Ace Combat Assault Horizon: Enhanced Edition

 PC
User Score
5.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 191 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 76 out of 191
  2. Mixed: 52 out of 191
  3. Negative: 63 out of 191

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Ciocolici
    Jul 31, 2023
    4
    Ace Combat: Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition offers an enjoyable experience initially, but unfortunately, it loses its appeal over time. The gameplay, particularly the combat, is the primary concern and falls short of expectations. As someone who wasn't a fan of this genre and lacked experience, I found the gameplay repetitive and frustrating, often resorting to circling around enemiesAce Combat: Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition offers an enjoyable experience initially, but unfortunately, it loses its appeal over time. The gameplay, particularly the combat, is the primary concern and falls short of expectations. As someone who wasn't a fan of this genre and lacked experience, I found the gameplay repetitive and frustrating, often resorting to circling around enemies just to catch a glimpse of them briefly. While I am uncertain if this is the typical Ace Combat style or a deviation from its predecessors, it still proved exasperating for me. Additionally, the poorly executed dog fight mode and basic helicopter and machinegun missions felt like filler gameplay, contributing to the overall disappointment.

    The story in Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition left much to be desired, following the cliché "russians are bad, americans are good" narrative, which failed to captivate my interest.

    Regarding the graphics, they were decent, with satisfactory airplane explosion effects. However, the terrain textures were noticeably low-res, which could have been improved for a more immersive experience.

    On the subject of controls, I strongly advise against using a keyboard and mouse setup, as it proved to be inadequately optimized, causing further frustration during gameplay.

    Despite having high expectations based on the reputation of the Ace Combat series, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition. Although the first few hours provided some fun, the overall experience left me disappointed, leading me to eagerly anticipate the end of the story campaign.    … Expand
  2. draemato
    Sep 30, 2022
    9
    This game is awesome! I have no idea why people complaining about realism but for me this was surprisingly pleasant experience! Awesome music, graphics, not so bad story...
    Yes, helicopter is a bit clunky, final boss is kinda unfair, but come on, its awesome arcade game! Just relax and enjoy!
  3. asdfgrand
    Mar 7, 2022
    8
    A victim of the times, when CoD4 had way too much impact on later military themed games. The hardcore series fans have hated, and definitely will keep hating, this innocent game. They keep ignoring the fact Project Aces, the dev team, was suffering from the sales decline and they NEED to make a drastic change.
    I believe this game has some charms. The storyline surely is flat but not that    A victim of the times, when CoD4 had way too much impact on later military themed games. The hardcore series fans have hated, and definitely will keep hating, this innocent game. They keep ignoring the fact Project Aces, the dev team, was suffering from the sales decline and they NEED to make a drastic change.
    I believe this game has some charms. The storyline surely is flat but not that horrible as they keep accusing. The gameplay is a bit off for "semi-realistic" AC standard but totally enjoyable as a super arcade-like shooter. This game ain't no "Ace Combat 7" and the dev team knew it. Good "spin-off" game with the most stubborn, degenerate community.    … Expand
  4. dandalis
    Dec 3, 2020
    6
    With my first and only experience before with Ace Combat being AC Zero: Belkan War back on PS2, i have to say that i wasnt that impressed by Assault Horizon.

    Story was as ''generic russian bad guys'' as it comes. That said, the main cast of characters were suprisingly likeable. And even if the main villain was generic feeling, he too atleast had understandable motivations guiding him.    With my first and only experience before with Ace Combat being AC Zero: Belkan War back on PS2, i have to say that i wasnt that impressed by Assault Horizon.

    Story was as ''generic russian bad guys'' as it comes.
    That said, the main cast of characters were suprisingly likeable. And even if the main villain was generic feeling, he too atleast had understandable motivations guiding him.

    Gameplay gave me rather mixed feelings aswell, while planes control well enough, the obnoxious scripted dog fighting mode sucks so much fun out from the game. Introducing helicopter warfare was a bold step, and while it did upset many purists, i thought it was a decent addition, could've been better, but i still had fun manning an AH-64, even the Blackhawk mini-gun sections were suprisingly not that bad. The AC-130 mission was the more annoying addition, as the action gets heated, the game overwhelms you with targets and makes it difficult taking them all out, which can lead to enemies killing your allies and making you fail the mission. Still, raining down hell from the gun fortress was pretty enjoyable when it worked as intended. The bomber mission was neat aswell, well the radar evading part maybe not so much, but the carpet bombing section very much.

