If you ask a flight sim purist about the mid-2000s, they’ll probably talk about joystick setups or civilian simulators. But ask a console gamer from that same era about "the Round Table," and you'll see their eyes light up. They aren't talking about King Arthur. They’re talking about Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, a game that somehow turned a PS2 arcade flight title into a gritty, philosophical meditation on the nature of war and the blurry line between hero and mercenary. It was the third and final entry of the "Holy Trinity" on the PlayStation 2, following Shattered Skies and The Unsung War, yet it feels entirely distinct from its siblings.
The game didn't just give you a plane; it gave you a reputation.
Released in 2006 by Namco (before the Bandai merger was fully integrated into the branding), Ace Combat Zero acted as a prequel to the events of Ace Combat 5. It took us back to 1995, specifically the Belkan War, a conflict briefly mentioned in previous lore but never fully explored. You play as "Cipher," a mercenary pilot hired by the Republic of Ustio to repel a massive Belkan invasion. But you weren't alone. You had a wingman, Larry "Pixy" Foulke, a man whose cynical worldview and eventual betrayal became the emotional anchor of the entire experience.
The Style System: Why Your Choices Actually Mattered
Most games today brag about "dynamic choices," but they're usually just a binary A/B dialogue tree. Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War did it through gameplay. This was the "Ace Style" gauge. It tracked how you behaved on the battlefield. Do you only destroy designated TGT (Target) units? You’re a Knight. Do you indiscriminately bomb fleeing, neutralized enemies or civilian structures just for the extra points? You’re a Mercenary. If you fall somewhere in the middle, you're a Soldier.
It sounds simple. It wasn't.
The brilliance here was that your style changed the very fabric of the narrative. Depending on your gauge, the legendary "Ace" squadrons that intercepted you at the B7R (the Round Table) would change. If you were a Mercenary, you might face the Schnee Squadron, a group that uses electronic warfare to jam your radar. If you were a Knight, you’d face the honorable Indigo Squadron. These weren't just skin swaps; they were entirely different boss fights with unique tactics and, more importantly, different live-action interviews in the game's documentary-style framing device.
Years after the war, a journalist is interviewing the survivors of your dogfights. Their perspective of you—whether they view you as a heartless demon or a respected rival—is dictated by how you played. This created an incredible sense of weight. You weren't just clearing a stage; you were building a legacy that people would talk about decades later.
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The Flamenco, The Guitars, and the Best Soundtrack in Gaming
Honestly, we need to talk about Keiki Kobayashi. The music in this game is ridiculous. Most flight games go with generic "danger zone" rock or sweeping orchestral scores. Kobayashi took a look at a game about fighter jets and decided the primary instrument should be a Spanish acoustic guitar.
The final mission's track, "Zero," is a masterclass in tension. It blends a full orchestra, a choir chanting in Latin, and a frantic flamenco guitar that mirrors the desperate, close-quarters dogfight occurring on screen. It shouldn't work. F-15s and flamenco? It's weird. Yet, it’s arguably the most iconic piece of music in the entire franchise. It elevates a high-speed duel into something that feels like a dance of death. It makes the conflict personal.
The Belkan War: A Narrative Masterpiece
The plot of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War is surprisingly dark for a T-rated game. It explores the concept of "Belka did nothing wrong"—a meme in the community now, but a tragic reality in the lore. As the Belkan Federation realized they were losing the war, they made the unthinkable choice to detonate seven nuclear weapons on their own soil to halt the Allied advance.
This act of "scorched earth" insanity is what drives the second half of the game. It’s where the "World With No Boundaries" comes in—a terrorist organization made up of disillusioned pilots from both sides who believe that borders are the root of all conflict.
Why the documentary style worked:
- It grounded the "silent protagonist" trope by showing the impact you had on others.
- The live-action actors gave the world a sense of "real history" that CGI couldn't quite capture back then.
- It allowed for multiple perspectives on the same events, highlighting that truth is often subjective in war.
The contrast between the frantic, arcade-style gameplay and the somber, reflective tone of the cutscenes creates a strange dissonance that just works. You feel like a god in the cockpit, but the interviews remind you that you're just a man in a machine, leaving a trail of broken lives in your wake.
Technical Feats on the PS2
Even today, looking at the game on original hardware or through an emulator, the technical polish is impressive. The sense of speed when you're skimming the surface of the Avalon Dam or weaving through the mountain peaks of the Glatisant is exhilarating. Namco pushed the PlayStation 2 to its absolute limit here.
