Air Combat #10 | VIP Recovery Mission
0Welcome to a non-commentary playthrough of the original Ace Combat (Air Combat as it was named outside of Japan), where I'll be going through each of the game's 17 sorties and doing my very best to ace a lot of bogeys!
I have set myself some conditions for this run: Hard difficulty, no damage and (if possible), destroy any non-targets or as many as I can. I'm also using certain planes for certain missions. All of this is to try and unlock a bunch of achievements through the RetroAchievements website, just for some extra 'ace pilot' cred.
STORY:
While the tide was very much turning in the conflict, an emergency sortie was requested. A high ranking officer was being picked up by cargo plane in a secret operation involving the infiltration of a rebel stronghold deep in the mountains. However, Commander Tyler was concerned that there had been a leak of the operation and expected a surprise attack would be waiting for the plane. Anticpating this, he specifically requested that Phoenix fly solo to escort the plane secretly in order to counter the ambush.
BRIEFING:
"Your mercenary unit has proven its reliability. We request you aid in the extraction of one of our officers from an enemy mountain fortress. We can only send one unit without alerting the opposition. Target: Cripple enemy air defense and land on their runway. Only you have the required skills. You will be paid handsomely. Good luck!"
Designated aircraft: F-16 Fighting Falcon
MY THOUGHTS:
So, this is the one that nearly made me quit this run! The F-16 is kind of awful here due to its lack of stability, meaning it likes to stall. A lot.
However, that's secondary to the absolute RNG of this whole mission. If you get unlucky and one of the enemy planes gets a solid fix on the C5 you're escorting, your mission will be over in a matter of moments. The F-15s are the most annoying to deal with due to their propensity to have a scrap with you while the AV-8s and the F-14s seem to focus on attacking the VIP.
I found the best plan was to immediately tag one of the AV-8s (they only take two missiles, the F-15 and F-14s take three) before getting its wingman to get the numbers down. From there it's a combination of luck and speed; you need to try to get at least two of the F-15s before the F-14s intercept as they go straight for the VIP. With a different fighter this would likely be much easier, but then it wouldn't be a challenge run would it?
NOTE: Played & recorded on DuckStation with RetroAchievements enabled.
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