Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies is one of the first major aerial combat games on the PlayStation 2, and it made full use of the new generation's graphical leap to render clouds, reflections on a fighter's fuselage, and vast combat zones stretching from the sea to mountain ranges. The player takes on the role of a pilot codenamed Mobius 1 and, across a series of missions over the fictional continent of Usea, fights on the side of the Federation of Ellador against the independent ISAF forces, gradually facing off against a legendary rival named Yellow 13, whose yellow fighters became an iconic symbol of the series. The gameplay is built on an arcade-style take on aerial combat: the player collects special weapons, completes side objectives for financial bonuses, and between missions spends earnings on new aircraft and upgrades, from more powerful engines to more accurate missile armaments.

The game's strong point is its storytelling, which doesn't unfold through classic command-briefing dialogue but through diary entries from a girl living in a country ravaged by war — the contrast between her civilian perspective and the player's role as an unnamed ace gives the campaign an unusual emotional dimension that aerial combat games of the time rarely offered. The orchestral score amplifies the sense of massive air battles and became a series hallmark carried into later entries, along with an emphasis on dramatic mission narration and wingmen chatter over the radio.

Contemporary reviews praised above all the smoothness and intensity of the air battles and the careful crafting of individual missions, which made this entry the foundation that Project Aces built all its later PS2 sequels on. This was the game that decisively moved the series away from its more modest beginnings on the original PlayStation and established it as one of the console market's flagship aerial action franchises. Even years later, the game holds up as an accessible, well-balanced arcade aerial action title that requires no knowledge of simulators, yet still delivers a satisfying feel of flying, maneuvering, and dueling an opponent still counted among the most memorable rivals in the entire series.

Why play it: For players wanting accessible, well-balanced aerial action without needing to know simulators, Shattered Skies is a great entry point — it offers smooth combat and an unforgettable rival that the creators built every subsequent PS2 entry upon.