF was then contacted by the creators of Stonehenge and their families asking for amnesty, as they were preparing to defect from Erusian control. The ISAF granted them amnesty and they defected via Air Ixiom flights 702 and 701; two civilian airliners. En route, however, they were attacked by FEAF (Federal Erusian Air Force) fighters. Luckily ISAF had one fighter in the area, which dispatched the pursuing fighters and the Air Liners landed safely at an ISAF Air Base. The creators of Stonehenge then helped ISAF High Command in making plans to destroy Stonehenge before Erusian High Command could deploy any more reinforcements. The ISAF sent a small air strike force to attack Stonehenge. The aircraft penetrated the Erusian air defense unseen and made their way into attacking range of Stonehenge.
The barrage from Stonehenge was fierce and the anti-air defenses were also very heavy. Air Forces deployed at Stonehenge were also putting up an amazing fight. However, Stonehenge fell to a single ISAF fighter; piloted by Mobius One. An ISAF pilot which had been participating in many pivotal battles before this attack, he was one of ISAF's highest scoring aces. As ISAF aircraft began to withdraw from Stonehenge the Yellow Squadron appeared and engaged them. During the battle a Yellow Squadron fighter was shot down and the squadron retreated. This fighter was also shot down by the pilot known as Mobius One.
With Stonehenge out of the way, ISAF forces began to advance on Erusian positions and push them back slowly. Mean while ISAF spy planes had been returning with photos of a new super weapon being built off the coast of Erusea. This alarmed ISAF HQ, they needed to end the war faster than ever before this super weapon, known as Megalith; is completed. A northern landing force is dispatched from North Point to secure northern USEA, but they are almost wiped out by cruise missiles from Erusian forces. The cruise missiles are shot down, along with a single Nuclear tipped cruise missile; this shows ISAF how desperate Erusian High Command is becoming. Now ISAF forces prepare to liberate San Salvacion.
The battle takes place at 0000hrs. or Midnight USEA Central Meantime. The fighting is fierce as ISAF forces, along with local resistance members, battle in the city streets. The Yellow Squadron along with other Erusian forces in San Salvacion, fought tooth and nail for the soverign country. However, their forces were being badly beaten and they were forced to withdraw from the city. As Erusian forces withdrew, Erusian High Command ordered Heavy Bombers to flatten the entire city. The aircraft were shot down and ISAF ground forces successfully captured the city. San Salvacion was free once again.
Now Erusian High Command began to amass their troops at the Whiskey Corridor, a desert that lies between the Lambert and Amber mountain ranges. This is the only route within ISAF range to send in their ground forces to attack the Erusian homeland. After regrouping at San Salvacion ISAF GHQ ordered all ground forces to break through the Whiskey Corridor. This battle became one of the largest ground battles in world history. Though they fought valiantly, the Erusian forces were almost completely wiped out. This was thanks to immense air support from ISAF air force pilots, including Mobius One; now an ISAF national hero. A road to the Erusian capital city of Farbanti, now opened.
Erusian High Command, in a complete panic order all available forces back to Farbanti. The ISAF now gather their remaining troops and nearby naval and air forces and commence a siege of Farbanti. The ISAF air force faced the brunt of the load by being assigned to aide ground forces, destroy all vital bridges, secure a ground route and claim air superiority all at once. The leader of this aerial unit is Mobius One. The battle lasts for what seems to be forever and the losses are mounting on each side. However the ISAF get an upper hand when bridges are destroyed, cutting off any reinforcement the Erusian military had coming. ISAF ground forces penetrated their defense lines and encircled the Erusian GHQ. ISAF Naval forces, still shelling any and all Erusian military positions; also chocked any escape routes by the sea. Two large Erusian submarines, in the submerged metro-are were sunk and helicopters carrying high ranking Erusian officers were also shot down. However, it is believed that a third submarine had escaped during the first moments of the battle.
The Yellow Squadron had arrived over Farbanti and were ready to fight until the end. Only one fighter, Mobius One, engaged them. An epic aerial battle ensues and Mobius One shoots down all five of the Yellow Squadron aircraft, along with their leader Yellow 13. The Erusian Supreme Commander is also killed in the battle. The remaining Erusian forces surrender and the war is beginning to end. However, it was not over yet.
