I’ve never really been into flying games (bar Lylat Wars). I always felt that the current control systems make flying games too simple to be fun. Attempting to recreate airforce warfare is extremely hard. The amount of manuevers, space and realistic reactions of players make it one of the hardest types of games to create. So when I heard that the Ace Combat series was getting a Hollywood style overhaul I was intrigued.

Assault Horizon takes place in several countries and after several conflicts between Russia and NATO you are forced to enter the cockpit and take down enemies in various jets and other airborne vehicles. I swear the story must have been written by Call of Duty’s writers because it kept the same ridiculous two-dimensional, testosterone-pumped characters and international terrorism motifs. It’s all pretty boring stuff that seems more of an excuse to shoot down bad guys, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just don’t expect Oscar-winning storyline here.

Levels have you controlling jet fighter planes or manning mounted guns on several different airborne vehicles. The first takes up about 70% of the game and generally goes like this. Fly around aimlessly for a few minutes, see enemy, destroy all enemies in confined area. That’s the gist of most levels, but is tearing through the sky creating carnage any fun?

Flying around and approaching enemies is all done with relative ease and solid controls. The problem I had was that taking down enemies without engaging a dogfight seemed to take forever. I know I am not a fan of the series, or particularly amazing at the game, but I’d say that 80% of enemy jets taken down by me happened when using the new system. This made the game frustrating at times as flying could get boring as I ended up trying to get close enough to enemies to engage a dogfight rather than shooting enemies down left, right and center.

The new dogfights system locks you onto enemy planes. This can only be triggered when an enemy jet is close and in you line of sight, but it makes the whole game a little too easy. Your plane goes into autopilot mode and you only have to concentrate on aiming your guns and keeping your targets focused on enemy veichles.You do have to control the jet’s general direction, but the input is minimal. The odd thing is these are by far the most fun parts of the game. It all feels extremely cinematic with an orchestrated heart-pumping soundtrack kicking in, the camera spinning round following your planes every movement and your plane bursting through a sea of flames after destroying your enemy. After a short amount of time the wow factor wears off and it feels as if you are given too much help.

In fact most of the ways to destroy enemies means that you have to initiate some kind of mini-game. Sometimes I found that completing levels without doing this was near impossible. Need to take out a set of ground enemies? Then start a ground run by going the big highlighted area. Repeat this until all enemies are destroyed and the level is over. It just makes the game feel boring at times and doesn’t fit within the action-packed feeling the developers were going for.

There are several sections where you control the gunner seat of a helicopter, AC130 or other military vehicles. These levels are fun but all feel fairly linear. Games like Battlefield and Call of Duty create these scenarios in their own game and in fact, they do it better. The whole thing is on the rails as you have no control over where your vehicle goes. I found these to be extremely boring and after playing the helicopter mission I wished it was the last, unfortunately for me there was more than one.

Assault Horizon’s biggest problem is that it has strayed from its target audience. Instead of being a simulator with a sense of depth, it has  pandered to a wider audience. Assault Horizon has dumbed down its combat system tried to emulate the Michael Bay esque action of contemporary franchises. The game feels too shallow and automated to keep me engaged and after the first few levels I started to lose interest.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon isn’t a bad game, it is just a bit confused as it tries to hit the spot between over-the-top, adreneline-pumping action and a pseudo flight simulator. Unless you are a big fan of the series or really want a game with some dogfights, I’d give this a miss.

 

 

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