Finally – an Ace Combat game worth playing again. That may have come off a bit harsh but back in its glory days Namco struck a chord with flight simulation enthusiasts all those many years ago, combining the exhilarating depth of arcade-style dog-fighting with uncanny realism seldom imitated in games even today. But recent releases have been less-than-stellar, and like many fans of Namco’s franchise, I was beginning to wonder if this highway to the danger zone was becoming more like a long and winding road to oblivion. Thankfully, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon might be just what the franchise needs to help bring things back on track by injecting some much-needed originality and mainstream thinking to
Unlike recent Ace Combat titles the fictional is replaced with a scenario that feels ripped from real-world events: the year is 2015 and anti-government insurgents in Africa threaten to destabilize the world diplomacy with a weapon known as Trinity, essentially a powerful nuclear weapon, and this is where you and the special Warwolf squadron come in to help maintain the peace. This is the reason why you, the gamer, must pilot everything from jet fighters, stealth bombers, to helicopters and blow up anything that shoots back at you in gloriously detailed visuals and a robust arsenal of firepower. Yes, it’s a pretense for combat that we’ve seen dozens of times before, but true fans probably won’t need an excuse to suit up and take to the skies once again.
This change in presentation goes together with the fundamental change from strategic thinking to giving players more immediate gratifications. Worrying about your wingmen and aircraft roll dynamic is just as critical as before, yet has been considerably more streamlined to accommodate a faster-paced experience, minimizing the simulation aspect without totally taking away the feeling of accuracy and absolute control. Anxious newcomers are treated to something more direct and user-friendly with ‘Optimum’ controls, while hardened veterans can feel at home by opting for the ‘Original’ scheme instead.
No matter which style you prefer the biggest gameplay additions to the experience are the new “Dogfight Mode” (DFM) that zooms-in and locks onto a target and ensures that gunfire and missiles clearly turn hostiles into burning shrapnel, and the new “Air Strike Mode” (ASM) that’s used to decimate ground targets with extreme prejudice. This new approach is possibly Assault Horizon’s simultaneous coup de grace and Achilles heel as the process is a thrilling sequence of diving and weaving between the clouds or buildings in Paris which is as exciting as it is disorienting. But you’ll soon realize that in order to shoot anything down you’ll be required to continually employ these new features in long, drawn-out sequences that can not only dull the experience but nearly paralyze it.
The compromise is a stunning showcase of immediacy that delivers thrills-on-demand, yet this can come at the expense of the satisfaction of strategic-style gameplay; ultimately, the experience is both satisfying and somewhat one-dimensional, and is likely to divide opinion among purists.
Online multiplayer probably won’t win any awards for originality and encompasses the usual suspects such as Deathmatch and Domination (base territories) modes, as well as the new “Capital Conquest”, which pits teams of 8 vs. 8 in a global fight either attacking or defending capital cities across the globe. There’s even Mission Co-Op to further extend the replayability. Despite the lack of available players right now the experience is pretty solid and mostly lag-free if you tire of the solo campaign, and Namco-Bandai is promising additional content will be available if the game merits it, so that’s something to look for.
Honestly, even with the shortsighted faults at hand Ace Combat: Assault Horizon takes the franchise’s core fundamentals and blends them into something that’s brash and surprisingly fresh, which is exactly what Namco’s aerial combat series has desperately needed for some time. At it core, this is still very much an Ace Combat title, with explosive aerial dogfights and precision-based attacks that’ll test both your trigger finger and reflexes like few games can. But not everyone will appreciate some of more streamlining effects, and while additions like Dogfight and Air Strike modes deliver immediate thrills, they can often diminish the satisfying ‘job well done’ effect that comes from having total control over your craft. Even at the cost of alienating longtime fans, this is a worthwhile departure that’s remains pretty solid entertainment throughout.
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10/11/2011
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Namco Bandai Games
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