Ace Combat 3 Strategy ================================= A C E C O M B A T 3 E L E C T R O S P H E R E ================================= Version 2.0 Walkthrough By Jerrold Ng Contents -------- 1. Introduction 2. Planes A) UPEO Planes B) General Resources LTD. Planes C) Neucom Planes D) Ouroboros Planes 3. Mission Guide A) UPEO Missions B) Decision Point No.1 C) General Resources LTD. Missions D) Decision Point No.2 E) Ouroboros Missions F) General Resources LTD. Missions II G) UPEO Missions II H) Decision Point No.3 I) UPEO Missions III J) Decision Point No.4 K) Neucom Missions L) Decision Point No.5 M) Ouroboros Missions II N) Neucom Missions II O) UPEO/Neucom Missions 4. Character and Ending Descriptions 5. Secrets 6. Acknowledgments Added in Version 2.0 - Stacks of info from "Video Girl Ai" - Corrected some of my endings, thanks to "Jeffrey Daniel Wong" - Added Game Shark Codes thanks to "Dave" ===================================================================== 1. Introduction ===================================================================== Ace Combat 3 : Electrosphere is the latest of the best-selling Ace Combat franchise by Namco; but unlike the last two incarnations, this game is heavily story-driven. The story itself branches off in several different directions, and you can get up to five (maybe more) endings, which vary quite drastically. Since I play the Japanese version (don't ask me when the English version is coming out, I don't know either), most of the story of the game remains a mystery to me. Anyone cares to enlighten me on the basic gist of the story? Okay, maybe, I can figure out the essential plot. There's basically a war going on between a number of rival corporation units - the UPEO, General Resources LTD., Neucom and Ouroboros. They are all fighting over control of a particular prototype fighter [developed my Ouroboros, I believe] called the Night Raven. The Night Raven's pilot is a genetically engineered young girl named Rena. All other characters Dision, Keith, Erich, Fiona, Cynthia, Simon, Parks, Neu etc... all play some part in it. Depending on which branch you go, you will end up joining one of the four corporations (four endings) or just become a lone wolf (one ending). Anyway, this walkthrough contains all the specifics of each plane you will get to pilot, some help for all the missions and branches you will encounter, and descriptions of the various endings (which you can skip if you want). If you like to contribute any new findings to me, or correct me, feel free to e-mail me at . Finally, newest versions of this walkthrough can be found at http://www.cheatcc.com/ http://www.gamefaqs.com/ http://members.xoom.com/Jerrold/ Thanks for reading. Let's get on with it! Jerrold Ng ===================================================================== 2. Planes ===================================================================== Through the course of the game you will get to pilot 18 different planes, of all sorts of shapes and sizes. The planes you get to choose depend on your who your employee is. There might be more secret planes available, of course. The planes here are split into three types - heavy, normal or light planes. Heavy planes can survive some serious damage, but they have slow acceleration. Normal planes can stand moderate damage and have slightly faster acceleration. Light planes are the speed demons of the pack - they normally have unbelievable acceleration rates, but just one well-timed missiles will bring them down. Well, you get the idea! Every corporate unit has it's own set of planes, listed below. In most missions you get to choose from a few planes, but later in the game you'll be stuck with one super plane. The four super planes include the Su-43 Berkut, XFA-36A Game and R-103 Delphinus #3. In one particular ending stage you'll also get to hack into a Night Raven Prototype! All these super planes can fire 4 missiles at once rather than 2 for the other planes. ===================================================================== A) UPEO Planes ===================================================================== EF2000E Typhoon II Breadth - 10.50 m Length - 15.75 m Wingspan - 6.40 m Weight - 18144 kg Max Speed - 2856 km/h - Light Type, with Vulcan Gun and Normal Missiles MiG-33 Fulcrum SS Breadth - 11.36 m Length - 17.32 m Wingspan - 4.73 m Weight - 18000 kg Max Speed - 2856 km/h - Normal Type, with Vulcan Gun and Normal Missiles F/A-18V Hornet ADV Breadth - 13.62 m Length - 18.31 m Wingspan - 4.88 m Weight - 29937 kg Max Speed - 2324 km/h - Normal Type, with choice of Vulcan or Heavy Machinegun and Short Range or Ground Missiles F-16XFU Gyrfalcon Breadth - 9.45 m Length - 13.08 m Wingspan - 5.36 m Weight - 11372 kg Max Speed - 2856 km/h - Light Type, with Normal Missiles and choice of Vulcan or Heavy Machinegun R-101V Delphinus #1 Breadth - 12.60 m Length - 20.48 m Wingspan - 4.10 m Weight - 8898 kg Max Speed - 2856 km/h - Light Type, with Heavy Machinegun and Normal Missiles R-201V Asterozoa Breadth - 20.60 m Length - 18.13 m Wingspan - 2.90 m Weight - 23013 kg Max Speed - 1540 km/h - Heavy Type, with cannon and choice of Short Range, Ground or M.I.R.V. Missiles Su-37 Superflanker Breadth - 14.70 m Length - 22.10 m Wingspan - 6.32 m Weight - 34420 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Normal Type, with normal missiles and choice of vulcan or cannon Su-43 Berkut Breadth - 16.70 m Length - 22.50 m Wingspan - 6.40 m