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After 30-odd years of predictable industry antics, you know the drill by now -- new round of videogame consoles, new 'next-generation' arcade-style dogfighting simulation must inevitably follow shortly thereafter.

Case in point: Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, the latest in the long-running series, adds online play, amps up visual quality by several multitudes over past installments, and otherwise sends excitement levels soaring to Mach 10. Amusingly enough, publisher Namco claims the franchise has shifted over 10 million units at retail already -- and as satisfying as this puppy is for aspiring aces, here's hoping armchair pilots spot them another seven figures' worth of encouragement to keep those afterburners going.

Lock and load? Not exactly, as the wonky storyline and a grievous tendency towards melodrama quickly reveal. But frankly, with these slick visuals and gratuitously satisfying, hands-on missile- and machine-gun-toting action, you won't give a rat's patoot.

It certainly bears mentioning that voice acting is less than stellar, and issues with lip-synch timing do rob the tale of some immediacy and impact. (We're not exactly fans of the campaign's cheesy plotlines featuring people whose lives are affected by your battles, either.) Still, if you can put literary aspirations aside and focus on what matters most, i.e. simple turn-'n'-burn excitement, there's much to admire. And besides, the designers do deserve kudos for attempting to go a level beyond the typical straightforward, militaristic plotline and deliver a greater sense of emotional impact, even if they do fall flat on their thrusters.

But we digress... Don't allow yourself be fooled by the workmanlike menus and front end, because a bevy of cornea-searing delights quickly await the intrepid flyboy. Put bluntly, we think you'll find this is hands-down the best-looking air combat title you've ever seen, as you scream through high-resolution, cloud-filled skies or above choppy waters, admiring every scenic splash of natural color or searing burst of gunfire. While a simplistic control scheme and fictional setting simply reinforce the title's vast conceptual distance from reality, unless you're a total military nut, it's hardly a drawback. In fact, these caveats only help increase comfort levels behind the gamepad, and ensure that you get to the good part -- blasting painstakingly modeled bogies out of the photorealistic sky -- that much faster.

On a positive note, the basic flight model and ease with which you control speed, direction and aiming (read: you can just as easily skip the $150 flight stick bundle as cop it, unless you're a real sim-head) prove a massive boon, especially to newcomers. Then again, from another perspective, it also -- inevitably large number of deaths and restarts aside (this is an arcade-style outing, after all) -- shortens total game length to about 10-15 hours. Happily though, you do get a wide selection of aircraft (F-22 Raptor, F/A-18, Tornado, Typhoon and so on) to pick from, and a sweet selection of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions complete with multiple challenging objectives bound to keep you on your toes.

Honestly, so much is thrown at you during these engagements that it's often hard to stay on target, but hey. Better too much to shoot (boats, jetfighters, missile launch sites, etc.) at than too little, right? That goes double when you see how gorgeous the explosions and puffs of flame and smoke that follow in the wake of each conquest look, painting the screen with eye-catching distractions. We can't say enough about the dazzling orchestral soundtrack either, or quality of sound effects featured, ranging from thrilling whooshes of air to crisp bangs and pops.