Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

[Scream Man]

As long as it isnt on rails, Ill be in for it. Be good to get back in the cockpit!

[Ghost Train]

I bet that on a given level, your aircraft is shot down, but you eject into hostile territory, and armed only with your 9mm pee shooter must fight your way through a Central European war torn country... in the midst of trying to escape you miss your chopper because of bureaucratic BS, then somehow uncover a war crime that requires you to make your way back to your ejection seat.

Confirmed weapons are the AK-47/74, AKM, Dragunov, M-4 SOPMOD with all sorts of tacticool sh!t attached, and Mossberg shotgun.

[Keith]

I bet that on a given level, your aircraft is shot down, but you eject into hostile territory, and armed only with your 9mm pee shooter must fight your way through a Central European war torn country... in the midst of trying to escape you miss your chopper because of bureaucratic BS, then somehow uncover a war crime that requires you to make your way back to your ejection seat.

Confirmed weapons are the AK-47/74, AKM, Dragunov, M-4 SOPMOD with all sorts of tacticool sh!t attached, and Mossberg shotgun.

Even more awesome, would be if Owen Wilson voiced your character!

[D.D. Ivanov]

I do not like the sound of this.

[Ghost Train]

RAMIREZ! DEFEND THE BURGER TOWN AND HOLD DOWN Y BUTTON TO TRANSFORM DIS GAME INTO A FIRST PERSON SHOOTER!

[mikeszekely]

I predict that the crazy camera and revamped controls will be the default, but ultimately optional settings. I just have a feeling that there will be "classic" settings for both.

[D.D. Ivanov]

I just don't like how they're focusing on the "Close-Range Assault" so much. Kono acts like noone liked the old Ace Combat formula, so they had to throw in rail shooting and STEEL CARNAGE to satisfy people.

Note how he talks about how it wasn't fun watching stuff blow up far away, so everything has to be in-your-face now.

[David Hingtgen]

I noticed there was no inverted flight---the planes always rolled to a max of exactly 90 degrees for a hard turn---that's usually a bad sign, and always reminds me of Starfox etc---left is TURN left, not ROLL left. Very, very bad for anything trying to be even 10% of a sim. Heck, I don't even think I saw the third dimension being used--there's left, right, and loop---that's it. (loop is probably a double-tap down or something, with double-tab up being immelmann---a yo-yo would be impossible)

Sure, classic controls may be an option, but if the whole game is redesigned around this 2D flying, that causes issues.

[Graham]

I just don't like how they're focusing on the "Close-Range Assault" so much. Kono acts like noone liked the old Ace Combat formula, so they had to throw in rail shooting and STEEL CARNAGE to satisfy people.

Note how he talks about how it wasn't fun watching stuff blow up far away, so everything has to be in-your-face now.

Ha, one of my gripes with the AC series has always been how combat is too close up and there are no real BRV missiles.

Graham

[Lethalzero]

damn no pc version again.. @_@

[Graham]

I noticed there was no inverted flight---the planes always rolled to a max of exactly 90 degrees for a hard turn---that's usually a bad sign, and always reminds me of Starfox etc---left is TURN left, not ROLL left. Very, very bad for anything trying to be even 10% of a sim. Heck, I don't even think I saw the third dimension being used--there's left, right, and loop---that's it. (loop is probably a double-tap down or something, with double-tab up being immelmann---a yo-yo would be impossible)

Sure, classic controls may be an option, but if the whole game is redesigned around this 2D flying, that causes issues.

Just buy yourself a PSP already and AC:Joint Assault (and MUF of course)!

Graham

[Duke Togo]

Color be disappointed.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

From what I read, CRA(Close Range Assault) can be enabled once you get close enough, right behind the enemy plane and hit L1 or R1. Those who played the demo stated that even if you activate CRA, you can still miss so CRA does not guarantee a kill. It can also be used in multiplayer.

F-14D is confirmed in the game and playable too. Hopefully the aircraft selection is more like Ace Combat 5/Joint Assault than Ace Combat 6. If PSP can have an ass-load of planes there's no reason why the next gen consoles can't have a wider selection.

[TSP]

Choji Kawamori's contribution for the ACAH: Project Nagase DLC.

I'm not quite impressed.

Anyone know if the Project Nagase DLCs will be Japan only? Didn't heard/read anything about it in the EU media.

Edited June 13, 2011 by TSP

[F-ZeroOne]

I'm willing to hold judgement until I've actually played it, but what does worry me a little bit is that Ace Combat is going to lose just a little bit of its soul. The storylines have never made a great deal of sense (before anyone starts, I never got the chance to play Electrosphere!), but we already have enough games where serious people give briefings to other serious people in grim Russian accents. If - as one of the games producers has said - the change is because the market doesn't seem to want games that aren't set in the "real" world, then the market can go dance with the angels!

