Ace Combat Assault Horizon

[CaptHawkeye]

Next major Ace Combat game on the way.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6272780.ht ... Btitle%3B4

It's set in our world, no longer another planet where plausible storylines stand a chance. I bet it will be more generic invasion usa stuff.

On the bright side, flyable helicopters and destructible terrain. As well as a new combat system less about turn wars. Though it's obviously ripping of HAWX' "pilot sense" system.

Let's see if they head more toward the direction of the previous games and actually make combat at least a bit of a challenge again. In AC6 you could literally out run missiles which totally gimped the challenge.

[JointStrikeFighter]

A mechanic to create a soft ceiling [AAA, SAMS, fog] would instantly make AC games alot better because forcing you to stay at relatively low altitude instantly means more adrenaline, more risk, less freedom of infinite turning.

[Stark]

I think you mean laser microwave shields.

Stealing the Macross-style 'fly through the computer-generated path to avoid the missiles' stuff would be a good idea, but seriously if it's not coop I won't even bother playing it.

[Ford Prefect]

I think part of the charm of Ace Combat was the fact that it was set in some weird other world populated by countries with funny names and a propensity of wacky superweapons. On the other hand, that actually looks really cool, and if the missions were generally that intense that it could worth it. Also am I crazy or did I see QTEs? And an Apache doing a barrel roll?

[JointStrikeFighter]

Apaches can both barrel roll AND loop.

[Darksider]

I didn't see any superweapons in the trailer, so it looks like they're doing a straight up USA vs. designated badguy fight. IIRC that Ace's name sounded Russian, maybe they're aping the "story" of MW2?

EDIT: It looks like they're actually keeping country-specific planes for this one, which is good because that whole "enemies and allies flying the exact same planes" thing they did in the others would look really stupid in a game set in the real world. That guy talking about the ace "akula" sounded french, maybe it's NATO vs. Resurgent Russia?

[CaptHawkeye]

Why can't they just have NATO vs. "fictional country which never existed but does for the game's sake"? Have the best of both worlds.

[JointStrikeFighter]

It doesn't matter anyway; the Russia in these games is always a fictional country that never existed

[Darksider]

Still, going with the real world setting seems to have made them drop some of the insanity and..... oh wait never mind.

Seems like they're going for one last superweapon-filled game with a shitty story and worse dialog before this "rebirth."

[CaptHawkeye]

I hear the Russian Federation is more dangerous than the Soviet Union ever was.

It's Ace Combat. How can they not have super weapons of thigh slapping hilarity? I look forward to fighting what will probably be a transforming flying submarine battleship scooter that shoots at guys with nuclear gatling guns and disco laser beams.

But god this war...this bloodshed is so pointless!

[Ford Prefect]

Honestly, if it didn't have a huge dumb superweapon I would have been totally out.

[AniThyng]

I hope they keep the allied assist stuff from ac6. That was awesome

[Darksider]

Honestly, if it didn't have a huge dumb superweapon I would have been totally out.

It's Ace Combat, so i'm sure it's going to have at least some kind of insane superweapon, but they seem to be going for much better story and voice acting with Assault Horizon. Compare the AH trailer with the PSP game trailer I just posted. Which one seems better to you?

[Ritterin Sophia]

I'm still boggled by that Apache doing a barrel to avoid some type of SAM.

[Starglider]

I see ACES have finally caught up with the destructible scenery bandwagon, should be pretty spectacular at least. Also glad that the dev team seem taking some ideas from HAWX; let's be honest, the only change to the gameplay through all three PS2 games was marginally better enemy AI. Helicopters are also nice, I've been making do with shooting stuff up in Mercenaries 2, Just Cause etc for too long. Would be nice if we could also take control of the bombers briefly for bomb runs, but I guess it's too much dev time for such a minor feature (Blazing Angels only justified it due to the lengthly turret gun sections).

Putting it in the 'real' world is fine for one game, variety and all that, but I hope the AC world isn't abandoned completely as it was a neat setting. Even with the crazy superweapons it was easier to suspend disbelief than for the HAWX plot. Anyone care to bet on whether it will still include a fictional superplane? I'm pretty sure a combat-ready T-50 will be in there, wouldn't be surprised if the Berkut still makes it in as well.

P.S. We need a Blazing Angels 3 set in the Korean War period, consisting mainly of secret missions to foil Soviet Superscience plots for communist world domination.

[Shroom Man 777]

I think part of the charm of Ace Combat was the fact that it was set in some weird other world populated by countries with funny names and a propensity of wacky superweapons.

This. Seriously. I want my SAPIN, USTIO and goddamn fucking YUKTOBANIA goddamn it!

On the other hand, that actually looks really cool, and if the missions were generally that intense that it could worth it. Also am I crazy or did I see QTEs? And an Apache doing a barrel roll?

The enhanced gameplay is nice, and putting it back in the old ridiculous Ace Combat world with the bizarre superweapons would be totally awesome.

But I highly disapprove putting the game in real-world. Fuck it, we do NOT need AC to turn into something like Modern Warfare or some other kind of Tom Clancy shit. Fuck that.

Seems like they're going for one last superweapon-filled game with a shitty story and worse dialog before this "rebirth."

Screw you, the stories of 04, 5 and Zero were totally fucking awesome. I do not know how they managed to fuck up 6. Bah.

Putting it in real-life just makes it lame.

And what the fuck is Wall Street insurance shit doing in my goddamn Ace Combat game? FUCK!

[CaptHawkeye]

Yeah that's my problem. It's bound to be some shitty Russia invades USA shit or something. Ever since 6 the writing quality has been tanking. They haven't made any significant changes to the gameplay until, well now.

