Game Review: Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy

Game: Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Project Aces
Release Date: 15th November 2011

In a contest for the most superfluous subtitles, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy may well take first place, but with 23 main story missions and extra challenges, at first glance it seems as if it may also be a fairly rich handheld experience too. As with the other instalments of the Ace Combat series, the game focuses on aeroplane-based combat missions in which players are given targets and objectives to meet, and can choose from a variety of aeroplanes in which to carry out the missions.

The game's plot isn't bad on the whole, although I never felt truly engaged in the war that was unfolding; whenever the commander popped up with bad news I'd assume it had to do with my next mission and zone out a little, rather than worrying about the welfare of who/whatever I was meant to be defending. This isn't to say that there's no progression or excitement in the plot, but if you're playing Ace Combat games for the storyline then I'd suggest trying visual novels instead.

The controls are pretty simple; L and R control the amount of thrust while the analog stick is used to steer the plane (note that I say steer rather than roll, as doing a barrel roll is impossible without triggering an auto-evasion move). The B button is used to fire the main guns, with A assigned to weapons, the D-pad is used to switch between the weapons currently being carried and the X button is used to switch targets. In the corner of the screen there's a meter which fills up when players fly close to enemies; once full, if players press the Y button, this meter triggers an acrobatic move cutscene which enables players to get behind enemy planes, making a takedown far easier. The same idea applies when enemies fire missiles at players, the Y button and holding the analog stick in the correct direction auto-dodges incoming fire.

Gameplay consists of shooting down air targets, and destroying land and sea targets in various locations and to achieve various goals. In a few situations players are required to escort and accompany allied aircraft, or fight alongside squadron members, but the core gameplay remains unchanged throughout the 23 missions of the storyline. In many ways the auto-target and auto-dodging mechanisms feel to me as if they're babying players, preventing them from using barrel rolls or performing their own acrobatic manoeuvres and forcing them to use a preset cutscene and move to achieve more points or even a legitimate chance at downing enemies.

The extra missions included in the game are much like those featured in the main storyline, only sometimes expanding a little with different targets and concepts. Within 4 hours of playing, I'd blasted through the entire set of main missions in the game (though thanks to some choice sections, there are only 20 missions needed to complete the story), which felt like somewhat of a short experience. While there was little variety in what was offered, if there'd have been a few more missions based on precision flying of some kind, perhaps the runtime might have edged past the 5 hour mark.

As mentioned earlier players get to choose which planes they'd like to fly and what weapons to take along with them before each mission. There's a nice selection of planes with differing attributes, colours and weapon set-ups to keep things interesting although once the mission has started there's often little difference between one plane and another.

Graphically the game has some nice touches in places, but the bland and often undetailed terrain which you're flying over lets the game down. I opted to have the 3D function on for most of the game and it made quite a difference in terms of the experience, as games like this with fast paced aerial action are well suited to the extra depth of the autostereoscopic effect. Musically the game has an exciting and tense score which fits well with most missions, even if its often drowned out by the sounds of gunfire, engines and explosions.

Overall Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy provides some fun arcade style air combat over it's fairly short runtime. Towards the middle of the game, it dawned on me that I'd seen the extent of the gameplay and that all that was left would be to ramp the difficulty up as the end drew nearer, and this was definitely the case. While it's not something I'd replay any time soon, I had fun with some of the more tense and abstract missions.

Rating: 67/100
Grade: C