Tag Archives: Ace Combat

Ace Combat Assault Horizon Final Review

Posted by Bodrul on 20/10/2011 – 3:36 pm
Filed under DS/DSlite, Multi Platform, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Tagged as ,

Ace Combat Assault Horizon Final Review

 

Ace Combat Assault Horizon

Firstly if you don’t know what Ace Combat is I would suggest reading the First Review of the game as it gives a short introduction into the history of ACE Combat and how it has evolved.

http://www.gamingrev.com/?p=621

Story

Ace Combat Games have never had a straight story line and repeated it in every game produced so each game in Unique in story and environment.

In Ace Combat Assault Horizon you are US air Force Pilot Wolf squadron (Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop) and are tasked with NATO to stop a splinter group who have acquired power weapon called trinity and use it to extort money from African and middle eastern nations at the threat of using the weapon on them.

NATO has allied its self with the Russian Forces to take on this threat which has just risen.

As the game progresses new threats appear and some backstabbing which I won’t mention as it will spoil the storyline, let’s just say its unexpected but interesting twist.

And trust me on this you won’t get bored of it.

Maps

The great thing about assault Horizon I would have to say is flying over real places and the detailing is great, an example of this is the air combat over Dubai as you get to fly over the palm island and the developing skyscrapers.

Weave through the buildings as you chase your targets down in Dog fights. It just feels better than the previous Ace Combat games as you are more immersed into the environment that you are put in.

you do get to fly over other historical cites, examples of which Washington DC, Moscow , Miami and much more

Aircraft Options

Unlike other Ace Combats where you are just confined to a Combat Aircraft in Assault Horizon you are given the opportunity to Pilot more than 3 Different verities of Aircraft and the occasion switch to being a Gunner.

The Aircraft that you get to fly

Multirole Fighters

these are used mostly for air superiority or for supporting ground forces, as you progress through the game you will find your self using a verity of payloads as mission objectives do change and you will find yourself in most cases taking on multiple aircraft and also ground forces.

Helicopters

For now you are stuck with the Apache Gun ship which you use to take on ground forces at Low altitudes, now as I mentioned in my original review this was a great addition as you are basically free to move as you wish and have more maneuverability.

Now the great thing about being an attack helicopter pilot you would have thought that you would just be restricted to avoiding ground fire and it would be a walk in the park, well sadly you would be very mistaken as you also have to defend you self from Hinds as they ascend on your nice shiny metal ass.

Bombers

Great addition as you get to fly a bomber, one thing I like about having a Bomber option is unlike Fires of Liberation where you had to pick a multirole attack fighter to get through enemy radar and defenses this time you have to be more aware of your surroundings and how you drop your ordnance on targets.

Also unlike using multirole fighters your bomber is less agile so it makes things more interesting when it comes to attack runs.

So no more fly around in circles and just drop hell.

 

Now I did say you get to be passengers in Aircraft and in Attack Helicopters,

Well if you played Call of Duty and you like being the gunner on the AC-130, great news for you as you get to use these weapons on ACE Combat, a bit more realistic then Call of Duty and you have to be more careful how you use your weapons.

 

Now the second is the good old war horse the Black Hawk, this you get to control the Mini Gun and take out the bad guys as your pilot circles the target Zone.

My only gripe with being the gunner is occasionally the AI aka the pilot tends to make shooting targets harder by either going to low or making it so targets aren’t in your range of fire.

When you finish the game and as you build up points you do unlock new aircraft to use in campaign and in Multiplayer


Game play

Some people have said playing Ace Combat gets repetitive as you go along, with Assault Horizon I will have to disagree just on the fact that you aren’t confined to one aircraft type and as you play the game the methods in which you accomplish missions change.

So if you are a sceptic and think oh great another jet game where it’s just aim and shoot, you are dead wrong lol

The way that you control the planes has changed a lot from the previous Ace Combat and methods of engaging enemies.

An example of this is Dog Fighting where it’s more up close and personal as you try and avoid fire from other aircraft and take out the aircraft you have set your eyes on.

Now with dog fighting things do get a bit harder as avoiding fire from other enemy planes get harder and Namco have improved the AI as they can avoid your fire and use counter measures against you.

Also the great thing about the AI it won’t hesitate to turn around and out manoeuvre you.

Now as I said you do have multiple aircraft ganging up on you and sometimes while Dog Fighting you do get that window of opportunity where you can take out multiple targets at once, not as easy as it sounds as the AI have been improved so once a window of opportunity opens up you only have a few seconds to make use of it.

