| Ace Combat: Assault Horizon | |
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Cover released in North America |
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| Developer(s) | Project Aces |
| Publisher(s) | Namco Bandai Games |
| Director(s) | Kazutoki Kono Natsuki Isaki |
| Series | Ace Combat |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | NA October 11, 2011[1] JP October 13, 2011 EU October 14, 2011 |
| Genre(s) | Arcade, combat flight simulator |
| Mode(s) | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Blu-ray Disc, DVD |
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is an installment of the Ace Combat arcade combat flight video game series developed by Project Aces and published by Namco Bandai for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. [2]
Contents |
The story is written by author Jim DeFelice, and takes place in the year 2015. Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop is the leader of the Warwolf Squadron, which is part of the 108th Task Force, a large multinational U.N. military force composed of NATO and Russian forces that are sent to stop the SRN, a rebel insurgent group funded by the Russian crime syndicate Blatnoi, threatening the Eastern African continent. Tensions flare between the Russian and NATO forces, particularly between NATO General Pierre La Pointe and Russian General Ivan Stagleishov. Other soldiers, such as Russian Major Sergei Illich, are happy to serve with his American counterparts and strikes up a fast friendship with Bishop and his wingman, Jose "Guts" Gutierrez. However, during their attacks against the rebels, the Task Force learns the SRN possesses a fearsome weapon called "Trinity" which contains the power of a tactical nuclear weapon. When the SRN attacks the 108th Air Base, Stagleishov betrays the 108th when he and half of the Russian pilots defect and join the SRN. After fighting off Stagleishov's forces, Bishop encounters the leader of the SRN mercenaries, Colonel Andrei Markov, and engages him in a brief aerial duel, with Markov gaining the upper hand by severely damaging Bishop's fighter. Fortunately for Bishop, Markov runs low on fuel and retreats, but not without mocking his American rival. After Bishop returns to base, Markov demonstrates the power of Trinity by using it to destroy a nearby city.
Reeling from the discovery of Trinity and the defection of Stagleishov's pilots, the 108th scrambles to try and stop the SRN and Blatnoi, who have threatened to use Trinity on Dubai. While Warwolf Squadron intercepts bombers and fighters headed to the city, Shooter and Nomad Squadrons intercept rebel cargo ships in hopes of seizing their Trinity warheads. However, the threat against Dubai is revealed to be a false-flag operation. Blatnoi's true goal was to stage a coup in Russia, led by Stagleishov with the support of sixteen divisions of the Russian military. The New Russian Federation (NRF) quickly takes control of Moscow and several areas around Russia. The 108th, NATO and loyalist Russians work together to battle the NRF. Illich, who remained loyal with the 108th during the Russian defection in Africa, also helps Bishop throughout the campaign. The Allied forces eventually manage to liberate Moscow, despite the NRF's attempts to stop them by using Trinity. Bishop also gets his revenge on Markov by shooting him down during the battle. Stagleishov contacts the Allied forces to negotiate the NRF's surrender, but is suddenly assassinated by Markov. Unaware of the live video feed, Markov reveals his true intention was not to take control of Russia, but to take revenge on America for the death of his wife, who was killed in an American air strike during the Bosnian War. He steals the last remaining Trinity warhead and escapes to South America with his followers, where he plans to attack the United States directly.
Illich is revealed to have been in league with Markov since the events in Bosnia, and betrays the 108th by joining Markov's forces bound for the US. In order to counter Markov, Warwolf Squadron is immediately relocated to Miami to intercept Markov's forces if they attempt to attack. This makes Bishop uneasy, since he has had recurring nightmares of being killed by Markov in an aerial duel over Miami. As expected, Markov and his pilots attack Miami in full force, but are eventually repelled by Warwolf Squadron and the US Air Force. However, Markov manages to ambush Bishop, who is saved when Guts blocks Markov's missile with his own plane. Guts is forced to eject, while Bishop fires at Markov's plane, managing to damage the Trinity warhead before being forced to break off and refuel. Bishop catches up to Markov and Illich as they refuel off the coast of Florida. Bishop pursues Illich into a hurricane and engages in duel, which results in Illich's death. Bishop proceeds to Washington D.C. and finds the city already under attack by Markov's forces. Bishop and other USAF pilots struggle to repel the assault. When Markov's forces successfully neutralize all US ground defenses, Markov then reappears, intent on using Trinity on the White House. However, due to the damage he sustained in Miami, he can only fire the warhead at short range, forcing him to duel Bishop again. Markov manages to fire the warhead before being shot down and killed, but Bishop manages to intercept the warhead and destroy it. Upon landing his plane, Bishop is given a hero's welcome.
After the post credits, Guts is revealed to be still alive and being rescued.
Confirmed locations in the game are Miami, Washington, D.C., Dubai, Paris, East Africa, the Middle East, and Moscow. Tokyo and Hawaii will be included as post-launch downloadable content. It will also take place in the Black Sea (where an A-10 Thunderbolt is seen in the teaser trailer). It is the first in the Ace Combat series on consoles to take place on the real Earth (with Ace Combat Joint Assault being the first Ace Combat game to feature the real Earth), rather than on what longtime fans have dubbed "Strangereal", the setting for Air Combat through Ace Combat 6/Ace Combat X. It is also the first of the new generation of the AC series not to use fictional, "overpowered" aircraft such as flying super-fortresses (I.E. Gleipnir, XB-0, etc.)
The developers are using satellite imagery to accurately render the real-life locations, so it is possible for the player to pick out actual buildings and locations (such as individual houses) while playing the game.