Weight - 34900 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Normal Type, with choice of Vulcan, Heavy Machinegun or Cannon and Normal or M.I.R.V. Missiles ===================================================================== B) General Resources LTD. Planes ===================================================================== F-16XA Sakerfalcon Breadth - 10.43 m Length - 16.51 m Wingspan - 5.36 m Weight - 15772 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Light type, with Ground Missiles and choice of Vulcan or Heavy Machinegun F-15S/MT Eagle+ Breadth - 13.05 m Length - 19.43 m Wingspan - 5.63 m Weight - 36740 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Heavy Type, with choice of Vulcan or Cannon and Normal, Short Range or M.I.R.V. Missiles F-22C Raptor II Breadth - 13.56 m Length - 18.92 m Wingspan - 5.03 m Weight - 27200 kg Max Speed - 2856 km/h - Normal Type, with Normal Missiles and choice of Vulcan or Heavy Machinegun F/A-32C Erne Breath - 10.97 m Length - 13.72 m Wingspan - 3.51 m Weight - 22600 kg Max Speed - 2324 km/h - Light Type, with choice of Vulcan or Cannon and Short Range or Ground Missiles RF-12A2 Blackbird Breadth - 16.94 m Length - 31.65 m Wingspan - 5.64 m Weight - 78020 kg Max Speed - 5068 km/h - Heavy Type, with choice of Vulcan or Heavy Machinegun and Normal, Short Range or M.I.R.V. Missiles XFA-36A Game [Also belongs in Ouroboros] Breadth - 13.20 m Length - 19.31 m Wingspan - 2.80 m Weight - 32116 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Normal Type, with choice of Vulcan, Heavy Machinegun or Cannon and Normal, Short Range or M.I.R.V. Missiles. ===================================================================== C) Neucom Planes ===================================================================== R-311 Remora Breadth - 5.82 m Length - 14.88 m Wingspan - 1.80 m Weight - 5105 kg Max Speed - 5068 km/h - Light Type, with choice of Heavy Machinegun or Pulse Laser and Short Range, Ground or M.I.R.V. Missiles R-352 Sepia Breadth - 10.74 m Length - 13.15 m Wingspan - 4.90 m Weight - 60200 kg Max Speed - 3054 km/h - Heavy Type, with Neutron Beam and Plasma Beam R-211 Orcinus Breadth - 8.20 m Length - 22.56 m Wingspan - 2.21 m Weight - 12822 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Normal Type, with choice of Cannon or Pulse Laser and short range missiles, ground missiles or spread bombs R-103 Delphinus #3 Breadth - 13.80 m Length - 20.66 m Wingspan - 4.90 m Weight - 10040 kg Max Speed - 3940 km/h - Normal Type, with choice of Heavy Machinegun, Cannon or Pulse Laser and Normal, M.I.R.V. or Spread Missiles ===================================================================== D) Ouroboros Planes ===================================================================== XFA-36A Game [Also belongs in General Resources LTD.] Breadth - 13.20 m Length - 19.31 m Wingspan - 2.80 m Weight - 32116 kg Max Speed - 3304 km/h - Normal Type, with choice of Vulcan, Heavy Machinegun or Cannon and Normal, Short Range or M.I.R.V. Missiles. ===================================================================== 3. Mission Guide ===================================================================== The story of this game branches in several directions based on "Decision Points" located after every few stages. Depending on what decisions you choose, you will alternate between a few corporation units. You begin the game in a unit UPEO. Here is the branching system that occurs... [Starting] UPEO Missions | | Decision Point No.1 | Join Dision | Join Others ------------------------------- | | | | General Resources LTD Missions UPEO Missions II | | Decision Point No.2 Decision Point No.3 | | Join Dision | Join Keith Join Rena | Return to Base ------------------- ----------------- | | | | Ouroboros General Resources | Extra Stage Missions LTD. Missions 2 | (Fragile Cargo) [Ending A] [Ending B] | | ----------------- | | Decision Point No.4 | Join Fiona | Join Others --------------------------------- | | Neucom Missions UPEO/Neucom | Missions | [Ending E] Decision Point No.5 | Join Cynthia | Join Fiona -------------------------- | | Ouroboros Neucom Missions II Missions II [Ending C] [Ending D] Missions order in this walkthrough ---------------------------------- A) UPEO Missions B) Decision Point No.1 C) General Resources LTD. Missions D) Decision Point No.2 E) Ouroboros Missions F) General Resources LTD. Missions II G) UPEO Missions II H) Decision Point No.3 I) UPEO Missions III J) Decision Point No.4 K) Neucom Missions L) Decision Point No.5 M) Ouroboros Missions II N) Neucom Missions II O) UPEO/Neucom Missions Some useful general info about accomplishing a mission (thanks to "Video Girl Ai") : Different between Mission Accomplished and Mission Over stats ------------------------------------------------------------- You're probably aware of the different effects between Mission Accomplished and Mission Over Both these statuses will end the mission, Mission Over signifying a D grade or lower meaning you failed to accomplish all mission objectives. It also means different messages received during or just after debriefing from your copilots. These messages get saved inside your archive so I can't help but wonder if getting all these messages might be the key to activating certain cheats like unlocking the Night Raven. Radar blip colors ----------------- Red=primary target - absolutely must be destroyed to end the mission White=secondary target - not necessary to be