Overall Feeling:
Assault Horizon may present a drastic change in the Ace Combat series but the more Western approach taken in the game pays off exponentially. Far from being a complete masterpiece of the flight sim/action genre, Assault Horizon does provide an extremely good base of how to make a game exclusively set in the air entertaining. With lots of mission variety and stunning action moments thanks to the Dogfight Mode mechanic, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is a totally unique game that thankfully doesn’t feel like an ill attempt at adapting an existing franchise to fall within the Call of Duty mold.
The Pros:
+ Jet controls feel perfect and have the right mix of accessibility and skill required for advanced maneuvers.
+ Dogfight Mode is a terrific addition and thankfully doesn’t make the game too easy.
+ Story presents a mostly level-headed tale that feels real and isn’t hackneyed.
+ Mission variety is incredible and offers some tense moments towards the latter half of the campaign.
+ Visuals are nice across the board and in particular the fire and damage effects are top notch.
The Cons:
- Some missions can drag on for way too long.
- Apache and bomber based missions present some nice variety but simply aren’t as much fun as the main jet missions.
- Online modes leave a bit to be desired.
These days war games can be put into two distinct categories: modern warfare based FPS games or sci-fi based FPS games. In between those two not so distinct types there may be a few titles here and there that branch off into another realm like an RTS for example, but the dominant force nowadays is developers force feeding us a FPS game with a “gritty” war feel to it.
