Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Review 

MSRP: $59.99

1- 16 Players

“Holy Sh**!! It’s like Call of Duty in the skies!”

That’s what I first thought as I played the first level of Assault Horizon. This air combat arcade/simulation hybrid from Namco re-invigorates the tired franchise and throttles up the intensity tenfold.

While older Ace Combat games were more futuristic and had some pretty “out there” plotlines, Assault Horizon features a modern military story full of intrigue, patriotism, and a hell of a lot of politics.

Written by NY Times best selling author Jim DeFelice, Assault Horizon centers on Colonel William Bishop, lead pilot of the 108th Task Force Warwolf squadron in their fight against the SRN, an insurgent group bent on conquering the Eastern African continent. He must face his nightmares, his enemies, and his nemesis; the deadly ace pilot known only as “The Shark.” If that wasn’t enough trouble for Bishop, he and his squad find out that the SRN are armed with a weapon of mass destruction called “Trinity,” and one of these can destroy an entire city.

Throughout the course of the campaign, players will get to fly a large number of aircraft as well as (for the first time in the Ace Combat franchise) Apache attack choppers, AC-130′s, and even man Blackhawk mini-guns in some of the game’s more action-packed levels. Sure these levels are few and far between the traditional dogfights that AC is popular for, and sure these levels don’t have the best controls, but they really do bring new life to the series. I can’t even count how many times I’ve re-played the chopper and the mini-gun levels because they’re so much fun.

Another new addition is the “DogFight Mode” (DFM) system that ratchets the dogfighting intensity to new heights. Basically, it’s a cat and mouse game where the pursuing aircraft tries to destroy the fleeing aircraft. The screen changes to a zoomed in over the wing view in which machine guns pepper the opponent, and rockets finish them off, blowing them to a smoldering heap of scrap metal.

If all that wasn’t enough for players, there’s the fully featured 16-player online multiplayer component that mixes both airplanes and attack choppers in a Battlefield type game mode called “Capital Conquest.” Each team take turns in either defending or attacking and taking over said bases for points, experience, and unlockable skills. Other online game modes include two kinds of co-op modes as well as the traditional deathmatch mode, first seen in Ace Combat 6 on the Xbox 360.

Of course the game does have its faults; one of the worst being the repetitive nature of some of the more traditional air combat levels. While the addition of DFM alleviates this somewhat, it still feels like each of the plane missions have players going from fight to fight, sometimes with little to no story to break up the battles. I found myself actually falling asleep during one of the later levels just because it had this “been there, done that” feeling to it.

Also I found some missions tended to drag on for too long. It felt like some of the battles were drawn out and some planes felt invincible from my missles. I could only take them down using the DFM; now this presents an issue especially when I’m surrounded by multiple enemies. Because my plane is busy pursuing the target lead, I can’t control my plane until I disengage from DFM or I destroy the lead. This left me open to enemy missiles and machine gun fire which ended with frustrating mission failed screens.

TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

AUDIO – Audio pressentation in Assault Horzion is well done. It`s got an epic blockbuster movie-type score with the occasional heavy rock anthems during key points in the game. I did have trouble differentiating the aircraft sounds as they mostly sounded the same save for the chopper, AC-130, and blackhawk. I did love the in-game flight chatter happening all around me in real-time. It was fun listening to WarWolf Squad bantering with each other or with the AC-130 pilots, you could really feel their camaraderie which helps with immersing the player into the game.

GRAPHICS – Graphically, Assault Horizon is the best looking Ace Combat to date, and one of the best looking games of 2011. The planes, choppers, and even the characters all look great, accentuated by amazing lighting and weather effects. This is nothing like the old Ace Combat games your remember. This is a whole new beast, and a great looking one at that.

On some of the real-time cutscenes, it even goes into a first person view, inviting players to immerse themselves in the moment. Though the immersion is somewhat hampered by the characters`awkward facial and body animations. Nothing that destroys the moment though.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Namco Bandai pretty much hit paydirt with Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. What was once a tired franchise gets revitalized as they westernized the series, brought in a best-selling writer, and revamped the entire engine. Not to mention their addition of some really cool aircraft that definitely brings welcome changes to the franchise. If you`ve never tried the Ace Combat franchise and love military-themed games like Call of Duty or Battlefield, then maybe Assault Horizon is the game that will get you hooked on Namco Bandai`s seminal flight sim franchise.

FINAL GRADE: 85%

Discuss:

What did you guys think of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon? Do you think this move unto a more realistic military theme can help the franchise become great again? Let us know in the comment section below.