clickbliss — Ace Combat 7 is a breath of fresh air

Ace Combat 7 is a breath of fresh air

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unkown
Developer - Project ACES
Publisher - Bandai Namco
PlayStation 4 & PC

This review contains some spoilers

It has been 12 years since the release of a “proper” Ace Combat console game. Since then, Namco has experimented with the series - with varying degrees of success depending on who you ask. However, the common opinion you’ll find across is that there hasn’t been a “proper” Ace Combat game since the PS2 era.

Fans of the series have been left wondering when they will be gracing the skies of Strangereal once more. Luckily for them - including me, our prayers have been answered this year with the release of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unkown. And spoiler, it is everything that I’ve wanted.

AC7 is the arcade flight simulator we all know and love. From its high-octane action to the melodramatic story that accompanies it, this is the game we’ve been waiting for years.

The pilot you control goes by the callsign of “Trigger” a promising pilot for the Osean Federation. Things were looking rosy for the young Osean until he somehow shot the president. After that tragic event, he was sent to a penal colony where he was still allowed to fly. He gets an opportunity to redeem himself from his supposed crimes and becomes the hero pilot we all know and love.

You also get to see the story through the eyes of Avril Mead, a mechanic also imprisoned. Why? Because she flew a jet she made out of scraps into an active combat zone. I guess that’s enough to land you to the pokey.

As you progress through the story you realize that you are being fed complete nonsense. You’ll start to form theories in your head such as “well this all could have been prevented if X just didn’t do Y.” But that is the charm of Ace Combat. You know that the story is bonkers, but you can’t help but love it. Just like junk food, you shouldn’t eat it, but you still do anyway.

The game mechanics carry over from pre-Assault Horizon titles. There is no more of that Call of Duty-esque cinematic dogfight mode, just lock on to your opposing enemy and shoot your missiles away to your heart’s content. There is something just so satisfying about seeing your missiles take down an opposing aircraft - then you find yourself crashing into a mountain.

Flying remains a joyous affair. It sticks true to its arcade handling from its previous titles. If you do want some realism in your flight controls, they are found in the “expert” difficulty.

As you progress through the game you have a variety of planes and weapons to chose from. Minor differences in what plane or weapon you chose can either increase your enjoyment or suffering out in skies.

And you better hope you chose the right combination as in most missions it seems like you are just a one-man army. Your squadron is near useless in combat, and if they do manage to hit a target you will still find yourself finishing the job. While something like that can be a hindrance to some players, it also dives into the whole AC lore that a lone pilot saves the day.

Weather now plays a large role during combat. While it is extremely breathtaking to fly through various weather, you can be neutralized. For example, your lock-on system is less accurate if shot through a cloud. You are also most likely to crash into the ground when flying through a sandstorm - not like that it has happened to me or anything.

Also in this installment, there is a free flight mode. As the name suggests, you are free to fly around the map of your choice without any worry. It is as refreshing as taking those long drives in Euro Truck Simulator.

In a gaming landscape that is riddled with try-hard serious titles, AC7 provides a breath of fresh jet fuel to the industry. This game shouldn’t exist in this generation but it does. We should all look towards the skies and embrace it.