From the start, the game offers either Standard or Expert controls. Controls are responsive with the right mix of both sim and arcade elements. But playing Ace Combat 7 via controller feels totally natural. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to play Ace Combat 7 using a HOTAS flight stick (which can be purchased separately). The game’s controls make the available jets a joy to handle. In terms of gameplay, Ace Combat pretty much sticks to its tried-and-true formula, and in this case, it’s not a bad thing.
This year, Bandai-Namco and series developer Project Aces gave us the seventh numbered entry, this time with online multiplayer, VR-exclusive missions, a few new game mechanics, and a serious bump in visual upgrades that make it the prettiest Ace Combat yet. Known for being equal parts arcadey-action and flight sim, the Ace Combat games gave us a candy-coated glimpse at what it feels like to be an ace pilot burning up the skies. Sometimes we forget that’s what it’s all about - fun.It’s been over a decade since we last saw a new mainline Ace Combat game, though the series has always been one of the most beloved and best-selling videogame franchises to grace Sony PlayStation consoles.
While it’s not a perfect experience, and it won’t satisfy flight simulator fans, it’s simply a fun flight game. The game truly competes with the likes of the Tom Clancy franchise games. When all is said and done I’m afraid Ace Combat: Assault Horizon will be lost in the Fall shuffle. At times I just wanted more, I wanted to see what the next trick developer PROJECT ACES could pull out of their sleeve. Really that’s the only major fault I can find with Assault Horizon is that, despite a ton of great parts to it, they are all rather short when left on their own. With only a handful of missions it only takes about 2 hours to complete all of them in co-op. There’s even some generous checkpoints available in co-op. Similar to DFM, ASM locks everyone into the same path for destruction as well making sure no ground target is left alive.Ĭo-Op is a bit easy though, there doesn’t really seem to be a way to fail a mission through death, instead you can only fail if you miss an objective. It’s incredibly intense and a ton of fun. It’s exactly like the single player version except you have multiple reticules and you can see all the jets during the sequence. While another player is in DFM, you can move up to the target and press Up on the D-Pad to initiate a team based sequence.
Most of the co-op missions focus on the jet based missions, but the Apache is playable in a few, including that ground support mission I mentioned earlier.Ĭo-Op expands on the DFM and ASM of the single player, allowing multiple players to join into the fray. Sadly, you’ll need to actually play through and complete these missions in single player to unlock - though someone can invite you to a game even if you didn’t unlock the mission. Pilots can select a handful of individual missions from the campaign to play in co-op. The co-op mode in Assault Horizon is playable online for three players.
There’s also persistent multiplayer progression to that ties to various unlocks which you can assign to your craft during these matches as well as the game’s cooperative mode.Ĭo-Op DFM is a ton of fun - just don't shoot your buddy! Outside of a truly excellent campaign, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon offers versus modes, including a team based conquest mode that ties itself to a web meta game. Explosions of the aircraft are varied and impressive, and there’s little touches, like oil splattering your windshield when using the machine gun on the enemy that goes a long way. Graphically every mission stands out on its own - whether its a desert, snowy mountains, rainy coastline, or the cities of Miami, Moscow and Dubai - Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is simply gorgeous.
These small breaks in the air combat really go a long way to making the game stand out.Īnother thing worth mentioning is the game’s production values. Even later missions have you using a DC-130 like that famous mission from Modern Warfare 2 or piloting a bomber and dropping laser guided bombs on targets. You’ll find yourself as a gunner out the side of a helicopter, or even piloting an Apache helo while supporting tiny special forces soldiers on the ground storming an enemy compound. But the game’s mechanics aren’t the only thing keeping Assault Horizon fresh, the variety of mission types are able to achieve this as well.