Many young Erusian officers and fanatical Erusian soldiers then take over Megalith. Megalith a rocket launch facility that is able to shoot down asteroid fragments in orbit. While a final air strike was being prepared an ISAF special operations team was sent to infiltrate Megalith and take over the control room to open heat vents in Megalith to allow for it's destruction. It was only possible to destroy it from the inside, Mobius One was chosen for this unearthly task. The squadron for this mission was newly named and they went down in history as, The Mobius Squadron.
The Mobius Squadron attacked Megalith in a full frontal assault. They were met by a newly formed Yellow Squadron which put up a stiff opposition. The aerial battle was extremely intense and the special forces were suffering casualties. However, the Mobius Squadron dispatched the tenacious Yellow Squadron and began their attack on Megalith. Mobius One flew into Megalith three times and destroyed power generators, which aided the special force team within Megalith to get into the control room. The team then opened the main heat vent to the main missile silo. Mobius One then flew into the silo and destroyed the large missile. This finally ended the Erusian threat, the three year continental war finally ended.
Game play
During the course of the game, the player has the opportunity to buy approximately 20 different planes, from those that actually exist to prototypes, and their weaponry. Every plane has two alternate paint schemes, gained by achieving a superior, or S, ranking on a stage in hard difficulty mode, by shooting down the ace pilots which are on each stage, or by completing the challenge modes.
The difficulty mode affects how many enemies are in a stage, how smart/accurate the enemies are, how much damage the enemies can take, and how much damage the player's airplane can take. On the hardest difficulty level a single missile from the enemy will down the player's airplane, whereas on the easiest level it takes several missiles.
The player must purchase all airplanes and weapons they want to use, but only once. Identical weapons for different types of planes cannot be used interchangeably. Players gain money by destroying enemies, or selling aircraft/weapons between missions. Only the default aircraft, the F-4 Phantom, cannot be sold. It is sometimes advantageous to buy/sell different combinations of planes & weapons depending on the mission requirements outlined in the briefing, as some planes are better than others for certain types of missions. Once the mission objectives are complete, the player is awarded bonus money for performing above and beyond the requirements of the mission objectives. In order to purchase all planes and weapons in the game, the game must be completed at least 3 to 4 times.
The game is only semi-realistic in the sense that the abilities of the airplanes are greatly exaggerated. Some of the most noticeable issues are:
- There are 2 aircraft that have subsonic speed limit but can go supersonic. They are the A-10A and F-117A.
- Some airplanes can carry up to 100 missiles
- air-to-air missiles are as equally effective against ground targets as air-to-ground missiles and unguided bombs.
List of planes and armament
Here is a list of planes and armament in the game. Planes always have guns and missiles, and the player may choose one additional piece of weaponry at the outset of the mission. When refueling, the player can change weapons.
Notice that most of the ending aircraft are actually real life prototypes that have yet to enter production.
| Name | Normal Cost | Alternate Cost | Strengths (Max. 20) |
Weaknesses (Max. 20) |
Guns | Missiles | Weaponry |
| F-4E | 76,000 | 99,000 | Defense (11) | Speed, Air-to-Ground, Mobility, Stability (7) | 650 | 52 | Medium Unguided Bombs (6), Napalm Bombs (6) |
| F-5E | 52,000 | 68,000 | Stability (12) | Speed, Air-to-Air, Mobility, Defense (7) | 650 | 48 | Small Unguided Bombs (12), Rocket Launcher (64) |
| F-16C | 97,000 | 126,000 | Air-to-Air, Mobility (12) | Stability (4) | 700 | 52 | Small Unguided Bombs (14), Advanced Air-to-Ground Missiles (12) |