[Keith]

Choji Kawamori's contribution for the ACAH: Project Nagase DLC.

I'm not quite impressed.

Anyone know if the Project Nagase DLCs will be Japan only? Didn't heard/read anything about it in the EU media.

Wait a minute, you're on Macross World & don't know how to spell "Shoji Kawamori" ?!?!

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Choji Kawamori's contribution for the ACAH: Project Nagase DLC.

I'm not quite impressed.

Anyone know if the Project Nagase DLCs will be Japan only? Didn't heard/read anything about it in the EU media.

Frankly, I am sick of forward swept wings.

[TSP]

Wait a minute, you're on Macross World & don't know how to spell "Shoji Kawamori" ?!?!

Oh, crap!!! Please don't tell my mom

[Duymon]

Choji Kawamori's contribution for the ACAH: Project Nagase DLC.

I'm not quite impressed.

Anyone know if the Project Nagase DLCs will be Japan only? Didn't heard/read anything about it in the EU media.

It looks like a discount version of the Morgan

To be honest, I could care less about this new fictional craft.

As always if they have the YF-23 I'm happy

[Keith]

Oh, crap!!! Please don't tell my mom

Already did. She said she's going to give you an even bigger spanking than I gave her.

[Loop]

Already did. She said she's going to give you an even bigger spanking than I gave her.

Ouch.....

[Chronocidal]

Meh.. The Morgan always looked like it needed the boat tail extended to match the wing planform better. I did a few tweaks to it in a drawing once, and it looked much better. Comparitively, this new plane is a lot more structurally sound looking, despite the double intake not really making any sense.

As for the YF-23... only if the developers pull their heads out of whatever bodily orifice it was firmly lodged in for AC6. Half the fun of the games is unlocking all the variants of the aircraft, and the jump from AC0 to AC6 was just incredbly irritating.

Also.. I miss the days when you could go out to stores and buy a complete game. Computer games have had expansion packs for years of course, but the DLC for AC6 made me want to strangle someone.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

Meh.. The Morgan always looked like it needed the boat tail extended to match the wing planform better. I did a few tweaks to it in a drawing once, and it looked much better. Comparitively, this new plane is a lot more structurally sound looking, despite the double intake not really making any sense.

As for the YF-23... only if the developers pull their heads out of whatever bodily orifice it was firmly lodged in for AC6. Half the fun of the games is unlocking all the variants of the aircraft, and the jump from AC0 to AC6 was just incredbly irritating.

Also.. I miss the days when you could go out to stores and buy a complete game. Computer games have had expansion packs for years of course, but the DLC for AC6 made me want to strangle someone.

You would probably love Joint Assault for PSP. Tons of upgrade options within the game itself.

[Fly4victory]

Expansions are fine if you get it on disk and not as a download.

The one option I would like to see in the new ace combat is a way to turn off the stupid chatter. It is a radio not a cellphone.

[anime52k8]

Expansions are fine if you get it on disk and not as a download.

The one option I would like to see in the new ace combat is a way to turn off the stupid chatter. It is a radio not a cellphone.

[Chronocidal]

Is it bad that I kinda cheered when that happened? I mean, besides the "less than worthless" status your wingmen in those games usually get, he was flat out asking to get blasted. You DO NOT EVER talk about going home to get married during a battle.

I had to give AC5 credit though. They actually gave players their wish, and killed off the most annoying character, but did it in such a way that you could actually wind up feeling bad for wanting it to happen.

[Fly4victory]

Is it bad that I kinda cheered when that happened?

No, there are times I want to shoot down the wing-man.

I hope with a new Ace Combat release we see a re-release of the old Bandai Felkin model and one of the Morgan.

[Ghost Train]

P.J. , RIP, be glad that you were shot down by the second most beloved enemy ace of the whole saga though...

In more recent games the radio chatter was a bit annoying, but in AC5 it was well done, and each pilot of Wardog/Razgrizz had a fairly distinct personality. I'm wondering if there is a way to integrate voice in future games so I can be a real squadron leader and be like:

Hey <you>! Get this boggy off my 6.

Hey <you>! Attack this target.

Nagase... if you keep flying like that... wait, can I buy you a drink?

[soul.assassin]

^

There was a voice command system like that years before, which allowed certain voices and phrases spoken into the mike to be mapped to command and combo keys. With advances in voice processing, it should be possible to have adequate amount of interaction with the NPCs.

BTW, I'd rather have the radio chatter on, as it adds to the atmosphere (I find the radio chatter on Wings Over Europe okay).

[Chronocidal]

^

There was a voice command system like that years before, which allowed certain voices and phrases spoken into the mike to be mapped to command and combo keys. With advances in voice processing, it should be possible to have adequate amount of interaction with the NPCs.

