Demon Lord of Razgriz.
Spent several hours trying to get through That Tunnel Mission from Ace Combat 5, and am pleased to announce that I've finally done it. Also, I am never playing that mission ever again.
The way the Ace Combat games work (at least the ones for the PS2) is like this: you go through the game playing missions. Between missions, you get to save the game. There are no checkpoints in the middle of the mission, so if you fail the mission, you have to start from the very beginning of that mission.
The mission I'm annoyed with is number 27, "Aces". Here, your squadron is supposed to destroy the control facility for an orbital nuke platform. This facility is heavily-protected, so you're joined by an impressive number of other troops who will help make the facility slightly less protected. To do this, you have to blow up all the pillboxes and control towers and such in their way. Otherwise, the troops will just sit there and get pounded, and then you fail the mission. (It's actually pretty hard to kill off all those friendly troops; friendly fire is not enabled, and it's mostly a matter of beating the very generous clock.) While all this is happening, you're the prime target for all the anti-air defenses and enemy planes, because you're the squadron leader of this very famous squadron. So, you have to destroy the targets on the ground, while dodging the missiles and stuff and optionally blowing up the planes and SAM sites shooting those missiles.
It is in your best interests not to get hit at all during this phase.
After you destroy everything, there's a short cutscene, and then the door to the tunnel opens after a while, during which you can entertain yourself by dodging enemy missiles. When the tunnel door is open, you can start flying down said tunnel.
The reason I tell you all of this is because if you fail the mission at any time during the long, winding tunnel sequence, you will have to start all over again from the beginning. You can't turn around and try again; you only get one chance at this tunnel (story-wise; gameplay-wise, you can always retry the entire mission, which, as stated, puts you right back at the beginning.)
Now, when you fly down this tunnel, against all reason or common sense, you have to dodge all obstacles in your way; there is no such thing as a glancing hit, and any impact on the terrain will make you crash and fail (like usual). The tunnel is wide enough for maybe two-and-a-half planes, not including all the twists and turns and sudden barriers. There are many bulkheads opening up just as you reach them, so you have to take care not to fly too fast.
You can't fly too slow, either; apart from the risk of stalling and crashing, there's an enemy ace flying right behind you. He pops off missiles occasionally; turns are your best friend here, in fact, since it'll help you dodge the missiles. FAQs vary between "don't worry, the missiles won't hit you" (false) and "it's a matter of luck" (true). Since there is absolutely no room for fancy flying, the primary way to avoid the missile is to fly even faster, which dramatically increases the possibility of crashing into a wall. On the easier difficulties, you can take a few hits before going down. I can't imagine what it would be like in the harder difficulties.
Some FAQs claim that if you manage to damage the enemy ace before flying into the tunnel, he will not shoot missiles at you. This is definitely not true.
Actually shooting at the mission objective is pretty easy, since you get plenty of warning, and it goes down in two direct missile hits (lol trench run). Everyone's missiles are homing, so you don't even have to be exact.
Now, when you were going into the tunnel, you get to dodge opening doors. Now, when you're escaping the tunnel, you have to dodge closing doors, meaning you have to speed up. Also, more planes flying at you from the other end of the tunnel. And, for some strange and bizarre reason, giant hurdles in your path with no discernable purpose other than to be obstacles.
Even worse: the enemy ace behind you? Will stay behind you, even if you manage to squeeze through the closing doors in the nick of time. That's right, he flies through solid doors.
The one bright spot is that the mission ends the moment you leave the tunnel, without having to deal with any more crap. The enemy ace loses all terrain-related invulnerability, and crashes into the final door.
The problem I had with this mission was that I was in no danger at all (relatively speaking) during the first part. I got blown up once by the enemy ace in the second part. I crashed into terrain or obstacles seven times.
My wrath would have been appeased so easily if the game included checkpoints, so I didn't have to repeat the tedious beginning just to try the tough parts again.
An interesting result of all of this is that after I finished with Ace Combat 5, I popped in Ace Combat Zero to try the tunnel mission in there again. Suddenly, everything seemed so amazingly easy. No high-speed chases. Clear-cut routes. No sudden inexplicable obstacles. Nobody trying to shoot you down (well, except for a few stationary AA guns; why there are AA guns inside a tunnel is beyond me). I cleared it on the first go, despite trying about half a dozen times previously.
I'd actually recommend Ace Combat 5 and Ace Combat Zero to people who like war stories (and definitely the Ace Combat Zero soundtrack to anyone), and don't mind the bizarre nature of the very heavy anti-war messages in a game about fighter pilots. (It's not hypocrisy, since soldiers don't have to like war; it's just weird.) It's just those damn missions. (To make things worse, or perhaps better, they're the second-last missions in their respective games, so it's basically those missions which are preventing you from finishing the game.)
Also, it's both games, if you want the full story. Zero (2006) was made after 5 (2004) but is a prequel, and is apparently the first Ace Combat game to deal with stuff that happened in another Ace Combat game.
I might come up with full reviews next time.
EDIT: One of the best things about the game is how you, as the player character, rise in fame as the story progresses, and your achievements are noted. In Ace Combat 5, you're originally just part of the Sand Island Squadron, which is quickly (due to combat losses) formalized as Wardog Squadron. Later you get a reputation as the Demons of Razgriz after an in-game myth, which is like calling them the Avenging Angels and thoroughly meaning it. The final mission's music is Latin chanting about you.
Which still doesn't top Ace Combat Zero, where you go from your callsign ("Galm 1") to your codename ("Cipher") to "the Demon Lord of the Round Table", whom every ace in the war is talking about ten years after the fact.