    Graphics wise game looks fairly good as long as you are high in the sky, with nice weather and cloud effects, once you get closer to the ground the game obviously shows it's shortcomings. Jet fighters, bombers and the helos were modeled pretty well too. I still remember being impressed by the game's visuals back in 2011 when it was revelead, so i'm glad they still mostly hold up.

    Also, if you're planning on getting this game on PC, it is best to have an Xbox controller or a joystick. However i was mad enough to play it with a mouse/keyboard, by playing like that, you'll be struggling with fine control and certain missions will become a major pain in the butt, but thats understandable because the game was designed with a controller in mind, so i cant bash it all that much. It's also clear this game is a console port, a decent one at that, but dont expect lots of graphics options, game itself runs excellent with 60 fps all the way through if your PC isnt ancient.

    My initial disappointment and criticisms aside, i'd say Assault Horizon is still an alright game all things considered, if you're a gamer fascinated by jet fighters, you should consider giving it a try regardless.    … Expand
  5. arakui
    Jun 29, 2020
    1
    This is a genuinely pathetic and awful excuse for an ace combat game. AC:AH's story is generic at best, the DFM is utter **** and takes control away from the player almost entirely. The graphics are passable for the timeframe it was released in but are very very very poor by present standards. There is NO fun to be had here, this game plays itself. Go play AC7 or literally anything else.
  6. Genek13
    Nov 18, 2019
    8
    Great arcade type of a game with fun mechanic - especially chase camera.
    Just a fresh, different experience than all other similar games.
  7. seifershneider
    Feb 16, 2017
    8
    Ace Combat Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition is both a fun and entertaining addition to the Ace Combat series. It is an arcade, nervous, pick and play, flight combat game that I really enjoyed playing. It is clear that the game makers were trying to mirror the Call of Duty's campaign mode strengths. In other words, the campaign is explosive, very intense, nervous, and chaotic at moments,Ace Combat Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition is both a fun and entertaining addition to the Ace Combat series. It is an arcade, nervous, pick and play, flight combat game that I really enjoyed playing. It is clear that the game makers were trying to mirror the Call of Duty's campaign mode strengths. In other words, the campaign is explosive, very intense, nervous, and chaotic at moments, as if you are part of a Michael Bay movie. I personally found it very refreshing and I hope that future sequels will keep this vision. Finally keep in mind that this is not a hardcore/realistic flight simulator. Below are my pros and cons :

    Positives:
    * Awesome campaign mode.
    * Easy gameplay (with depth at high levels)
    * Nervous (dog)fights.
    * Great music and sounds (The japanese voices are outstanding. The english ones are not so good/bad).
    * Pick and play (meaning you don't need to know who is who, or what is what, or what combination of buttons you need to press to make X or Y spell, or when you need to meet Z person at N's location, etc... Just relax, pick your pad, get in this explosive universe, and enjoy yourself).

    Negatives:
    * The scenario is a very "japanese" take on US politics/conflicts.
    * Short campaign (but very intense and fun).

    Thanks to the developers for the enjoyable experience!

    Verdict: A-    … Expand
  8. andrelol3
    Jan 17, 2016
    0
    It's a crappy game that plays itself. I bought because I own the 3DS version and that version is awesome. I also wacthed an AngryJoe and he said the game was excellent.

    Well, turns out AngryJoe is just like any other reviewer out there: he gets paid by the publisher to review games. And the 3DS, that is great, is actually a remake of Ace Combat 2, so it's a completly different game.    It's a crappy game that plays itself. I bought because I own the 3DS version and that version is awesome. I also wacthed an AngryJoe and he said the game was excellent.

    Well, turns out AngryJoe is just like any other reviewer out there: he gets paid by the publisher to review games.

    And the 3DS, that is great, is actually a remake of Ace Combat 2, so it's a completly different game.

    Anyways, don't buy this piece of crap. There's ZERO gameplay in this game. You just to a cleck, select a enemy and the game kills it for you. Really, the game locks on the enemy and that's it, you got you kill.

    It's pretty much an unplayable game in the sense that you don't play it.    … Expand
  9. runner
    Oct 31, 2015
    6
    This is one of the sad cases where I actually enjoyed a game, quiet a lot even, but am still aware that it isn't much good and is actually not a game to recommend to anyone.
    I'll start by stating that I didn't play any other installment of Ace Combat and therefore I don't look at this game as a fan of the series, but simply gave this specific installment a try. I'm also not too    This is one of the sad cases where I actually enjoyed a game, quiet a lot even, but am still aware that it isn't much good and is actually not a game to recommend to anyone.
    I'll start by stating that I didn't play any other installment of Ace Combat and therefore I don't look at this game as a fan of the series, but simply gave this specific installment a try. I'm also not too experienced with flight games in general.
    Horizon Assault is a very arcadic game in almost every sense of the word.
    The story is, as you'd expect from this type of games, very predictable, generic, unsurprising, and not that vital for the game.