They tried something like this with hawx, it was much less than useful at best. All I remember is a flood of pissed of people who noticed that the voice command system tended to cause them to fire off a missile every other second. I don't know how it was supposed to work really, but the idea that you should rely on voice commands to fire your weapons is fairly well indicative of the level of understanding that went into making the game.

In other news.. after seeing this clip, I really don't know what to expect.

I have to be very honest.. after seeing this, I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the guy upside the head. Seriously, after all the success you've had with a working formula, you go and change it just because it felt old? Changing something just for the sake of changing it is very rarely, if ever, a good thing.

I just don't know. It sounds like they're falling into the same trap that hawx did, trying to appeal to a wider player base. When are people going to realize that trying to attract a larger audience to a niche genre doesn't work?? It has two main effects: 1. Pissing off your original fanbase due to the compromises you have to pull to bring more people in, and 2. Not bringing in enough new interest to make up for the original customers you lost.

It's like they're trying to bring the current generation's fascination with blood and/or gore to the flight game genre, where frankly, I don't care how cool it might look, it really has no place. They're rebuilding the entire game around this concept of being up close and personal with things blowing up, and getting further and further from anything aircraft actually do. I mean, the guy specifically mentions how you "used to launch missiles at stuff far away, so we want to bring you in closer." There are not enough faces or palms on earth.

I'll have to try the demo I'm sure, but the more I think about this, the more I worry. They keep talking about everything being changed, and different, and I can't help thinking they're going to throw out a good amount of what people used to enjoy about these games just for the sake of seeing close-ups of shrapnel. Redesigning it from the ground up, just to make it different?

Does anyone even remember "New Coke?"

[Gaijin]

They tried something like this with hawx, it was much less than useful at best. All I remember is a flood of pissed of people who noticed that the voice command system tended to cause them to fire off a missile every other second. I don't know how it was supposed to work really, but the idea that you should rely on voice commands to fire your weapons is fairly well indicative of the level of understanding that went into making the game.

In other news.. after seeing this clip, I really don't know what to expect.

I have to be very honest.. after seeing this, I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the guy upside the head. Seriously, after all the success you've had with a working formula, you go and change it just because it felt old? Changing something just for the sake of changing it is very rarely, if ever, a good thing.

I just don't know. It sounds like they're falling into the same trap that hawx did, trying to appeal to a wider player base. When are people going to realize that trying to attract a larger audience to a niche genre doesn't work?? It has two main effects: 1. Pissing off your original fanbase due to the compromises you have to pull to bring more people in, and 2. Not bringing in enough new interest to make up for the original customers you lost.

It's like they're trying to bring the current generation's fascination with blood and/or gore to the flight game genre, where frankly, I don't care how cool it might look, it really has no place. They're rebuilding the entire game around this concept of being up close and personal with things blowing up, and getting further and further from anything aircraft actually do. I mean, the guy specifically mentions how you "used to launch missiles at stuff far away, so we want to bring you in closer." There are not enough faces or palms on earth.

I'll have to try the demo I'm sure, but the more I think about this, the more I worry. They keep talking about everything being changed, and different, and I can't help thinking they're going to throw out a good amount of what people used to enjoy about these games just for the sake of seeing close-ups of shrapnel. Redesigning it from the ground up, just to make it different?

Does anyone even remember "New Coke?"

I don't agree with it but, to be fair, people I know who don't play Ace Combat shy away from it for precisely that reason. They want in your face action. Makes sense to attract newcomers to the series. It's inevitable. Look at what happened to SOCOM.

[Ghost Train]

They tried something like this with hawx, it was much less than useful at best. All I remember is a flood of pissed of people who noticed that the voice command system tended to cause them to fire off a missile every other second. I don't know how it was supposed to work really, but the idea that you should rely on voice commands to fire your weapons is fairly well indicative of the level of understanding that went into making the game.

In other news.. after seeing this clip, I really don't know what to expect.

I have to be very honest.. after seeing this, I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the guy upside the head. Seriously, after all the success you've had with a working formula, you go and change it just because it felt old? Changing something just for the sake of changing it is very rarely, if ever, a good thing.

I just don't know. It sounds like they're falling into the same trap that hawx did, trying to appeal to a wider player base. When are people going to realize that trying to attract a larger audience to a niche genre doesn't work?? It has two main effects: 1. Pissing off your original fanbase due to the compromises you have to pull to bring more people in, and 2. Not bringing in enough new interest to make up for the original customers you lost.

It's like they're trying to bring the current generation's fascination with blood and/or gore to the flight game genre, where frankly, I don't care how cool it might look, it really has no place. They're rebuilding the entire game around this concept of being up close and personal with things blowing up, and getting further and further from anything aircraft actually do. I mean, the guy specifically mentions how you "used to launch missiles at stuff far away, so we want to bring you in closer." There are not enough faces or palms on earth.

