While the varied campaign may be a bit easy at times the overall game sure packs a punch!
Firing it up immediately into the ps3 I had high hopes for this eventhough I had heard about helicopter missions being introduced (*sigh*). Luckily the majority of the missions were dogfights in fighter jets (yay!). The gameplay is similar to other Ace Combat games (not that I'm complaining) until I was introduced to this new mechanic which I've actually forgotten the name of. Anyway to activate it, simply fly towards an enemy fighter until a green circle surrounds the enemy aircraft. When this happens quickly press L2 + R2 and then the camera shifts to an over-the-shoulder style view, (except that it's over the wing of your plane) and it closely chases target while you have to keep the now enlargend green circle over the target until a meter fills inside it and then it turns red indicating that you have a lock for your missile to fire. It usually takes two or three hits with a missile to bring the target down and they go down with a satisfying explosion of shrapnel and oil that stains your screen. Ah beautiful.
As for the helicopter/gunship missions they're not all that impressive to be honest (as I'd expect them to be). But what drives me mad about the helicopter missions is the camera is placed to close to the your helicopter and you can't see a thing past it therby forcing you to go in the cockpit view. Seriously if you're looking fun in helicopters then Apache Air Assault is actually quite decent. And for the gunship missions in Ace Combat it's just a long generic turret sequence.
Fortunately I've only counted two helicopter missions and two gunship missions in my playthrough and I think I'm pretty near the end of the story.
If I'm right then then the campaign has taken me roughly 7-8 hours to do which is alright by today's standards though I've not played the multiplayer modes yet.
To finish up I go to the topic of the Limited Edition package. It's got the standard cardboard sleeve and inside you get:
1. The Game (of course)
2. The Soundtrack
3. A unique code for a downloadable fighter (the plane isn't that good)
4. A Notebook with signatures printed on the cover.
So actually you're not missing out on much if you purchase the normal version of the game.
Summary: If you're tired of Fps's or a great fan of flying games or looking for something new to try out then buy this otherwise at least attempt to give it a go at a friends' place or buy it when it becomes cheap.