    For a moment the game may seem like a flight simulator but it's definitely not, It's good at making you feel AS IF you're flying an aircraft, AS IF you're doing big stuff with the scripted explosions everywhere.
    And that's actually one of the strong points of the game, it's very good with BOOMING stuff, with making you feel that YOU are booming stuff, and it gives you an addicting sense of action and thrill, although with completely unrealistic mechanics at times (e.g. aircraft "heals" itself automatically while flying), but who cares, it's a video game.

    The game's soundtrack also adds a LOT to the game, and as one who really cares about music in video games and is giving it a lot of attention, this game has one of the best tracks in video game soundtracks, in my opinion, with a combination of symphonic music with some electronicrock touches every once in a while. Splendid, really!

    Unfortunately there are also reasons for you to stay away from Horizon Assault. Controls aren't most comfortable ever… Binding different keys won't help much. It can get confusing at times and at the beginning of the game I felt like quitting because I simply couldn't get hold of this DAMN helicopter. As soon as I got the hang of it, it started to get fun, though, but fun it really different and is a matter of perspective. And many people won't find this game fun at all.

    The gameplay can get extremely repetitive and frustrating. The developers tried to keep it varied and in a way they succeeded in it, but it's still starting to feel generic and monotonous at times. Another thing which many people would hate is the Dog-Fight System, which is presented as an optional way to hunt your enemies but is actually your only way of getting through this game. And it can be horribly frustrating as well.

    So, are you going to enjoy this game? That's really a matter of one's taste and expectations.
    I enjoyed it, mostly, and if you can enjoy some intense action sequences with things getting blown away with dramatic music in the background and some clichéd "saving America" story, it's possible you'd enjoy this as well.

    It's possible you'd hate it, if that's not your kind …

    Another note, out of the three times I've tried playing this game in multiplayer mode, I've managed to find other players to play with only once. So, my guess is that the multiplayer scene of Horizon Assault isn't very active. There's also no way to play over LAN, so, I could be wrong but I believe Horizon Assault pretty much leaves you with solely the single player missions. You should keep that in mind.    … Expand
  10. 561cesarS
    Dec 21, 2014
    5
    dog-fight feature. does this technology exist in real lie? I don't think so. why in the H*LL!!! does it have this st^p!d feature?
    that is the only reason this game was not respected like all previous ones.
  11. Sjalka
    Nov 16, 2014
    4
    Ace Comat is nice to watch - but fairly boring to play. That is because it sort of plays itself ... either that.. or it runs on rails ( semi rails ). It felt much like a Call of Duty in the skies - and hardly ever did the sky feel ... that small.

    Watching it is like watching an action movie - and like many action movies - they became a bit stale and repetitive. After the first    Ace Comat is nice to watch - but fairly boring to play. That is because it sort of plays itself ... either that.. or it runs on rails ( semi rails ). It felt much like a Call of Duty in the skies - and hardly ever did the sky feel ... that small.

    Watching it is like watching an action movie - and like many action movies - they became a bit stale and repetitive. After the first excitement wears off though... one spots muddy ground textures under rather sparse enviromental modelling. In fact the places look like an older flight simulator.

    The plane models are ok, but also do lack detail.

    What bothers me the most is the flight models. - NEVER did it feel like flying a plane; there is no weight - and the agility of the jets is ridiculously over the top.

    to top it even more - those "lead" planes can only be taken down in the dogfight mode - and while that mode spices the monotony up every now and then - there are simply too many lead planes - making that chase mode very very stale - very quickly.

    to close that review - the story and characters are quite forgettable. It is sad that there are only really two games of that genre on PC - HAWX and this - and they are both fairly bad.    … Expand
  12. Kira-SR
    Nov 14, 2014
    7
    if you are a fan of the Ace Combat series, Assault horizon is a Different kind of beast. so,since now,i warn you. Aproach this one with caution.

    well,it feels like ace combat,plays for the most part like ace combat, but it has one mechanic that Kills it,DFM and ASM. those sections,when Scripted are Terrible,and makes the fights with aces,Especially the one with a certain shark nosed    if you are a fan of the Ace Combat series, Assault horizon is a Different kind of beast. so,since now,i warn you. Aproach this one with caution.