I'll have to try the demo I'm sure, but the more I think about this, the more I worry. They keep talking about everything being changed, and different, and I can't help thinking they're going to throw out a good amount of what people used to enjoy about these games just for the sake of seeing close-ups of shrapnel. Redesigning it from the ground up, just to make it different?

Does anyone even remember "New Coke?"

Today's generation is interested in a quick burst of action with a dose of slow motion, acrobatics, reloading a fire-arm, followed by a backflip, a high-five, while having the ability to blurt out some profanity over the mic, then posting it on the youtube and/or the twitter thinking you're funny, but you're not .

I don't mind re-doing certain elements of the genre though. They can certainly put slightly more effort into crafting an actual story instead of the same old Country A invades Country B scenario. The Steel Carnage thing might work out if done right, but other elements like being a gunner or piloting a heli just feel terribly out of place.

[Chronocidal]

The problem isn't in the execution.. It might be interesting to try, but I'm honestly sick of the focus on blood and gore in so many games, even if it is realistic. Just because we have the graphics to render it well now doesn't mean we have to go into slow motion to see all the different parts of enemies flying everywhere. The novelty wears off really fast, and if they've rebuilt much of the game to revolve around it, I don't know what'll be left when people get tired of it.

Really, the Ace Combat series is already an incredibly niche franchise. Unless someone is already a fan of this type of game, the odds are heavily against attracting any new players in significant numbers. Changing things that drastically to try attracting a larger playerbase is a huge risk, because you stand to lose a lot more than you could potentially gain.

In my experience, the type of people who like aircraft games are incredibly picky about what they like, and changing anything that was previously enjoyed brings with it the risk of turning a lot of fans of the genre away from the game entirely.

Edited June 21, 2011 by Chronocidal

[aerocombatpilot]

They tried something like this with hawx, it was much less than useful at best. All I remember is a flood of pissed of people who noticed that the voice command system tended to cause them to fire off a missile every other second. I don't know how it was supposed to work really, but the idea that you should rely on voice commands to fire your weapons is fairly well indicative of the level of understanding that went into making the game.

In other news.. after seeing this clip, I really don't know what to expect.

I have to be very honest.. after seeing this, I wanted to reach through the screen and slap the guy upside the head. Seriously, after all the success you've had with a working formula, you go and change it just because it felt old? Changing something just for the sake of changing it is very rarely, if ever, a good thing.

I just don't know. It sounds like they're falling into the same trap that hawx did, trying to appeal to a wider player base. When are people going to realize that trying to attract a larger audience to a niche genre doesn't work?? It has two main effects: 1. Pissing off your original fanbase due to the compromises you have to pull to bring more people in, and 2. Not bringing in enough new interest to make up for the original customers you lost.

It's like they're trying to bring the current generation's fascination with blood and/or gore to the flight game genre, where frankly, I don't care how cool it might look, it really has no place. They're rebuilding the entire game around this concept of being up close and personal with things blowing up, and getting further and further from anything aircraft actually do. I mean, the guy specifically mentions how you "used to launch missiles at stuff far away, so we want to bring you in closer." There are not enough faces or palms on earth.

I'll have to try the demo I'm sure, but the more I think about this, the more I worry. They keep talking about everything being changed, and different, and I can't help thinking they're going to throw out a good amount of what people used to enjoy about these games just for the sake of seeing close-ups of shrapnel. Redesigning it from the ground up, just to make it different?

Does anyone even remember "New Coke?"

I wouldn't worry too much. I saw an interview on E3 and someone asked the question: "Can the close range assault be turned off?" and the answer was "Yes it can". Judging by the interview, Assault Horizons really just tweeks the ace combat games. I consider myself a "hardcore" Ace Combat fan, and I was worried when helicopters were put into the game. I want to fly fighter jets, not helicopters in my Ace Combat games, however after seeing the demo with the F-22 over Miami and the Apache

in Africa, it looked like fun!!! I don't think any Ace Combat fan will have any "difficulty" playing Assault Horizons and will probably enjoy it as well.

[USCOLMRNE]

I was at e3 and got a chance to play the F-22 and Apache Demo. The controls are the same for the most part like your typical Ace Combat game. Graphics are pretty good overall, the plane damage, more detailed cockpit, and environment. When you are close to the enemy you have the option to press the triangle to go into that close range mode. Its very fun and intensifies the battle even more. The Apache demo was good also. Not difficult to get used to the controls during the tutorial. I cant express how much attention to detail on cockpit that has been placed. For us PS3 owners the wait has been justified. On a side note the planes do yaw a little like in HAWX 2 so you will find yourself using the rudder frequently.