destroyed to end mission but their destruction improves your grade Yellow=neutral target - destroying these targets may lower your grade Blue=friendly targets - cannot be targeted by weapons tiny white=missile - dodge!! Secondary Weapons: Missiles Vs Bombs & Rate of Fire --------------------------------------------------- The type of secondary weapon (circle button) you use on a target depends on the type of target you're targeting. A ground target automatically toggles the bomb receptacle IF your plane is armed with bombs. If you switch to an air target, air to air missiles are used instead. If your plane is not armed with bombs, standard tracking missiles are used instead. Rate of Fire: Surface Bombs are fired one or sometimes two at a time and take awhile to reload (changes according to difficulty level?) Air-to-air missiles are fired two at a time for earlier fighters and four at a time for the more advanced fighters... ===================================================================== A) UPEO Missions ---------------- 1) Awakening Mission - Shoot down four planes (marked red on the radar) within 2:59 mins, then one more that appears. Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS - Your first job. Tense? Here, you'll get to meet your other crewmates Erich, Rena and Fiona. This one is easy - the bad guys barely even notice you're there! Check your radar (press the Square Button) and locate the four red dots and take them down. If this is not done within 3 minutes or so the mission will be over after you take down the last red dot. If you do manage to take them down within the time limit your commander will update you with a new target. Just head over to the new red dot (ignore the white dots if you want) that appears and blow it up and you're done. By the way, the more extra targets (the planes that appear as white targets) you take down, the higher your rank will be. 2) Bravado Mission - Blow up 8 ground radar sites within 3:59 mins, then then a blow up few more ground structures after that. Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS - You need to be fast in this one. Ignore the white planes, and go straight for the radar sites. If done within the time limit, your commander will update you with about 4 more ground targets. They include a two large buildings carefully tucked into the mountain side and the bridge that connects them. Be careful not to slam your plane into the side of the mountain! 3) Enter Dision Mission - Follow Dision, then shoot down 3 fighters with your gun, then destroy three ground targets Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon - Here you meet ace pilot and all-round shifty character Dision. One of this mission's objectives is to tail him as long as possible (it's hard, yes). Try to keep him inside your HUD view as long as possible (info from "Video Girl Ai"). Eventually you'll encounter three planes - be careful, you can't lock your missiles on them! Stick with your guns. After the three have been destroyed, three ground targets appear; these can be locked on, so blow them away with your missiles. There might be a time limit to all these, but destroy these six targets and you'll get a new mission; the commander will inform you that a large supply ship is dropping 5 cargo boxes; shoot those down (you can't lock on to them either). These boxes will be zealously guarded by a number of fighters, so let Dision and Keith handle them, and you focus on blowing up those crates before they hit the ground. 4) Paper Tiger Mission - Sink a warship, convoy, and carrier within 2:59 mins, then shoot down 4 planes that appear after that. You must not enter the island city or you will be shot at by missiles! Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon - As always, if you fail to sink all three ships within the time limit, they will reach the harbor and the mission will end prematurely. To speed things up, look carefully at each ship - they have three targets on them, two guns and the ship itself (that target will be named warship, convoy and carrier respectively). Shoot that target to sink the ship immediately. Also, stay out of the island unless you want a rear full of missiles. ===================================================================== B) Decision Point No.1 ---------------------- - Here you will get the option of keeping with your friends at the UPEO or deserting with Dision. -> To follow Dision, Just keep his plane in your view for a short while and you will land on an air strip. Try to land by yourself; if you mess it up, press START to switch on autopilot and your plane will land by itself. You will now leave your current organization UPEO and join General Resources LTD. Proceed to General Resources LTD. section C below. -> To follow the others, just fly away in a different direction to Dision. Head on over to the section G, UPEO Missions II ===================================================================== C) General Resources LTD. Missions ---------------------------------- 5) Soldier of Fortune Mission - Shoot down eight R-201's before they take off from the airfield within 2:59 mins. Plane Choice - F-16XA Sakerfalcon, F-15S/MT Eagle+ - Since you will be doing no actual air combat, use the Sakerfalcon's ground missiles to finish the job. It shouldn't be too hard. Just be careful of the occasional missile that is launched from the airfield itself. 