Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War serves as a prequel/expansion pack to Ace Combat 5. Set 15 years before the events of AC5, you take control of a faceless mercenary named Cypher in the Galm Squadron of the Ustio Air Force. Your objective is to push back the Belkan aggressors out of Ustio using all available aircraft at your disposal. At your command is another mercenary fighter pilot named "Solo Wing" Pixy and later PJ. ACZ offers many different types of missions and different aircraft, from the second generation fighters (F-4E Phantom, MiG-21bis Fishbed, J-35J Draken) to the fifth generation modern aircraft (F-22A Raptor, Su-37 Terminator, Su-47 Berkut). Your Wingmen's A.I. is improved from the last game. They will attack, cover you, and disperse to attack either ground, air, or both at your command. A major addition to this title is that your actions on the battle field will determine what kind of ace ranking you receive. At several points in the game, you will encounter rival aces depending what ace ranking you are on.