Gimmicks once again come to the forefront of an Ace Combat game.
... Ok, that's more than a few.
There are some good things to be had in Assault Horizon though. These include: a. Fantastic Multiplayer b. Loads of Unlockables c. Customizable Plane Paint Schemes d. Number of Aircraft e. a Surprising Amount of Replay Value.
As I listed above, the core gameplay for Assault Horizon is based on a gimmick. That gimmick being the Dog Fight Mode (DFM) and Air Strike Mode (ASM). There are instances where the DFM and ASM are featured so heavily that they get tiresome, but at the same time, there are some missions that I wouldn't want to do without them.
Ok, there's ONE mission that I wouldn't want to do without the ASM. That's the lone bomber mission. That's right, lone. One. Single. Uno. No other. Why advertise that there are bomber mission(s) if you're only putting one in the game!? It's the same with the attack helicopter missions. Oh wait! There are TWO of those! Two (insert Sean Astin from The Color of Magic here)!
For the most part though, the game feels as if it's forcing you to use the DFM. Well, to be honest, it basically is. The DFM has made this game about getting in behind an enemy and hitting the bumper buttons (on XBox 360). That's just not good. It makes it feel too repetitive. It would have been better if it were used more like an option rather than a necessity. But at the same time that it's repetitive, the game somehow has a good bit of replay value. I find that surprising.
The campaign, as short as it is, can actually be pretty fun at times. But it is still rather short from my perspective. Ace Combat 5 had more than 30 missions to its' campaign and there were well varied. Don't get me wrong, the missions in AH are also varied. Easily the most varied since. But the amount of missions (13 in all) is disappointingly short. Granted a few of them have multiple parts where you would fly different aircraft. That added to the mission variety. I still would have liked to have seen a longer campaign. But, even so, the campaign is rewarding with the unlockables that there are to get.
The sheer amount of unlockables is staggering! There are many things to unlock in single and multiplayer. These include extra plane colors, the ability to customize your planes' color (unlocked after completing the campaign), and the ability to select a call sign for multiplayer. Making a custom color scheme for a plane can be good for bringing the player closer to the game. But it can also be a way for people to identify you in multiplayer. I tend to use a Red Baron-esque paint scheme. I tend to stick out like a sore thumb too.
The multiplayer, as mentioned above, is fantastic. I've only had limited experience with it, but I have seen how competitive it is. Multiplayer has the standard team deathmatch, but it also has a domination mode where players have to destroy ground targets and stay in an area to take it (similar to king of the hill). My favorite though is Capital Conquest. In this mode, each team has an HQ to defend. The first team to destroy the other HQ wins. Easy right? WRONG! You have to work as a team to win in that mode. That means fighters and multiroles escort attackers to the target.
The team structure in AH's multiplayer is similar to Battlefield's. Each team in Capital Conquest has two squadrons made up of four players. The leader of each squadron may pick the squadron name from options like Alpha, Charlie, Garuda, Wardog... Wait.. What?
That's right. As you play and unlock extras, you'll get more squadron names. Some are pretty difficult to get though. Mobius being one of the more difficult.
To move on, the characters in this story were rather stock. You have Evil Russian, Heroic American, Loud-Mouthed American, Stoic General, etc. The story plays out through the eyes of American fighter pilot, Col. Bishop (can't remember his first name). That's right! You no longer play as a faceless pilot. You have a character to play now! Oh, Mobius 1 and Blaze! How we have betrayed you both!
Never seeing the face of the character you played in earlier titles help to bring you closer to the game and the story. This was done by it inserting you into the game. This made the earlier games feel more personal.
None of the characters are ever really explored. The only ones that get any background are a couple of Russians. And when we get that it's like "Alright, saw that coming. Can I get a coke now?". The lack of squadron commands really bring this to light.
In AH, you lead a four plane squadron like you did in AC5. This time, however, they run off and do their own thing. Your wingman is, really, only there for times in missions where you have to help him out of some situations (Evil Russian is on my tail! Help!). It would have been very helpful if we could have directed the squad to attack certain targets, but hey, what do I know? I'm only the consumer.
If you remember, there was another thing I said was a flaw in this game. That being what I call AttackThePlayer-itus. This is where the AI in a game only attacks you, the player. There could be an NPC destroying their base, but they want YOU dead. What did we do? Kill their dogs?
This is becoming an epidemic in games today. Too often the AI stops what it's doing to try to kill the player. It's terrible game design everywhere it appears.
The final thing is the number of aircraft in this game. There are more than in Ace Combat 4, Zero and 6, but not as many as there were in 5. They're beautifully rendered and you can make out all of the details on them. Then again, the game is a graphic masterpiece. I've never seen any hint of FPS slow down. The ground textures and details are Ace Combat. What can I say? When you fly down low in a helicopter on the mission to rescue "Red Moon" you can actually see that the little person running around on the ground is that character though. That shows me that they really worked hard on that end. But I digress.
The number of planes have been padded by a couple of bombers and helicopters. It's nice to see the F-15C back though. DLC will soon be increasing the number of aircraft though. Among these will be the Su-37, the Nosferatu from AC6, and an all new plane for this game. So, there are plenty of choices to be had in the way of aircraft.
Overall, the game has its' faults. What game doesn't? But this games' faults almost brought it down. But the good things in the game outweigh the bad. So, if you're a fan then I'd say buy it and hope the next title is back in the old Ace Combat world. If you're not a fan of the series then you may want to try it based on the fact that it isn't like other flight games. It isn't a simulator. It's an arcade flyer. As long as people realize that then no one would get their feelings hurt.