6) Megafloat Mission - 2 R-201's, 4 Guns and 1 Tower needs to be demolished within 3:29 minutes Plane Choice - F-16XA Sakerfalcon, F-15S/MT Eagle+ - This mission is similar to the previous one. The island fortress is much more well guarded however; you'll need to be really good at dodging missiles, or just plain suicidal, to be flying right into the thick of it. Too bad with the given time limit, you don't have much choice! By the way, if you miss the time limit, a rocket will be launched, and you'll have to take it out - too bad that even if you take it out, you'll get a "Mission Over" in that case (thanks to "Video Girl Ai"). 7) Partners Mission - You have to destroy 4 power plants that encircle the base within 4:59 minutes. Then, destroy the core that appears after that. Plane Choice - F-16XA Sakerfalcon, F-15S/MT Eagle+ - Other that the fact that each of the four power plants cannot be targeted by your missiles, the mission is a breeze. Just fire away your cannon when you approach one, it's so big it's next to impossible to miss! Just be careful not to bump into the pillars on either side of it. Once Keith tells you to take down the core, just fly at it and launch some missiles. 8) Tainted Peace Mission - Down a large boss plane, the R-505U Plane Choice - F-16XA Sakerfalcon, F-15S/MT Eagle+, F-22C Raptor II, F/A-32C Erne - It's a less-than-friendly reunion with your old crewmates Erich, Rena and Fiona. Your target here is Fiona's plane, but feel free to shoot down the others if you're just plain mean. Once you're done, you'll need to go for a mid-air refuel. Try it out; if you mess up, press START to let the game do it for you. 9) Stratosphere Mission - Take down six R-531's in 4:59 mins Plane Choice - RF-12A2 Blackbird - Keith's in trouble. Few seconds into the mission, he will request for your assistance in shaking off a couple of pesky planes. Not a problem, really. He'll survive for awhile. Just keep your eye on the R-531's nearest to you and you should have no problems. If you DO go and rescue him, the Remora's will escape, and you'll straight away jump to decision point no. 2 (section D) and thus skip the next two missions (Thanks to "Video Girl Ai") After the mission, you get to try and land your plane again. Hit START if you think you're not up to it. 10) Technology Transfer Mission - Save the Antlions! Plane Choice - F-16XA Sakerfalcon, F-15S/MT Eagle+, F-22C Raptor II, F/A-32C Erne - An distress signal sends you off to safe a group of allies called the "Antlion" - here just take down as many tanks on the ground and fighters in the air (marked in red) as possible. It's pretty tough to actually save them. After you've destroyed the enemy, or Antlion bites the dust, a rocket will launch. Get to it and shoot it down. 11) Dilemma Mission - In 8:59 mins you have to sink 3 submarines and 3 convoys Plane Choice - F-16XA Sakerfalcon, F-15S/MT Eagle+, F-22C Raptor II, F/A-32C Erne - Here all you planes get the option of Spread bomb as their missiles; it's a good idea to use them, as they are ideal for taking out the ships and subs. Line up the small diamond and cross symbol at the lower part of your HUD to the target and let 'er rip! It takes some practice time - don't worry, you'll have time. ===================================================================== D) Decision Point No.2 ------------------- - Dision just never makes up his mind, does he? Here you get to choose to follow Keith back to General Resources LTD. or desert with Dision to Ouroboros. -> Don't move for a while and you'll automatically follow Dision. After a brief chat, you'll dock on the Sophia, the HQ of Ouroboros. You'll also find out that Rena has deserted UPEO and joined up with you in Ouroboros! Proceed to Ouroboros Missions at section E below. -> To follow Keith, just fly off the path and you'll join up with him. You'll remain in General Resources LTD. Proceed to General Resources LTD Missions II at section F below. ===================================================================== E) Ouroboros Missions --------------------- 12) The Orientation Mission - ??? Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - Time to test out your new, ridiculously powerful fighter! Cause massive havoc in town by blowing up all the major freeways and buildings, and when the choppers arrive into town, blow them up too! It's fun being evil, isn't it? 13) Archnemesis Mission - ??? Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - Time to raid your old UPEO HQ. Destroy all the red ground targets, then go for the high speed fighters that hover about you. After they are taken down, there will be a short cut scene. Here, dive into the inner section of the HQ and fire at the single target, Parks, there. 14) Memory Error Mission - ??? Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - One crazy stage! First, you will encounter Rena with her awesome prototype fighter. She zooms by at impossible speeds, and she can usually outrun your missiles and zoom by you at ease. But keep on her tail, throwing all the missiles and gun fire you have at her and she'll eventually slip up and get hit. After a few blows, she's a goner. Next you'll meet another old team mate Keith, who is actually a wimp - one lock on missile will take care of him. The next battle isn't as easy however. The giant blimp Sophia, the HQ of Ouroboros, is surrounded by waves and waves of fighters, and it also contains some serious firepower. You'll need to lock on it's tail; to do that, get VERY near (not too near or you'll crash right into it!) then launch your missiles. Then get the hell out of its barrage of missiles! It'll take awhile, but it will go down. 15) Electrosphere Mission - ??? Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - The final battle. First, you have to take on your former mentor in the skies. He goes pretty fast (not quite as fast as Rena) and locks onto to you fairly easily. This is not an easy battle. Once you've injured him with missiles a few times, Dision will continue the dogfight in the Electrosphere itself. Be prepared to get a little disorientated at first. Then, return to battle! Since Dision will be faster than you, slow down when he's nearby and he'll zoom right past you - unload the whole arsenal on him, then speed away quick as he'll come at you with a missile. Dodge it and resume, and he'll be down in no time. Congratulations! You've won Ace Combat 3! [Ending A] ===================================================================== F) General Resources LTD. Missions II ------------------------------------- 12) Betrayal Mission - Shoot down a whole fleet of 26 fighters Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - Probably the longest mission ever. At least there's no time limit here. Also, Keith will be racking up planes himself, so you don't have to worry too much. After all 26 planes are downed, a new target appears - a massive fleet of ships. Avoid entering the nearby island at all costs (the mission will fail if you enter), then sink them one by one using the methods described in Mission 4. Paper Tiger. 13) Heart of the Serpent Mission - Shoot down a very well-guarded blimp UI-4053 Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - Look at Ouroboros Mission 14 for strategies against the Ouroboros HQ. This stage is very similar to that mission, except you take on the blimp first. After it goes down, then you get an updated target, which is Rena in her fearsome prototype fighter. Strategy for tackling her is in Ouroboros Mission 14 too. 14) Geofront Attack Mission - ??? Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - This battle occurs deep in and underground city. Be careful not to slam your plane into the ceiling! Here your mission is to destroy ten support pillars - you can't lock on to them with your missiles; stick to your gun - you'll also need to be pretty close to be able to shoot them. 15) Casualties of War Mission - ??? Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - After a bout with Rena again, you'll have to face Dision. He's better at avoiding missiles, but he's still a pushover; you shouldn't be too worried. After just about everyone bites the dust, you have to option to land the plane yourself or let the automatic pilot do it for you. 16) Geopelia Mission - Shoot down 8 XR-900's Plane Choice - XFA-36A Game - Very cool final stage. After you shoot down one of the XR-900s, you hack into it and become it's pilot! That's right, now you're in that lean mean speed machine piloted by Rena! Of course, now you have to fight 7 other XR-900s, which is a nightmare itself. Remember that It can always outrun one missile, but not two or more. Once you lock on, fire as many missiles as possible; one of them is bound to hit. Don't worry, you have plenty of missiles. Once you're done, sit back and enjoy - you've finished Ace Combat 3! [Ending B] ===================================================================== G) UPEO Missions II ------------------- 5) Broken Truce Mission - Shoot down four F-159/MT's in 2:59 mins Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon - Easy stage. Try to spot and shoot down Keith for the fun of it! After you've defeated the four fighters the commander will give you a new target; two more fighters. Shoot them down and you're done. 6) Ghosts of the Past Mission - Protect a Stealth Bomber Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa - The protecting bit is easy enough. Just follow the bomber's back (don't try to memorize the route; it goes randomly) and shoot any targets that come close. After following it for awhile (and listening to Rena talk to herself), the commander will clear you to attack the enemy base. Just head there and shoot the target labeled "Base". You shouldn't need to fly by it more than once. By the way, if you shoot the bomber down, you'll jump straight to the extra mission "Fragile Cargo" in section I. [Plot help thanks to "Video Girl Ai"] 7) No Clearance Mission - ??? Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa - This entire mission is a decision point! See Below. Here, you get to break from UPEO and join Rena on her personal quest or return to UPEO HQ. Assuming to decide to join Rena, you'll have to take down about eight fighters. Do that, and Dision will rejoin you. However, if you leave Rena, the mission will end straight away. ===================================================================== H) Decision Point No.3 ---------------------- - Here your choice is to go off with Rena or return back to base. -> If you return to base, you'll get an extra mission - Fragile Cargo. Go to UPEO Missions III section I, and go to the Extra Mission. -> To join Rena, just stay on her back for a short while. You'll hop straight to the Scylla and Charybdis Mission at section I, UPEO Missions III. ===================================================================== I) UPEO Missions III -------------------- Extra) Fragile Cargo Mission - Destroy all the chimney stacks that are in the blimp's way, and anything else that tries to down it. Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa - Here you have to protect a wayward blimp from crashing into a chimney stack. After destroying them all, a small ship will attack it. Shoot that too and you're done. 8) Scylla And Charybdis Mission - Follow and protect Erich Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa - Simple enough. Just shoot down all the red planes that appear. Wait a minute. Isn't that Keith? Didn't you shoot him down a few missions ago? ANOTHER decision point follows this mission. ===================================================================== J) Decision Point No. 4 - Here, you discover the evil of UPEO. They plan to shoot down their own plane piloted by Fiona! Here, you get to either protect Fiona or the stay with UPEO. -> To protect Fiona, shoot down the nearest unmarked plane. You'll be then introduced to Neu and then refuel at his blimp. You've now joined the unit Neucom! Then you'll be introduced to Fiona's older sister who works at Neu, Cynthia. Go to section K, Neucom Missions, just below. -> To help Rena and Erich, either shoot down Fiona's plane or just don't do anything and Rena will do that for you. From here, go all the way down to UPEO/Neucom Missions at section O. ===================================================================== K) Neucom Missions ------------------ 9) Power For Life Mission - Destroy 4 planes and 2 ground targets within 3:59 mins Plane Choice - R-311 Remora - This one is tough. Not only that the given time is too little, you also have a very unwieldy plane to pilot. Trust me, you'll be better off seeing a Mission Over sign. 10) Zero Gravity Mission - Destroy 4 satellites in 2:59 mins Plane Choice - R-352 Sepia - Your first (and only) interstellar mission. This one is pretty easy - follow the order of satellites to destroy given in the briefing and you should do fine. Note that if you take longer than 2:59 mins you will get blown to bits by the satellite, so be quick! Afterwards, you'll have to re-enter the atmosphere. If you can't figure it out (I can't) just let the autopilot do it for you. 11) Utopian Dreams Mission - Destroy 8 radar sites Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - The initial part is tough, since you cannot fly above 1000 m or the radar will spot you and you'll get a straight D for your efforts. Keep to the contour of the ground, and pull down when the computer tells you to. Once you are "Clear to Engage", destroy all the sites (you can do it real quick by flying round and round the circle and firing). ===================================================================== L) Decision Point No.5 ---------------------- - After the Utopian Dreams Mission, Cynthia will break off from Neucom and join Ouroboros. It's up to you whether to follow her or stay in Neucom with Fiona. -> Follow Cynthia - You'll enter the unit Ouroboros; dock at their large flying HQ and go to Ouroboros Missions II at section M. -> Follow Fiona - You'll stay in Neucom; land on the carrier and go to section N, Neucom Missions II. ===================================================================== M) Ouroboros Missions II ------------------------- 12) Reality Distortion Mission - ??? Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - You've got more targets to shoot at here than the last few missions combined! First you've got to take on a fleet of planes and a mass of tanks all over UPEO HQ, and then, another massive fleet of planes await you. Be careful of getting hit by a stray missile when flying around the city; that happens a lot here. 13) Counterrevolution Mission - ??? Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - First, you need to sink a few ships. After that, you'll witness the prototype fighter in action. Next, is a battle with the HQ of Ouroboros. And then Dision is next. Strategies to challenge them are outlined in other sections, look at Ouroboros Mission 14 and 15 in section E. 14) Pursuit Mission - ??? Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - This one is just a single battle with Rena in the underground city. Watch your head, then battle it out. 15) Self Awareness Mission - ??? Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - Another battle with Rena? Well actually, try as you may, you'll never chase her. Instead, you've got to destroy Aeon Generators that are scattered all over the city first. Be careful as Rena herself will be buzzing about and will attack if she notices you. By the way, the generates are protected by walls on three sides, so it will definitely take some time to destroy them all. But once that is done, you can wage a final battle with Rena! Take her down as you did in the last mission. Congratulations, you've won Ace Combat 3! [Ending C] ===================================================================== N) Neucom Missions II --------------------- 12) Resistance Mission - Take down the giant Ouroboros Blimp and its six cohorts Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - The good old Ouroboros Blimp Sophia. Seems like you'll need to destroy it no matter what branch you take... 13) Revenge Mission - Same as above Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - What, you mean it's still flying? As always, stick to the old tactics described in earlier sections. If you have trouble targeting it, destroy those pesky white planes first. 14) Tunnel Vision Mission - ??? Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - Quite possibly the most frustrating level of the game, this level will test your flying skills as well as your patience. In the first bit, you need to fly through two doorways. On door will close straight away, and the other will close slowly. Since which door closes slower is random, you'll just have to guess and hope for the best. After that, go right (the left tunnel is quite literally a dead end) and you'll be flying through a long, twisted, obstacle-ridden tunnel. Go slow here, there's no need to rush this. After this, you'll meet those closing doors again, this time with two fast closing doors and one slow door. Again, this is random, so just hope for the best! Finally, enter the green tunnel (either one would do) and you'll finally clear this mess of a stage. 15) Sole Survivor Mission - ??? Plane Choice - R-103 Delphinus #3 - Here you first have to defeat Rena, then Dision. For Rena, just wait until Simon hacks into the system (a large red word "Hacking" will appear) then launch everything you've got at her - she won't budge! Dision is another matter. Fly towards Fiona so that he'll attack Fiona instead of you, then turn and shoot him down. He has a tendency to stay right behind you, launching missile after missile, so don't stay near him too much. And, oh, mind your head! Once they're both down, you've done it! You've won Ace Combat 3! [Ending D] ===================================================================== O) UPEO/Neucom Missions ----------------------- 9) Fates Intertwined Mission - Take down 4 R-531's. Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa - Here you have to destroy four stealth planes before they land and disappear from radar. This mission is particularly tough since they fade and reappear from your radar! At the start, they will be too high for you to reach. Once they get into attacking range, a few other fighters will appear and try to confuse you. Remember always to aim for the R-531s and not the R-311s. Those can be taken out later. And also, the mission will end if any one of them lands and disappears from your radar for good. 10)Reaching for the Stars Mission - Destroy 10 General Resources Carrier "Antlions" Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa, Su-37 Superflanker - Note that you'll have to destroy ALL ten Antlions BEFORE THY HIT THE GROUND! Yes I know that's hard, but slowly at them at keep your missiles firing and you should be successful. Defeat them all and three other planes show up (in red); shoot them down and you're done. Spot Dision? 11) One-way Ticket Mission - Destroy an A-Train's cargo in 4:59 mins Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa, Su-37 Superflanker - Another tough mission. Here, you have to destroy the train's cargo, but not derail the train. Hence, you can only shoot at the rear compartments and not the front ones - the targets you must not shoot is the ones marked in yellow. Just try and fly behind the train (be careful not to go too low) and shoot the rear. You can't lock-on your missiles, so just use your gun and hope you don't misfire! Let Erich and Rena handle the irritating fighters above you and you'll do fine. 12) Bug Hunt Mission - Destroy Nano-bites Plane Choice - EF2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F/A-18V Hornet ADV, F-16XFU Gyrfalcon, R-101V Delphinus #1, R-201V Asterozoa, Su-37 Superflanker - What, now you're hunting viruses? What will they think of next? Here each of your planes will be outfitted with an anti-nanobite bomb. There's no real danger in this stage other than an occasional virus attack, which does nothing other that blur your vision for a while. Take your time and wipe out those viruses (aim that diamond-and-cross at one and fire your missiles). After you've taken them all down, Rena gets infected by a virus. To save her, get very near to her and shoot a anti-nanobite bomb at her. No problem, right? 13) Pawns in the Game Mission - Destroy 2 power plants and 7 radar sites. Plane Choice - R-211 Orcinus - In this mission, you can only go below 12500 m when the radars are jammed. Dive once you see the word "Jamming" appear, then take out as many of the ground targets as possible. When the timer goes below 15 s or so, the computer will warn you to pull up. Do so; go above 12500 m and you'll be safe. Wait for the word "Jamming" to appear again and then repeat. 14) Damage Control Mission - Destroy 6 fighters Plane Choice - Su-43 Berkut - A simple mission. Hold your fire when the computer tells you to, and be careful not to shoot down the yellow planes. No problem, right? After this, you'll see a impressive cutscene introducing Rena's prototype fighter, the Night Raven. 15) Broken Wings Mission - ??? Plane Choice - Su-43 Berkut - Just destroy a massive fleet of 12 fighters with Erich. No problem. After this, you'll witness the destruction of Sophia, the flying HQ of Ouroboros. At least you don't have to destroy it in this ending... 16) Sphyrna Mission - ??? Plane Choice - Su-43 Berkut - Okay, forget what I just said. You'll have a battle with Sophia after all! Look back at previous sections for help if needed. 