Conquer Online meets Subspace, with predictable results.
User Rating: 3.5 | Air Rivals PC
Space Cowboy/Air Rivals/Ace Online is supposed to be an MMO flight sim. While this may technically be true, the emphasis on the MMORPG side of the gameplay greatly overshadows the flight simulation side. One you get past the first few levels, it quickly becomes apparent that this is the same generic stat based grindfest as every other KRPG on the market. One example of this: In a flight sim, shots are avoided by moving somewhere the shot isn't. Conversely, targets are hit by firing so that the shot intersects the target hitbox. This has been the case in every flight sim since Space Invaders, except for Space Cowboy. In SCO, shots are avoided by putting points into your 'dodge shots' stat, while targets are hit by putting points into your 'hit target' stat. Aiming is just a formality, as the computer decides whether or not you hit anything. This gets a bit ridiculous later in the game, when stationary targets the size of buildings have so many points in their 'dodge shot' stat that less than 1 in 10 shots will connect if you park several metres away before you open fire. Apparently Masang thought they could replace actual hit detection with a random number generator and no one would notice. Given this, it's unsurprising that the dominant aircraft are the helicopter and the tank (yes, the best aircraft in a flight sim is a tank. Only in Korea...), because they don't have to do any actual flying and can just concentrate on the random number generator. A second example: In most flight sims, it's generally accepted that the focus of the game is going to be on flying. In SCO, we've already established that the best aircraft are a helicopter and a tank, so it should come as no surprise that most combat consists of the players either parking or hovering a few hundred metres away from each other while they shoot. This is the sort of combat you see in Scorched Earth, or rather it would be if Scorched Earth didn't require you to aim and instead used a random number generator.
In short, it's exactly like every other Korean MMORPG out there, just with different player models. If you're the kind of person who likes this, you'd probably like Conquer Online a lot more.
