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Ace Combat: Squadron Leader for PlayStation 2
In Ace Combat: Squadron Leader for PlayStation 2, you are a fighter pilot based on Sand Island. An encounter with unidentified aircraft draws your squadron into a war between Osea and Yuktobania. You fly interceptions, defend ships and attack military installations while your team communicates over the radio. Before a battle, you choose the aircraft for your formation and consider their armament. An attack on tanks calls for different equipment from an aerial battle against fast fighters over the sea.
During missions, you also command your computer-controlled wingmen. Using the directional buttons, you order them to attack, protect you or disperse. You also decide whether they may use their special weapons. You keep flying, aiming and evading missiles yourself. The combination calls for awareness: do you keep your team together when enemies approach from behind, or send everyone after a separate target? Defeating enemies with aircraft unlocks further variants within their aircraft family for purchase.
You play both the campaign and the separate Arcade challenge alone, using a standard DualShock 2 controller. The other members of your squadron are therefore not human partners. Arcade has you shoot down enemies as Mobius 1 within time limits for a high score. You store campaign progress through Save in the campaign menu or the pre-mission selection screen, on a PlayStation 2 memory card in slot 1. The Tutorial lessons explain both flight controls and cooperation with wingmen.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Ace Combat: Squadron Leader for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Ace Combat: Squadron Leader
Project Aces developed this fifth Ace Combat game at Namco. It appeared in Japan and North America in 2004 as Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, reaching Europe in 2005 as Ace Combat: Squadron Leader. It was the second PlayStation 2 instalment, after Distant Thunder. The development team kept the combination of recognisable jets and an invented world, but wanted to strengthen the feeling of belonging to a close-knit squadron.
That principle took concrete form in Wingman Command. The pilots on the radio do more than comment: you can change their behaviour in battle and choose their aircraft before departure. Namco explicitly presented camaraderie as the central idea behind the game. A system of aircraft families also made continued use of an aircraft important. Experience with a plane opens up new purchase options, so saving money for a faster successor is not the only consideration.
Director Kazutoki Kono again worked with Sunao Katabuchi on the storytelling. Whereas Distant Thunder used illustrations and a civilian perspective, the fifth instalment received a more cinematic presentation centred on relationships between pilots. Kono later described how much that collaboration taught him about directing and holding on to the intended experience. Meanwhile, the separate Arcade challenge brought back Mobius 1 from the previous game. Squadron Leader thus connected familiar aerial action with a more extensive story and a new role as formation leader.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Ace Combat: Distant Thunder on PlayStation 2 likewise lets you evade missiles, buy aircraft and carry out mission objectives above a fictional continent. Squadron Leader expands this with wingman orders and aircraft for the entire formation. Its story consequently follows your immediate colleagues more often. Between flights, Distant Thunder tells the story of a boy in an occupied city and includes local duels for two players. Squadron Leader offers a larger squadron campaign for one player, without split screen.
Ace Combat: The Belkan War on PlayStation 2 shares the quick aiming, modern jets and support from a computer-controlled wingman. Whereas Squadron Leader develops your bond with an entire squadron, Belkan War concentrates on Cipher, Pixy and rival aces. Your combat behaviour influences your reputation and subsequent encounters there. The events take place fifteen years earlier in the same fictional world. Belkan War also has a local duel for two players; Squadron Leader remains a game for one pilot.
Secret Weapons Over Normandy for PlayStation 2, like Squadron Leader, combines aerial combat with assignments to protect allies and destroy ground targets. You mainly fly propeller aircraft against the backdrop of the Second World War. This makes aircraft guns and staying close in pursuits more important. Squadron Leader uses modern jets and guided missiles, with orders to your formation while flying. Personal stories connect both campaigns, but their era, aircraft and how you command your team clearly differ.
Energy Airforce for PlayStation 2, like Squadron Leader, places you in recognisable modern combat aircraft. Its exercises and more realistic flight characteristics shift attention towards mastering the aircraft itself. Squadron Leader mainly uses its controls for a series of large-scale war assignments and conversations with your squadron. If you want to practise procedures and precise manoeuvres, Energy Airforce offers a different emphasis. For wingman orders during an ongoing story, Squadron Leader gives you more to manage.
Deadly Skies III on PlayStation 2 likewise links a fictional war to numerous pilots and varied aircraft. Its aircraft collection stretches further across different eras and types. Squadron Leader links aircraft through families that you open up further with combat experience. Your crew's role differs too: you choose your own formation's equipment and give orders along the way. Both games tell their stories through radio conversations, but Squadron Leader keeps its core closer to a single cooperating squadron.
