Learning to fly a plane in "the real world" is a complex endeavor, which thankfully Jaleco chose not to reflect too heavily in this game. Instead, you'll be taken through some simple training missions which start out slow and build up. Early training has you learning how to handle the most basic elements of the plane, from the rudders to the ailerons. Fail to learn how these work in tandem to bank, roll and turn your plane, and you'll have several unfortunate crash landings. Later missions throw you into attack mode, having you shoot down blimps and later, training planes. Thanks to the gradual nature of the training missions, a beginner can learn to professionally pilot a plane in no time flat, while the experts can just skip the training and head for a heated dogfight.

The controls are, unlike most other flight sims, easy to pick up. The more complex aerial maneuvers can be tricky, but with time and patience, you'll pick them all up and be pulling a Split S in not time. Since you have only two real weapon types in most fights; the machine gun and (if you're lucky) the rocket, handling weapons is cake-simple. Just pull the trigger and let the lead fly.

I do feel it's necessary to mention that after a short time, the single-player missions in Fighter Ace 3.5 will get stale. This game is built around the online experience, and once you take it online, that's when the fun really begins. If you don't have some kind of Internet connection, you will probably tire of this title after a few hours. The AI is pretty simplistic since, as I've said, Jaleco built Fighter Ace as an online title.

Graphics
Fighter Ace 3.5 is pretty sharp in the graphics department. Even the clunkiest video card gets pushed to the max with the aircraft details in this game. I wasn't terribly impressed with landscapes or weapon fire effects, but to look at the planes themselves (and that's what we really care about!) is a real treat. The fact that the developers managed to make near-perfect graphical representations of the 96 available planes in this game says a lot for the quality of the game as a whole.

A caveat to those of you who will be playing Fighter Ace 3.5 and only have the minimum requirements as far as graphics, RAM and processor speed: you will run into choppiness issues while playing. Since the game pulls so heavily on your system resources, a slower PC will produce a lot of choppy images and stilted movement. Be sure you have the recommended configuration before you buy Fighter Ace.

Sound
There's not a whole lot to say for the sound in Fighter Ace 3.5. That's not to say it's bad at all,, it's just that this type of game doesn't have a lot of sound requirements. Bullets zing, propellers spin and engines whine, all very realistically. Since sound is so basic in these types of games, it can get pretty monotonous (on more than one occasion, I fired my guns just to hear something besides my plane's engine).

Replayability
The single player missions/training will get old fast. Where Fighter Ace really steps up to the plate is in the multiplayer arena. Go online, hook up to Jaleco's servers, and you'll find endless replayability. Switch to any of the 96 planes of  the five main nations of the game, and you'll be assured plenty of play time from this game.  Online play is the only really enjoyable mode of play with Fighter Ace, and with your game purchase, you get three free months of online play to get you started. After that, it's $10 per month for online play.

To wrap it up, I have to say I was impressed with Fighter Ace 3.5, and that says a lot since I'm not much of a dogfighting fan. Great plane graphics, online multiplayer, what else could you ask for? The only annoyance is the monotonous sound and the occasionally long flights between missions. If you like WWII fighter combat sims, give Fighter Ace a shot.