Although lesser know, most of the Staff Members know me as a Flyboy Aviation Junky who knows a thing or two about aircraft... Also the fact that I hold multiple champion titles on multiple leagues for Ace Combat 6 (360) and an almost peerless record of Air to Air Combat, even against US Military Pilots... Yet this latest installment of Ace Combat makes me feel a little cringing every time I pick up the controller...
The campaign feels like it lost it's Ace Combat soul a bit. I understand they went for storyline and cinematics and such.. I do love a good FF Cutscene that is overblown and extra good.. but this game feels like they're shoving the story down my throat as I play. In between missions, if you would even call it that, has nothing.. just your hanger/base and a list for the next mission you'll attempt. No sitrep, no detailed info on how well you did, no nothing really. A bit lack luster on their approach with no "that's why" or "that's how it went" between where you go and where you end up. At one moment you're in Africa, the next you're on an aircraft carrier outside Dubai... It felt pushed and a bit missing with it's story details. Without the immersion into the storyline, it actually didn't leave as good of an impression of a story to me. Yes, it's real world and the whole "what if" scenario.. but why? Who are your wingmen who are with you and why are they following you so diligently? Orders? Not enough background info to fully appreciate them... not that they do much anyway...
If you have experienced Ace Combat before and didn't screw with the settings.. you're probably in for a big surprise... The default settings is on Stupid Mode... er "Optimal" which has it so you swing left, right, up and down... nothing more. While playing the demo before picking up the game, I was actually fighting the controls to get the aircraft from screwing up 99% of the time. Flying straight as a bandit's on your tail is bad, especially if you can't skedaddle out of the way. Switching it to "Original" mode changes it to a more manageable "Past Ace Combat" feel for the controls and my new default for this game. It didn't alleviate all the problems I had with the game, though... The camera constantly pans out to things you've blown up or shakes if someone begins following you, locking your controls until its finished. This most, haphazardly has gotten me killed every time I got shot down. None was because of lack of skill or an error.. I simply couldn't control my aircraft when I needed to and flew into the ground, walls, buildings, the sea, other planes, or made me fly straight for about 10secs, Just enough time to get me killed by the AI. The new Dogfighting mode and Airstrike Mode takes away from realism with auto piloting your aircraft in the general direction of whatever it is you're attacking. It felt like a cutscene where you interact with the what's happening on screen.. Not something you really want in a game where you're supposed to have complete control over your aircraft.
Not everything was bad about the game. The Non-Mach 2+ aircraft, notably the AC-130U Spooky, AH-64 Apache Longbow, and UH-60 Blackhawk Door gunner parts, were interestingly enough to keep my eyes glued to the screen. Some areas weren't as realistic as I wanted, as it felt like a rail-shooter at times, but the things you did were diverse enough for me to keep going with guns blazing.
I haven't tried multiplayer yet but from what I can tell, they put more thought into it than Ace Combat 6, with several missions for COOP and Competetive modes. It however, lacks a straight on "MEvsYou" or team deathmatch mode, in favor of objective type games instead.
As an Ace Combat Veteran, it feels like it's catering to the newer gamers with assisted controls and easier modes, players who have never picked up an Ace Combat game before. It is unforgiving, however, to players who know how to fly and fly well with past games. Autopilot is something you use to go for long miles without any change in direction.. not dogfight with...
Also.. the AC-130 doesn't have a 120mm Mortar... It's a 105mm Howitzer.