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The clouds weren't just flat textures; they had volume. The missile trails lingered. The radio chatter was constant, filling the air with the panicked screams of enemy pilots and the tactical callouts of your allies. It wasn't just about the visuals, though; it was about the feel. The way the F-15C Eagle handles compared to a heavy A-10A Thunderbolt II is night and day. Every plane had a personality, and with over 30 licensed aircraft, the variety was staggering for 2006.
The "Round Table" Legacy
The B7R—an area of airspace over the Belkan mountains—is the most legendary location in Ace Combat history. It’s where the best of the best went to die. In Ace Combat Zero, this area serves as the stage for some of the most intense multi-plane dogfights ever coded.
When you enter the Round Table, the music shifts. The radio chatter gets quiet, then explodes. Suddenly, you're not just fighting nameless grunts; you're fighting the Rot Team, or the Gault Team, or the Wizard Squadron. These weren't just "bosses" with high HP. They were AI routines designed to outmaneuver you, use wingman tactics, and exploit your mistakes. If you tried to fly in a straight line, you were dead. It forced you to learn the "high-yo-yo" and the "split-S" maneuvers. It made you a better pilot.
Misconceptions and Forgotten Details
Some people think Zero is just an expansion for Ace Combat 5. That’s just wrong. While it uses the same engine, the tone is entirely different. AC5 was a sprawling, 27-mission epic about peace and "the power of friendship." Zero is shorter, tighter, and much more cynical. It’s about the "Demon Lord of Galm" (that’s you) and how one man’s actions can shift the course of history, for better or worse.
Another thing people forget: the "Gauntlet." After you beat the game, you could unlock a survival mode that threw every Ace squadron in the game at you back-to-back. It is soul-crushingly difficult. To this day, few players have cleared it on the highest "Ace" difficulty without using the "cheat" planes like the ADF-01 FALKEN or the ADFX-01 Morgan.
How to Experience it Today
If you're looking to play Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War in 2026, you have a few options, though none are as simple as "buying it on Steam." Unfortunately, licensing issues with the real-world aircraft manufacturers (like Boeing and Lockheed Martin) make digital re-releases a legal nightmare for Bandai Namco.
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- Original Hardware: If you have a working PS2 and a CRT TV, this is the way it was meant to be seen. Finding a physical copy can be pricey, though, as it’s become a collector's item.
- Emulation (PCSX2): This is the most common way people play it now. With modern hardware, you can upscale the resolution to 4K, add widescreen patches, and fix the "black plane" bug that used to plague the emulator. It looks surprisingly modern when you crank up the internal resolution.
- The Spiritual Successor: If you can't get the original running, Project Wingman is a modern indie game that captures the spirit of Zero perfectly, right down to the orange-tinted skies and the "mercenary" protagonist.
Why it Still Matters
We live in an era of live-service games and "forever games" that try to take up all your time. Ace Combat Zero doesn't do that. It’s a 5-to-10-hour experience that demands to be played three times to see everything. It respects your time, but it also respects your intelligence. It doesn't tell you if you're a "good" or "bad" person for being a Mercenary or a Knight; it just shows you the consequences.
It’s a game about the legends we build and the people we leave behind. It’s about "the buddy" who stood beside you and then stood against you. As Pixy famously said at the end of the game: "Yo, buddy. Still alive?"
For fans of the series, that line still hits like a ton of bricks.
Actionable Insights for New Pilots
If you are jumping into Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War for the first time, keep these tips in mind to get the most out of your tour in Ustio:
- Watch the TGT-Neutral Targets: If you want the "Knight" ending, do not shoot down yellow targets or enemies that have stopped firing and are retreating. If you want the "Mercenary" path, destroy everything that moves to maximize your credits.
- Invest in the XLAA: Long-range air-to-air missiles are your best friend in the B7R. The enemy Aces are fast; if you can take out one or two before the dogfight even starts, you’ll have a much easier time.
- Listen to the Radio: The chatter isn't just flavor text. Enemies will often announce their intentions ("I'm getting on his tail!") which gives you a split-second warning to break high or low.
- Don't Ignore the Documentary: Watch the cutscenes. They change based on your Ace Style. If you switch styles on a second playthrough, you’ll see entirely different interviews that recontextualize the story.
The Belkan War might be a fictional conflict from a 20-year-old game, but the questions it asks about borders, loyalty, and the cost of victory are more relevant than ever. Grab a flight stick, fire up the engine, and find out what kind of Ace you really are.