Ace Combat Assault Horizon

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy. A good game.

Expecting a 3DS for Chrismas I looked around for a few games including flight sims. At any rate all the games I chose had four or more stars in the ratings. I liked the look of this game but chose Pilotwings Resort over this game for the simple reason that there was no star rating and no review write up. Certainly Pilotwings ResortPilotwings Resort (Nintendo 3DS) lives up to the reviews, although it is completely different from the game under review.
Immediately following Chrsitmas this game has halfed in price and so I bought it.
Whereas Pilotwings Resort is simply about controlling whatever you are flying and all about fun: Ace Combat: Assault Horison Legacy is a true combat simulation.

I have flown the first six missions in easy mode, nevertheless you still face a challenge. Each mission gets progressively harder as the story line unfolds.
The mission environment feels, looks and reacts realistically as if in a 3D universe. You fly in real time to the destination of your choice. The enemy planes are restricted to the laws of physics. Apart from avoiding and attacking other aircraft you fly around buildings to avoid ground to air missiles and dive to attack ships, vehicles and SAM sites.

Yes the game is exiting! I found myself moving the 3DS around so much while I was playing that I had to turn off the 3D visuals in order to see what I was doing. I have had similar experiences in Super Mario 3D land.Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo 3DS)

Apart from the strategy aspect, I have previously found found that other flight sims of this ilk often leave the aircraft control almost impossilbe to deal with. However, this game does give you control of your aircraft.

The grey joystick button of the 3DS acts as you would expact of an aircraft control stick. Moving the button to left or right causes the aircraft to bank to the left or right. Moving the joystick up or down causes the aircraft to do the reverse i.e. up=joystick forward= point the nose of the aircraft down.

You can chose a variety of aircraft to fly. The graphics are good. In the missions I have tried so far, I have not had to land or take off. The aircraft is aready flying at the start of a mission.

There are lots more features that I haven't covered as I have not looked at them properly.

Due to the fact tha I have not yet played more than the first few missions I give it four stars.

This is a great flight sim and really shows what the 3DS can do. The heart of the game is the Story Mode, where you take the role of a fighter pilot tasked with various missions against the "rebels". Although fairly linear, there are a couple of places where you can choose between missions. The controls work well and I really enjoy the power moves. As long as you can keep close to your target for long enough for the meter to fill up, you can pull off a special move that brings you in behind the enemy. This makes for a good mix between arcade game and full on sim.

There's a good range of aircraft and weaponry to buy as you earn points through out the missions. You can also replay any completed mission which means you can try out various combination of aircraft and missiles. Add to that the low price, and this is an excellent addition to your 3DS games collection.

Bought this game as it was cheap and I enjoy some flight combat games. I have to say I was very, very pleasantly surprised by this game.

Graphics:

Very good graphics. The plane models and effects are top notch. The ground scenery is nice but can get a little ugly if you get too close to the floor. But as most of the time you are high in the sky, it all looks very pretty. All in all this game is very aesthetically pleasing.

Controls:

Easy to pick this game up and play. The circle pad controls your craft and, depending on which plane you are flying, is very responsive and accurate. This game employs what is known as action moves. These happen if you are tailing an enemy plane or have a missile or enemy craft craft on yours. A gauge will fill up and you can then press Y. Your plane will do an automatic move placing you behind the other craft, making it easier to gun them down or blast em with a missile. At first this felt a bit like cheating, but when you play on the harder settings you'll need this maneuver to stay ahead of the game.

Lifespan:

There is a decent campaign mode which sees you (a mercenary pilot) fighting a rebel group who want to blow you and the Allied forces to bits. As the story progresses you can choose a new path to take which adds to replay value. All in all generic story, which won't win this game the golden joystick award, but at least if you gives you a reason to continue on. Missions are varied, some have you destroying Sea/ground/sky units, whilst others have you escorting and defending ground/sea/sky units, as well as many other elements like rival pilots, jamming planes and supply drops which vary things up a bit. The difficulty curve is fine and once you complete some of the campaign missions, you unlock some extra missions. The game will last you quite a while if you want to complete everything and gets A's on all the levels.

Sound:

Very good. Decent speech and great effects make this a very enjoyable game. Music, some bits are a bit futuristic whilst others are just like 80's Top gun, but overall very nice.

Overall:

This game really surprised me as I wasn't expecting much at all. What I got was a very decent, easy to control and totally thrilling game. once you master the controls you'll be zooming and dog fighting all over. Only issue with this game is, its very hard to put down, you constantly find yourself saying "Only just one more go".