17) A Canopy of Stars Mission - ??? Plane Choice - Su-43 Berkut - As the final stage of this ending, you'll have to raid the HQ of your old employer, UPEO. Destroy all the fighters and the two ground bases, then dive down and destroy the evil Parks in his helicopter. As your reward, you'll get what appears to be the best ending (Rena lives). Congratulations, you've won Ace Combat 3! [Ending E] ===================================================================== 4. Character and Ending Descriptions ===================================================================== Character info's all by "Video Girl Ai" again! Thanks a bundle! The Pilots ---------- Erich=UPEO Rena=UPEO - later persuaded to join Ouroboros to pilot the Night Raven (was raised as a child to be an enhanced pilot and was trained to pilot the Night Raven) Fiona=Neucom - works undercover in UPEO for awhile, Cynthia's younger sister Cynthia=Neucom - later persuaded to join Ouroboros to create a new Utopia, Fiona's older sister Keith=General Resources LTD - first meets you in a joint training exercise with UPEO. Comrade of Dision; feels betrayed by him when he leaves for Ouroboros. Dision=Ouroboros - works for General Resources for his own purposes Supporting Cast --------------- Simon=Neucom - creates the first AI ace pilot for advanced tactical fighters - possibly involved in the Sublimation project - possibly involved in the Night Raven project (remember he knew about the Night Raven's dependency on the Aeonosphere in the "Self Awareness" mission with Cynthia?) Yoko=Neucom? - Simon's assistant - involved in the Sublimation project - Ahem... "involved" with Dision - killed (on Park's orders?) (She shows up in a black message screen box during the intro sequence. Why? She's supposed to be dead a long time ago!) Park=UPEO - military hardcase and bad guy Endings ------- Ending A - You zoom out of the electrosphere and fly past a devastated city. Then, a camera zooms in on the wreckage of a large plane. Upon closer examination, you see the pilot, Rena, lying down with her eyes wide open, seemingly in comatose. Ending B - You see your plane and the Night Raven flying side-by-side; you then dock into the HQ of General Resources LTD., where workers open up the Night Raven to see and empty pilot's seat. Ending C - Cynthia and you flying back to Neucom base, with Cynthia wondering whether what she did was right. Then, it cuts to Simon sitting in front of a computer, saying something like "good, good, it is done" and grinning to himself. Ending D - You see Fiona in her room, crying. She looks at a little hologram picture of her and her (dead) sister Cynthia. Then, a pre-recorded messages from Cynthia arrives. After seeing it, she throws her hologram picture to the floor and cries again. Ending E - Rena gets out from her crashed prototype fighter. Looks like she's contemplating suicide, when both you and Erich zoom by in your planes. She then happily waves at you. For those who still don't get the story, here's a massive **spoiler** part [thanks to "Video Girl Ai"] - One of the key characters of the game, Dision, is actually dead. For a long time, as a matter of fact. He died with his lover Yoko when a bomb planted (by Parks?) denoted - it's in one of the anime sequences. The plane which you thought carried Dision on the few missions is actually carrying a computer data of Dision, an artificial intelligence, so to speak. His downloaded personality is a program within the electrosphere, a wholly virtual computer environment that spans the globe and is used like the Internet is used today only more so. Shades of "Ghost in the Shell"? But the bigger spoiler? Your character isn't alive either! You're also a computer program, developed by Simon (if you see the Mission Simulator bit you'll see). That is why you are able to "enter" the electrosphere to challenge Dision in ending A - you're both computer programs in an internet system! ===================================================================== 5. Secrets ===================================================================== Mission Simulator - - To get a special Mission Simulator, you need to use one account to get all five endings. To do so, save at each decision point, finish the game, return to the last decision point, and get another ending, and so on. Once all 5 endings are achieved, Simon (that shifty-looking character you chat with occasionally) will appear and talk to you for a while, and then the new mode will be opened. In this mode, you get to choose and play any of the missions in the game, at any difficulty level, using almost any plane. Nothing special, really. Use Night Raven - - "Video Girl Ai" has clued me to the possibility of using the Night Raven in simulation mode. Anybody has any clue on how that is done? Game Shark Codes - Thanks to Dave Infinite Time - 80054336 2400 Infinite Missiles - 800719AA 2400 Infinite HP - 8007249A 2400 80072216 2400 800723F0 0064 Tons more codes for other games can be found at his site, by the way. ===================================================================== 6. Acknowledgements ===================================================================== - Namco, for converting me from a flight-sim hater to a junkie - http://www.gamefaqs.com/, and http://www.xoom.com, for hosting my "works of art" (not!) - "Video Girl Ai" for a massive bucketload of info. Can't thank him/her enough! - "Jeffrey Daniel Wong" for some corrections on ending C. Heh, oops. - Dave for Game Shark Codes and hosting my FAQ at his site, http://www.cheatcc.com/ ===================================================================== Ace Combat 3 : Electrosphere is the copyright of Namco =====================================================================