| A-10A | 123,000 | 160,000 | Air-to-Ground, Defense (20) | Speed, Air-to-Air (2) | 850 | 56 | Large Unguided Bombs (12), Advanced Air-to-Ground Missiles (16), Cluster Bombs (12) |
| MIR-2000 | 111,000 | 143,000 | Speed (15) | Stability (2) | 700 | 52 | Small Unguided Bombs (16), Long-range Air-to-Ground Missiles (10) |
| F-14A | 188,000 | 244,000 | Air-to-Air (17) | Air-to-Ground (6) | 750 | 64 | Long-range Air-to-Air Missiles (16), Medium Unguided Bombs (10) |
| TND-IDS | 172,000 | 224,000 | Defense (18) | Mobility (6) | 750 | 58 | Bomblet Dispenser (12), Precision Guided Bomb (8), Long-range Air-to-Ground Missiles (12) |
| F/A-18C | 170,000 | 221,000 | Defense (14) | Stability (10) | 700 | 60 | Medium Unguided Bombs (10), Long-range Air-to-Surface Missiles(14), Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (14) |
| F-15C | 272,000 | 354,000 | Air-to-Air (16) | Air-to-Ground (6) | 800 | 68 | Medium Unguided Bombs (12), Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (16) |
| MIG-29A | 259,000 | 337,000 | Speed (16) | Stability (7) | 750 | 64 | Small Unguided Bombs (18), Rocket Launcher (72) |
| F-117A | 386,000 | 502,000 | Defense (17) | Air-to-Air (2) | 650 | 54 | Large Unguided Bombs (14), Precision Guided Bombs (14), Cluster Bombs (14) |
| EF-2000 | 351,000 | 456,000 | Speed, Air-to-Air, Mobility (16) | Air-to-Ground (7) | 800 | 56 | Advanced Long-range Air-to-Air Missiles (16), Medium Unguided Bombs (14) |
| R-MO1 | 370,000 | 481,000 | Defense (17) | Air-to-Ground (12) | 800 | 64 | Standoff Dispenser (14), Advanced Medium-range Air-to-Air Missiles (18), Long-range Air-to-Ground Missiles (16) |
| F-15E | 505,000 | 657,000 | Air-to-Air, Defense (16) | Stability (12) | 850 | 72 | Large Unguided Bombs (14), Advanced Medium-range Air-to-Air Missiles (10), Cluster Bombs (14) |
| F-2A | 505,000 | 657,000 | Air-to-Ground, Mobility (17) | Stability (9) | 800 | 68 | Medium Unguided Bombs (16), Long-range Air-to-Ground Missiles (18), Rocket Launcher (80) |
| Su-35 | 589,000 | 766,000 | Mobility (19) | Air-to-Ground (7) | 850 | 72 | Advanced Long-range Air-to-Air Missiles (18), Medium Unguided Bombs (16) |
| F-22A | 643,000 | 836,000 | Air-to-Air (19) | Air-to-Ground (10) | 850 | 74 | Advanced Medium-range Air-to-Air Missiles (22), Precision Guided Bombs (16) |
| Su-37 | 618,000 | 803,000 | Speed, Mobility (20) | Air-to-Ground (8) | 850 | 78 | Quick-maneuvering Air-to-Air Missiles (8), Large Unguided Bombs (16), Long-range Air-to-Ground Missiles (20) |
| F-15 ACTIVE | 620,000 | 806,000 | Mobility (20) | Air-to-Ground (13) | 900 | 78 | Advanced Medium-range Air-to-Air Missiles (22), Fuel-Air Explosive Bombs (8) |
| S-37A | 889,000 | 1,560,000 | Air-to-Air (19) | Air-to-Ground (7) | 900 | 78 | Quick-maneuvering Air-to-Air Missiles (10), Large Unguided Bombs (18) |
| X-02 | 1,414,000 | 1,838,000 | Air-to-Air, Mobility (20) | Defense (11) | 950 | 82 | Advanced Long-range Air-to-Air Missiles (26), Bomblet Dispenser (24), Quick-maneuvering Air-to-Air Missiles (16) |
Other Aircraft
There are other aircraft present in the game as well, they are:
AH-64A Apache (Gunship Helicopter)
AV-8B Harrier II (V/STOL Fighter-Bomber)
B-2 Spirit (Multirole 'Stealth' Bomber)
Boeing 767 (Passenger Airliner)
C-17 Globemaster III (Heavy Strategic/Tactical Airlifter)
C-130 Hercules (Medium Tactical Airlifter)
CH-47 Chinook (Medium/Heavy lift Helicopter)
E-767 AWACS (Modified Airliner converted into an AEW platform)
Ka-25 'Hormone' (Ship-borne Helicopter)
Ka-50 'Hokum/Werewolf/Black Shark' (Advanced Attack Helicopter)
KC-10 Extender (Cargo/Tanker Aircraft)
Mi-24 'Hind' (Gunship Helicopter)
MiG-21 'Fishbed' (Short-range Interceptor)
SR-71 Blackbird (High-speed Recon Plane)
Tu-95 'Bear' (Long-range Heavy Bomber)
Tu-160 'Blackjack' (Long-range Super Sonic Heavy Bomber)
U-2 Dragon Lady (High-altitude Recon Plane)
V-22 Osprey (Tilt-rotor aircraft)
XB-70 Valkyrie (Experimental supersonic bomber)
List of missions
- Sitting Duck - Six enemy bombers (Tu-95s) must be destroyed before they bomb Allenfort Air Base, the last line of defense before Northpoint, the ISAF headquarters.