The major new gameplay feature is a system called "Close-Range Assault" (CRA), which aims to increase the intensity and bring the action closer to the player, without the feeling of "shooting at faraway dots" commonly seen in flight games. In the game, it is named "Dogfight Mode" (DFM) for air-to-air battles and "Air Strike Mode" (ASM) for air-to-ground targets.[3] They are not optional, as certain planes cannot be destroyed without CRA. To initiate DFM, the player taps LB+RB on the Xbox 360 and L2+R2 on the PS3 when they have gotten close enough to the plane they are targeting. ASM is initiated by pressing the same buttons at specific points around the map.
Also new to the series are attack helicopter missions, stealth bomber missions, and levels where the player controls a Black Hawk door gunner and an AC-130.
A new multiplayer mode called "Capital Conquest" involves two teams of 8 vs. 8 where each team takes turns either defending or attacking a world capital, such as Paris and Washington, D.C.. In this mode, fighters, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and bombers can fly together simultaneously. Each type of aircraft will have its advantages and disadvantages, having specific roles in the battlefield.[4][5]
There are two control schemes in the game: 'Original' and 'Optimum'.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon makes the infamous "spamming missile" or "pixel shooting" techniques ineffective now especially when battling against humans. In order to shoot an ace the gameplay now requires the player to either surprise them or to enter close combat. The 'Optimum' mode makes it easier to learn.
In addition to these settings there are many options to tweak the controls and adapt to the player's style. It includes the choice of normal or reverse settings for the Pitch Control, Camera Control, Throttle, Yaw, and the order maps and weapons are cycled through. High G turns return from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, as well as Auto Pilot if both shoulder buttons are held down.
Last, the Flight Assistance provides opportunities to players such as Auto-leveling, Automatic Collision Prevention, Automatic Stall Prevention, Sight Assist, and Automatic Forward Target Selection. Flight Assistance can be turned on or off.
Ace Combat Assualt Horizon on XBOX 360 will support the Ace Edge Joysticks released with Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
Four squadrons are known at this time, and they are all elements of the 108th Task Force (which means they are all allied with the player). No enemy squadrons have been named as of yet (the only one referred to so far is the one led by Colonel Markov). [6]
(Note: A Flight consists of three to six aircraft, while Squadrons consist of three or four flights, with a total of 9 to 24 aircraft.)
For European regions, Namco Bandai is releasing a "Limited Edition" that also includes the game's soundtrack, a redeemable code to download the F-4E Phantom II aircraft, and a notebook signed by the development team, all in a folded box. Gamers who pre-order this Limited Edition of the game will get it for the same price as the standard edition.[7]
In Japan, gamers who pre-order the game will get a code to download the F-4E Phantom II.[8] In the United States, Gamestop is offering the plane as an exclusive pre-order bonus.[9]
The game was first hinted at by a trademark filing by Namco Bandai in April 2010.[10] It was officially announced along with a gameplay trailer on August 9, 2010. Gameplay has been expanded to include the use of helicopters and possibly gunships as well. The trailer showed the player using a AH-64D Apache Longbow gunship, and occupying the gunner's position on the UH-60 Black Hawk while attacking a desert village. Additionally the setting appears to have shifted away from the conflicts between fictional nations from previous games to the 21st century Earth. In the trailer the US Air Force is engaged in dogfighting with Russian Navy fighters (or forces posing as such) over Miami. The player is in an F-22 engaging and destroying several enemies before being shot down himself. Pierre La Pointe, the commander of the 108th Task Force, briefs the Task Force on an Ace leading the attack on Miami named Col. Markov who has been nicknamed Akula (Russian for shark) because of the design on the nose of his plane. Russian involvement in the conflict has been described as "advisers and mercenaries" in the E3 Trailer. Another scene showed a US A-10 attacking a fleet of naval ships.[2] The extended trailer had additional scenes of air battles with the player flying an F-35 and an F-16 over Dubai and an attack on a desert oil facility. It is also revealed that the time is sometime in 2015 and will also take place in East Africa. [11]
A demo was released on September 13, 2011. All PlayStation 3 players could download it for free; however, Xbox 360 players needed to have Xbox LIVE Gold for the first week in order to download it; it then migrated to Xbox LIVE Silver as well. The demo includes Mission 1 and Mission 3, with the iconic air battle over Miami from the trailers and the attack helicopter rescue operation in Africa, respectively.[12]
Macross creator Shouji Kawamori designed a fictional plane for the game, known as the "ASF-X Shinden II", which was released October 25th and is currently being offered as downloadable content. It can be purchased in the PlayStation Store for $7.99 USD or in the XBox Marketplace for 640 MS Points.[13]
The game has garnered mostly positive reviews. Metacritic has garnered a 79 out of 100 (based on 56 reviews) for the Xbox 360[14] release and a 75 out of 100 (based on 18 reviews) for the PlayStation 3 release. Critics praised the real-world settings, graphics and the soundtrack, but was criticized for being repetitive and overly scripted. Critics also praised the voice-acting of the characters. Reception from the audience have also been positive. With Metacritic giving a 9.0/10 for the Xbox 360. Many gamers felt that the new gameplay elements kept the series "fresh and exciting". IGN gave it a 7.5 out of 10. However, Gamespot gave the game a 5.5 out of 10 and 1UP gave it a D+ (33 out of 100).[15]
So far, the game has sold over 470,000 copies combined, with the PS3 at 310,000 copies and the 360 160,000.
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