by: Michael Barnes

You’ll not likely read a single review of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon that doesn’t cite its narrative and structural similarities to Call of Duty, and for good reason. For the umpteenth edition of the long-running arcade-style jet fighter game, Japanese developer Project Aces has clearly and rather successfully emulated some elements of a successful Western formula, resulting in one of the better vehicle-bound shooters in recent years. It’s a gritty, great-looking and fast-playing flying circus of billion-dollar military hardware blowing each other to pieces in the skies over real-world locations ranging from the Kremlin to Miami Beach, a contrast to past Ace Combat titles that have been set in an anime-styled fantasy world that just happens to also include F-14s and MiGs. The commitment to a more realistic context does not, however, foreclose on the obligatory nuclear detonation or receiving a mission briefing that concludes with “oh yeah, there’s also a hurricane approaching.”

Despite Tom Clancy-ish story campaign concerns involving those pesky Russian nationalists and absolutely stunning, meticulously detailed aircraft models, the realism doesn’t extend to the gameplay. Ace Combat remains simplistic to control, the physics are almost non-existent, and there are no switches or settings to fuss with. It’s an old fashioned, ‘90s-style shooter at its heart, closer on the simulation paradigm to Afterburner than Falcon 3.0. This also means that some of the inherent problems of the less simulation-oriented aviation genre persist- it’s still a game where a lot of what you’re doing is tilting the thumbstick to chase an arrow around the screen until you’ve got an enemy in the reticle. Wait for it to turn red and beep, and fire. It’s unavoidably repetitive without elements of simulation to contend with and there are definite lulls in the excitement- particularly since many of the dogfight, timed escort, and ground support missions seem to drag on too long with wave after wave of bogeys appearing out of nowhere.

But Assault Horizon also has a couple of fairly innovative aces up its sleeve, mechanics that I think are a breath of fresh, scrap metal-flecked air for the genre. When you’re endlessly banking trying to get a bead on an elusive SU-25 Flanker, you might see a circle appear in the HUD over the plane. Hit both shoulder buttons, and you’ll enter a highly cinematic, functionally on-rails Dogfight Mode (DFM). The game takes control of your jet, and the autopilot handles all of the larger movement while the player maintains control over the reticle and the finer targeting. Many DFM instances will result in the enemy leading you through scenery or terrain features, but all you’ve got to do is aim and shoot. Some control is sacrificed, but the result allows far more control than a QTE- particularly when it all ends in a cutaway shot of the enemy plane exploding into fiery chunks. Enemy pilots can also engage you in DFM, requiring evasive maneuvers or judicious use of flares. Adding to the excitement, DFM can be also countered. Planes can escape DFM and reverse it in an Immelman turn, creating a much more thrilling sense of dogfighting than the endless banking and turning of past airwar games.

Putting the action on limited rails also pays off in ground support missions. Optimal bombing runs are highlighted on the hud, and if the player approaches an entry point and again hits the shoulder buttons, the aircraft locks into pattern while the player can focus on the old death-from-above. Purists will likely argue that these automated features somehow “dumb down” a series that never was very smart to begin with, but I think they’re very intelligently handled, the player retains enough control, and they serve to introduce some fun, at-the-movies razzle-dazzle into the game.

Also new to the series- and really a new concept to flight games- is the inclusion of missions that put you behind the stick of other types of aircraft. It’s a nod, again, to Call of Duty’s shifting perspective and characters. There are several AH-64 Apache helicopter missions, some Blackhawk door gunner action, and yes, of course there’s an AC130 gunship mission where you track ghost-like figures on the ground through an imaging camera before blowing them to bits with a 150mm cannon. Although the helicopter controls verge on terrible and god knows we don’t need another turret sequence in any game, they’re fun diversions for when you just don’t think you can bear to go out for another sortie in the F-22 or Mirage. I’d really like to see a follow-up expand on the concept of Ace Combat as a comprehensive aircraft title.