- Imminent Threat - Enemy bombers (again, Tu-95s) at Rigley Air Base must be destroyed before they can threaten the ISAF.
- The Northern Eye - Erusian radar is making it hard for allied forces to retreat, the radar must be taken out.
- Blockade - Transport planes (C-17s) supplying the enemy Aegir fleet must be destroyed, but two E-767's are jamming radar and must be taken out first.
- Lifeline - Destroy the petrochemical plants that supply oil for the Aegir Fleet. Afterwards, a hasty escape will be necessary from the enemy's elite Yellow Squadron.
- Invincible Fleet -The Aegir fleet must be destroyed, as well as supporting defenses.
- Deep Strike - Solar power plants that supply power for the enemy must be destroyed. Stonehenge, the enemy's superweapon initially built to take out asteroids, is used for the first time against allied fighters.
- Shattered Skies - ISAF is launching a new satellite but there are a large number of enemy fighters preventing its mission -- they must be destroyed.
- Operation Bunker Shot - A command post needs to be established as the invasion of Usea takes full force. Ground support is needed heavily.
- Tango Line - Istas Fortress, an enemy stronghold, needs to be taken out so ground troops don't encounter much resistance later.
- Escort - Engineers who built Stonehenge are defecting to the ISAF's side and are taking planes to ISAF territory. The Erusians must be stopped from shooting down the passenger aircraft.
- Stonehenge Offensive - The enemy superweapon Stonehenge must be destroyed. Afterwards, the Yellow Squadron and allied forces square off, with Yellow 4 (Yellow 13's wingwoman) being shot down and killed.
- Safe Return - A recon plane (U-2) is flying back, but radar jammers are preventing its safe return. A sufficient number of these jammers must be destroyed.
- Breaking Arrows - Cruise missiles have been launched at ISAF troops invading the Usea mainland, they must be destroyed.
- Emancipation - The city of San Salvacion is to be liberated (this is where the little boy who is telling the story lives). Air and ground support is necessary.
- Whiskey Corridor - Large tank columns must be destroyed in order to help the ground forces invade the capital city of the Erusians.
- Siege of Farbanti - The enemy headquarters must be destroyed. The Yellow Squadron's elite forces must be destroyed here. Yellow 13 dies.
- Megalith - With the headquarters destroyed, the enemy resorts to using Megalith, a superweapon with even more devastating capabilities than Stonehenge. A newly formed Yellow Squadron with triple the numbers has been formed, and they must be dealt with before destroying the three generators inside Megalith, as well as several giant missiles.
The mission structure is based on sets of six. That is, the 6th, 12th, and 18th missions are major milestones in the story of the game, and are relatively difficult. Cut scenes are shown after these missions.
List of characters
- Mobius 1 - Call sign of the player-controlled hero of the game. Achieves legendary status amongst both allies and enemies following his destruction of Stonehenge. Shoots down Yellow 4 (during the Stonehenge Offensive) and Yellow 13 (during the Siege of Farbanti).
- Yellow 13 - Enemy ace pilot and leader of the Yellow Squadron. Known for never losing a wingman in combat, and for always flying in the 5 plane formation. Flies an Su-37, along with the rest of the Yellow Squadron. Shoots down a plane that crashes into the storyteller boy's house.
