Flying a super-fast death machine with 300 explosives in it has never been this fun.
-The entire game is centered on blowing things up.
-The soundtrack is the best damn musical piece in gaming history.
Ace combat games have always been fun. Simple controls and satisfying booms ensure that. Plus it gets rid of the limiting reality factor: Your plane never runs out of fuel, flies at ridiculous speeds and has over 300 explosives hidden somewhere on it.
A few controls need some getting use to, like the machine gun controls. You'll need to "place" the enemy plane in the machine gun crosshair, but once you start shooting, the enemy jet gets torn up to pieces in amazing detail. Stuffing airplanes full of lead has rarely been so satisfying.
You get to choose from various planes: You get bombers like the A-10 thunderbold (the Fuel Air Bomb is majestic), multirole and fighters. Fighters are by far the most fun, since they make dogfighting fast-paced and have some nice weaponry.
The story starts off a bit cheesy, but in the end you might care for the characters. There aren't any real-life places, but this is perfect for the huge sci-fi fights you get later in the story.
All in all, if you've been waiting for a nice flight combat game, buy this now. At least, until the next Crimson Skies comes out.