The way the Ace Combat games work (at least the ones for the PS2) is like this: you go through the game playing missions. Between missions, you get to save the game. There are no checkpoints in the middle of the mission, so if you fail the mission, you have to start from the very beginning of that mission.
The mission I'm annoyed with is number 27, "Aces". Here, your squadron is supposed to destroy the control facility for an orbital nuke platform. This facility is heavily-protected, so you're joined by an impressive number of other troops who will help make the facility slightly less protected. To do this, you have to blow up all the pillboxes and control towers and such in their way. Otherwise, the troops will just sit there and get pounded, and then you fail the mission. (It's actually pretty hard to kill off all those friendly troops; friendly fire is not enabled, and it's mostly a matter of beating the very generous clock.) While all this is happening, you're the prime target for all the anti-air defenses and enemy planes, because you're the squadron leader of this very famous squadron. So, you have to destroy the targets on the ground, while dodging the missiles and stuff and optionally blowing up the planes and SAM sites shooting those missiles.
It is in your best interests not to get hit at all during this phase.
After you destroy everything, there's a short cutscene, and then the door to the tunnel opens after a while, during which you can entertain yourself by dodging enemy missiles. When the tunnel door is open, you can start flying down said tunnel.
The reason I tell you all of this is because if you fail the mission at any time during the long, winding tunnel sequence, you will have to start all over again from the beginning. You can't turn around and try again; you only get one chance at this tunnel (story-wise; gameplay-wise, you can always retry the entire mission, which, as stated, puts you right back at the beginning.)
Now, when you fly down this tunnel, against all reason or common sense, you have to dodge all obstacles in your way; there is no such thing as a glancing hit, and any impact on the terrain will make you crash and fail (like usual). The tunnel is wide enough for maybe two-and-a-half planes, not including all the twists and turns and sudden barriers. There are many bulkheads opening up just as you reach them, so you have to take care not to fly too fast.
You can't fly too slow, either; apart from the risk of stalling and crashing, there's an enemy ace flying right behind you. He pops off missiles occasionally; turns are your best friend here, in fact, since it'll help you dodge the missiles. FAQs vary between "don't worry, the missiles won't hit you" (false) and "it's a matter of luck" (true). Since there is absolutely no room for fancy flying, the primary way to avoid the missile is to fly even faster, which dramatically increases the possibility of crashing into a wall. On the easier difficulties, you can take a few hits before going down. I can't imagine what it would be like in the harder difficulties.
Some FAQs claim that if you manage to damage the enemy ace before flying into the tunnel, he will not shoot missiles at you. This is definitely not true.
Actually shooting at the mission objective is pretty easy, since you get plenty of warning, and it goes down in two direct missile hits (lol trench run). Everyone's missiles are homing, so you don't even have to be exact.
Now, when you were going into the tunnel, you get to dodge opening doors. Now, when you're escaping the tunnel, you have to dodge closing doors, meaning you have to speed up. Also, more planes flying at you from the other end of the tunnel. And, for some strange and bizarre reason, giant hurdles in your path with no discernable purpose other than to be obstacles.
Even worse: the enemy ace behind you? Will stay behind you, even if you manage to squeeze through the closing doors in the nick of time. That's right, he flies through solid doors.
The one bright spot is that the mission ends the moment you leave the tunnel, without having to deal with any more crap. The enemy ace loses all terrain-related invulnerability, and crashes into the final door.
The problem I had with this mission was that I was in no danger at all (relatively speaking) during the first part. I got blown up once by the enemy ace in the second part. I crashed into terrain or obstacles seven times.
My wrath would have been appeased so easily if the game included checkpoints, so I didn't have to repeat the tedious beginning just to try the tough parts again.
An interesting result of all of this is that after I finished with Ace Combat 5, I popped in Ace Combat Zero to try the tunnel mission in there again. Suddenly, everything seemed so amazingly easy. No high-speed chases. Clear-cut routes. No sudden inexplicable obstacles. Nobody trying to shoot you down (well, except for a few stationary AA guns; why there are AA guns inside a tunnel is beyond me). I cleared it on the first go, despite trying about half a dozen times previously.
I'd actually recommend Ace Combat 5 and Ace Combat Zero to people who like war stories (and definitely the Ace Combat Zero soundtrack to anyone), and don't mind the bizarre nature of the very heavy anti-war messages in a game about fighter pilots. (It's not hypocrisy, since soldiers don't have to like war; it's just weird.) It's just those damn missions. (To make things worse, or perhaps better, they're the second-last missions in their respective games, so it's basically those missions which are preventing you from finishing the game.)
Also, it's both games, if you want the full story. Zero (2006) was made after 5 (2004) but is a prequel, and is apparently the first Ace Combat game to deal with stuff that happened in another Ace Combat game.
I might come up with full reviews next time.
EDIT: One of the best things about the game is how you, as the player character, rise in fame as the story progresses, and your achievements are noted. In Ace Combat 5, you're originally just part of the Sand Island Squadron, which is quickly (due to combat losses) formalized as Wardog Squadron. Later you get a reputation as the Demons of Razgriz after an in-game myth, which is like calling them the Avenging Angels and thoroughly meaning it. The final mission's music is Latin chanting about you.
Which still doesn't top Ace Combat Zero, where you go from your callsign ("Galm 1") to your codename ("Cipher") to "the Demon Lord of the Round Table", whom every ace in the war is talking about ten years after the fact.