Dog Fighting as you get better at it can be great and easy way to take out multiple targets as you out flank and take out aircraft one by one.

For example say you are chasing one aircraft and another one comes from behind and starts to engage you, quick out manoeuvre and you have just done a barrel role vertically and taken position right behind the perusing target and ready for taking.

You can do this multiple times and keep ahead of them.

Multiplayer

its Ace Combat so multiplayer has always been great. And this time Namco have pulled out something which is great.

to the addition of having the option to do PVP (player Vs Player) and just take off to the skies and see which Pilot has the skills to out manoeuvre and take out the opposing team,

In Assault horizon you also have a Defend your base mode where you go eight on eight to see who can defend their bases or take out the bases of the opposing team.

This is great as you can use the new acquired aircraft that you have unlocked in campaign in the multiplayer games. (So it’s highly recommended that you finish campaign first before jumping into the pool with the rest of the pilots) also it means you will have improved your handling of the aircraft as you progress through the campaign mode.

The great thing I would say about Multiplayer is FAS (Friendly Assist System) this handy system allows you to co-ordinate attacks with team members to make more effective and lethal strikes on opposing team members utilizing the most of your arsenal.

So on the Note of Multiplayer Kudos to Namco as they have taken a great leap forward and improved it greatly from fires of liberation.

Graphics

The detailing on Ace Combat has always been great, the Graphics and rendering top notch and Props to Namco as they have never failed on this aspect of the game.

Ratings for this Game

Storyline 7/10
Graphics 10/10
Game play 8/10
Aircraft 10/10
Environment 10/10
Multiplayer 7/10

Total 8/10

I would recommend this game to anyone, great game to play and never does get boring (if you don’t believe rent the game from Blockbusters, any local rental store)
and you will find it hard to put down.

 

 

Ace Combat Assault Horizon

Posted by Bodrul on 27/09/2011 – 8:56 pm
Filed under 3Ds, Multi Platform, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Tagged as , ,

Ace Combat Assault Horizon

 

If anyone has played the Ace combat series you will know it’s been around for decades and is one of the pioneers when it comes to flight simulation and flight combat.

First released in 1992 as Air Combat as an arcade game, this was then re-released as Ace combat for the playstation console.

Ace combat like most other games does not carry on the same storyline for each sequel released but new story and environment is created for new games which are produced.

This is cool, keeps things fresh.

As the years have passed Namco have changed the game and its mechanics when it comes to how the user interacts with the environment that is provided.

Ace Combat does come with a wide range of planes to choose from which can be unlocked as you progress though the game or download from the market place.

Now the Review on Ace Combat Assault Horizon

It has been over four years since Fires of Liberation and you have taken to the skies to liberate Emmeria from the forces of Estovakia.

Now you are back in your Pilot seat and heading to Africa to take on Insurgents.

Bare in mind this was only a demo so it does not reflect on the whole game and I will be writing a full review after I have played the game shortly after release.

My Experience of the game so far and what I have witnessed at Eurogamers at the Namco booth was nice, this game has potential.

The new Dog Fighting mode is sweet as it allows you to go up close and personal as you chase down the enemies and shoot them down.

It’s much easier to use your cannons on the enemy planes which for me was great and big plus.
normally you would have to judge where you bullets are going to hit but with dog fighting you are up close and personal as you use your after burners and skills at controlling your aircraft to stick to the backsides of enemy planes.

If this was good in campaign I can safely say in Multiplayer when you are taking on someone else who isn’t AI the Dog fighting will get interesting as you both try and avoid each and take them out of the skies.

In Assault Horizon you have also got the option to fly attack helicopters which is a great plus as it gives you that extra choice of type of aircraft to fly in the game.
This does change how you engage targets as unlike the conventional aircraft where you are always moving; with the attack helicopters you can remain stationary while engaging hostile forces.

The Graphics have improved and the detailing on the beautiful planes is great.
So while you fly these beasts of the sky you can admire the nice work that has gone into rendering and graphics of the planes.

Before I had played this game I had already pre-ordered it, mostly due to my like of the game and experience from Ace Combat in the past and I would recommend it to anyone to play.

Reasons why you should get this Game

1. Choice of Different Types of Aircraft ranging from Jets to Helicopters
2. The newly added Dog Fighting feature
3. Graphics are much more Crisp
4. Feel of Handling the planes vastly improved.