Reviews - Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

[HEXUS]

A new-look Ace Combat game takes to the skies. But is the series heading in the right direction?

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[crossy]

Pretty fair assessment all told.

I count myself as a big fan of the previous AC game - I played the single player missions again, and again, and again, ....

Problem with this one though is that the AI can sometimes make you think that you're the only Allied plane in the air, and someone's stuck a big neon "shoot me" sign on you. With the old game, at least you could all in some assist from the wingman. Plus that last "wingman rescue" felt really dumb.

Also not that impressed with the default control system - doesn't allow the full movement that was present in the old game.

Interestingly enough, looking at other forums there's been a lot of slagging that it's too dependent on the DFM modes and as a result at bit like flying bemani. What these folks don't realise is that the DFM etc modes are there as aids - you don't have to use them. E.g. I didn't bother with one of the "on-rails" strafing runs and did my own route instead - the game accepted this quite happily.

The other thing I miss from the old AC game is the ability to refuel/rearm/repair by flying to a certain point. Okay it made the missions a lot longer if you decided to do this, but on the other hand you could be a bit more "experimental" with the way you used ordinance. E.g. on the last copter mission I tried I was literally down to gun plus half a dozen rockets.

In summary, I don't think this latest game in necessarily "better" than the old one - but it's certainly different. Oh, and I'm a bit of a Jim De Felice fan - mainly for his "Dreamland" collaborations. One side thing though - the music in this latest release is very good.

[OilSheikh]

AC Squadron Leader is the best in my opinion. Hvaing played the demo, I agree with crossy, you dont have ton use DFM. You can be old-school and still shoot down your target but it takes longer and is challenging.