[Starglider]

Screw you, the stories of 04, 5 and Zero were totally fucking awesome.

Hazlenutman summaries the AC04 plot;

The mere sight of Mobius One's emblem causes allied soldiers to achieve orgasm. Enemy pilots within one hundred kilometers of Mobius One spontaneously combust, while civilians merely go sterile. Women who approach within fifty kilometers of a Mobius One dogfight are instantly impregnated, and nine months later give birth to a totally awesome baby who will, like, go to college and everything.

[Shroom Man 777]

Told you, that fucking awesome.

[Srelex]

Game looks fun like Ace Combat always has, but if it's going to be some ultra-serious USA-Russia war, then I may need a new desk. Unless, of course, they have really self-consciously stupidly awesome shit like a single jet fighter wiping out like a bazillion aircraft carriers and a villion MiGs or ZiGs with a hundred macross missile massacres and...well, I can dream, can't I?

[Darksider]

Screw you, the stories of 04, 5 and Zero were totally fucking awesome. I do not know how they managed to fuck up 6. Bah.

Putting it in real-life just makes it lame.

And what the fuck is Wall Street insurance shit doing in my goddamn Ace Combat game? FUCK!

Oh I thought four was awesome too, it's pretty much just five and six that really grated on me. In five all of the constant whining about how the war was pointless and wouldn't just end while you were SLAUGHTERING HUNDREDS OF ENEMY SOLDIERS was incredibly annoying, and in Six I found the dialog to be utterly atrocious ("Go dance with an angel" "MATIIILLLLDAAA"). For me AC04 was the best story of the lot, and Zero's crazyness was a close second. That "Joint Assault" trailer looks to be utterly awful though.

[Vendetta]

Oh I thought four was awesome too, it's pretty much just five and six that really grated on me. In five all of the constant whining about how the war was pointless and wouldn't just end while you were SLAUGHTERING HUNDREDS OF ENEMY SOLDIERS was incredibly annoying, and in Six I found the dialog to be utterly atrocious ("Go dance with an angel" "MATIIILLLLDAAA"). For me AC04 was the best story of the lot, and Zero's crazyness was a close second. That "Joint Assault" trailer looks to be utterly awful though.

Say what you want about the allied troops in AC5, but at least they stick to their convictions. If it weren't for Blaze, no-one would get shot down all war.

Putting it in the 'real' world is fine for one game, variety and all that, but I hope the AC world isn't abandoned completely as it was a neat setting. Even with the crazy superweapons it was easier to suspend disbelief than for the HAWX plot. Anyone care to bet on whether it will still include a fictional superplane? I'm pretty sure a combat-ready T-50 will be in there, wouldn't be surprised if the Berkut still makes it in as well.

I think the problem is they're running out of space for another war in the period they could use modern fighter jets in. I mean there were major global or continental conflicts in '95, 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020.

[Darksider]

Say what you want about the allied troops in AC5, but at least they stick to their convictions. If it weren't for Blaze, no-one would get shot down all war.

That's true. The more I think about it, the more I realize that five wasn't bad in any way, but it was a letdown compared to the story and dialog in 4. Compare the Yuktobania beach assault in 5 with the Usean continental landing in 04. In 04 it was depicted as a massive assault, sort of a modern version of D-Day complete with troops on the ground frantically calling for air support and bitching that they don't have air superiority over the beach. The beach assault in 5 was a much smaller affair with perhaps four or five amph-tracks and your wing men bitching about the pointlessness of the war when at that point all they knew is that they had been attacked by the Yukes un-provoked. At one point you even get a transmission from some idiot on the ground who actually asks you to frag his co on an open radio channel! Five and Zero actually have better gameplay mechanics compared to 04, but vastly inferior storytelling and dialog.

[montypython]

Ace Combat + Warship Gunner would have been major win if someone ever bothered to do that...

[Starglider]

I think the problem is they're running out of space for another war in the period they could use modern fighter jets in. I mean there were major global or continental conflicts in '95, 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020.

Just rewrite the history and call it a reboot. Or make a new setting which is basically just a new map and all the countries renamed, that'd be good for another few games. As it is Ace Combat 6 might as well have been in a new setting, the references to the other games were pretty tenuous (some mentions of the giant asteroid threat in the fluff as I recall). The exact details aren't a big deal, just the feel of the setting.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that five wasn't bad in any way, but it was a letdown compared to the story and dialog in 4.

5 was awesome. It was significantly easier to suspend disbelief when it felt like you were leading a squadron of badass pilots rather than being a lone super-ace (which it did, even though you got something like 75% of the kills). The cutscenes varied between good and excellent. Sure some of the characters were corny and/or irritating, but AC4 only really bothered to characterise one person (Yellow 13). Also 5 actually had plot twists, 4 was just a straight military campaign. Also, what dialog? 4 just had the narrator and radio chatter. 5 had a proper voice cast, plus more and better radio chatter than 4.

The beach assault in 5 was a much smaller affair with perhaps four or five amph-tracks

Those are hovercraft, and that's 4 or 5 per group. The battlefield for Lit Fuse is larger than for Bunker Shot, and there are a lot more actual bunkers to take out. That said I admit Bunker Shot has better pacing and music, but it is one of the best missions in AC4. AC5 has its own great missions, and it has more missions overall, including the branching paths to add extra replay value.

At one point you even get a transmission from some idiot on the ground who actually asks you to frag his co on an open radio channel!

If it's a choice of die now in a suicidal charge against heavy machine guns and face a court martial later... besides, who says it was an open channel, remember that all AC protagonists get the super-power of being able to receive, decode and translate any radio communication within 200 km, along with hyperspace missiles and regenerative fuel.