- Yellow 4 - Wingman of Yellow 13. Trained by Yellow 13. She is the only Yellow Squadron casualty at the Stonehenge Offensive.
- Storyteller boy - He tells the story through a sequence of letters he is writing to Mobius 1 after the war is over. His family is killed at the beginning of the war after a plane shot down by Yellow 13 crashes into his home, and he moves into San Salvacion with his uncle. Eventually his uncle disappears (it is unknown why, believed to be because of a drunken comment), so he begins hanging around the Yellow Squadron at a bar in San Salvacion, and he befriends Yellow 13.
- Barkeep's daughter - Older than the storytelling boy, but still a young teenager, she watches over him and helps tend the bar. She also helps relay information about the Yellow Squadron to her father, who is a member of the resistance. She is revealed to be the one who bombed the air base of the Yellow Squadron late in the war.
- Barkeep - Owner of the bar where the Yellow Squadron hangs out. Although he takes a lot of flak from the townsfolk for being nice to the Yellow Squadron, he is really a member of the underground resistance and gathers information to help the ISAF.
- Jean-Louis - Leader of the Yellow Squadron after Yellow 13 dies. He can be killed at Megalith.
- Gene - Field promoted to the leader of the Yellow Squadron if Jean-Louis is killed in the battle at Megalith.
- Esther - Pilot in the Yellow Squadron during the siege on Megalith.
- Mihael - Pilot in the Yellow Squadron during the siege on Megalith.
- Risto - Pilot in the Yellow Squadron during the siege on Megalith. Only mentioned if shot down.
- Kenneth - Pilot in the Yellow Squadron during the siege on Megalith. Risto's death is reported to Kenneth.
- SkyEye - Field tactician and commanding officer of Mobius 1. Operates one or more stations of an AWACS. Calls missile shots and lock-ons for Mobius 1.
Named Pilots
Throughout Ace Combat 04, there are numerous named pilots that the player can find and shoot down, when a named pilot is shot down, that pilot's special paint scheme for his respective aircraft is unlocked.
- Wang (F-5E), Mission 1
- Cliffred (A-10A), Mission 2
- Tempel (F-16C), Mission 3
- Rigaux (Mir-2000), Misson 4
- Mrkos (MiG-29A), Mission 5
- Levy (F-14A), Misson 6
- De Vico (TND-IDS), Mission 7
- Vrisala (F/A-18C), Mission 8
- Tuttle (F-15C), Mission 9
- Faye (R-M01), Mission 10
- Neujmin (Su-35), Mission 11
- Urata (F-2A), Mission 12
- Gunn (F-15E), Mission 13
- Abell (F-22A), Mission 14
- Olmstead (EF-2000), Mission 15
- Kwee (F-117A), Mission 16
- Halley (F-15 ACTIVE), Mission 17
- Smirnova (S-37A), Mission 18
- Yellow 13 (Su-37), Unlocked after all other special paint schemes have been acquired.
Series
This game is the fourth in the series of Ace Combat games, the first three being Air Combat, Ace Combat 2, and Ace Combat 3. The game is called Ace Combat 04 because the 04 in the title stands for the time period in which the game mostly takes place — the year 2004. The next title in the series, Ace Combat 5 doesn't return to the old numbering scheme, as the game starts in the year 2010.
Superweapons
The two main superweapons are Stonehenge and Megalith. Stonehenge is a battery of railguns that have remarkable range of fire. The massive shockwave produced by firing them, used primarily to destroy asteroids, are able to take down airplanes as well. The next superweapon is Megalith. Housed on an island, probably hundreds of miles from the mainland, is primarily used as a ballistic missile launch platform to shoot down asteroid fragments in orbit. It has a remarkable ground range that can reach the entire Erusian continent. To destroy Megalith, the player (Mobius 1) must fly inside the two tunnels and then below the central silo to destroy three generators, then you must destroy the large, 900 pt. missile. After flying through the closing panels to escape, a cut scene will commence showing Megalith exploding after your narrow escape.
Trivia
- The Yellow squadrons plane paint scheme is based upon the 3 Bf-109G G-10 models. Each plane had yellow on the tip of the tail, nose, wings, with the rest gray. Each plane also had a big yellow '13' on the each side.
- The named pilots are named after comets.