    well,it feels like ace combat,plays for the most part like ace combat, but it has one mechanic that Kills it,DFM and ASM. those sections,when Scripted are Terrible,and makes the fights with aces,Especially the one with a certain shark nosed Plane Pilot, Unfufilling. At First,they are cool,but repeat them,over,and over,and over again,and you'll see what i mean. and this is agravated if you played other Ace Combat games on the consoles, that really demanded skills from you.

    so,it's a Hard game?! Far from it. Easy,even on the Ace Difficulty,but it has it's B*SH*T moments.
    Is a Bad Ace combat game?! by my standards,Yes. Namco has done better with its franchises.
    But it's a Bad game?! HELL NO.

    The better pros i gotta say is: the cutscenes that are awesomely made, the Aircraft Collor editor that even to this date i revisit, and the Awesome models,beautifull with full interiors made by Project aces.

    But the Unforgivable Cons i gotta repeat: The DFM and ASM are not good systems when done Scripted like 60% of the game. some sections are not,but they fell a bit cluncky to control,and i tend to lose control quickly. another Con is that the control on this game is very sensitive,even on the most Non-Sensitive setting,so it doesn't feel like Ace 5,6,or Cross Rumble,and you get to have tighter reflexes to adapt on how the Jets fly on this game. they feel different,but horrible?! no... just,worse. and those aspects i'm glad that namcobandai got right on the next games of the franchise,that can and MUST keep going in the direction it was since Ace Combat 3 (jp)... that by the way i still wait for a remake of that game... but let's not get out of the tangent.

    My final Veredict: 7/10. Is not a Bad game, i can recomend for you who want a Different Experience all togheter.
    But if you are a Ace fan,as a said Aproach with caution or Don't go for it.(or at least,wait untill the price drop if you want to experiment with this beast).    … Expand
  13. SiAScORCH
    Nov 4, 2014
    3
    The only thing that stopped me from giving this game a lower rating was the simply fact that they don't have many flying games around, especially with modern planes. The series is an awesome one, but the last two titles they released have been the worst of the series by far. I wouldn't play this game if it was given to me for free, unfortunately I wasted money buying it without doing someThe only thing that stopped me from giving this game a lower rating was the simply fact that they don't have many flying games around, especially with modern planes. The series is an awesome one, but the last two titles they released have been the worst of the series by far. I wouldn't play this game if it was given to me for free, unfortunately I wasted money buying it without doing some researching before hand. Shame on me for assuming this game would of been great, since the graphic advancement I wanted so badly to play this game on PC.

    The horrible thing is the DFM(Dog fighting mode) which on bosses means you have to get close to them to enter this mode and it just ruined it. I mean why would you tamper with a game which has been dominating flight games since PS1. I just don't get it, and for that I'd honestly have to say don't even bother playing this game. While the graphics are amazing, the game just is crap and they shouldn't of introduced that into a game, or rather they should of at least given an option to disable it if you didn't want to play with it on.    … Expand
  14. jld89
    Aug 10, 2014
    0
    The worst Ace Combat by far. DFM mode is stupid, no skill involved in this game. It is a disgrace to all the other acecombats. This isn't call of duty FFS. No need for a NPC+hollywood **** story. I want my money back.
  15. Wulfen73
    Jul 28, 2014
    2
    A disappointing watered down version of Ace Combat, dog fighting has been reduced to a rail shooter set up, planes can 'Heal' Damage. And a series that was once famous for a relatively realistic depiction of modern fighter combat now has me watching in wonder as a plane continually fires 6 missiles at me while I sit on its tail hitting it over and over to seemingly no effect.

    The DFM    A disappointing watered down version of Ace Combat, dog fighting has been reduced to a rail shooter set up, planes can 'Heal' Damage. And a series that was once famous for a relatively realistic depiction of modern fighter combat now has me watching in wonder as a plane continually fires 6 missiles at me while I sit on its tail hitting it over and over to seemingly no effect.

    The DFM mechanic was an unnecessary and unwelcome addition to the game that left me with headaches and no small amount of frustration, I am armed with heat seeking and radar guided missiles, why am I forced to continually close to guns range, this isn't exciting its tedious, there is no variation in the battles I found myself in. Be warned, there is no real control of your fighter in this game, there is no XYZ axis controls, you will be taking massive loops if you ever miss anything, there is no rudder or aileron control, you will be flying in straight lines until you get to the rail shooting and only the most basic moves will be available to you.

    The quick time event DFM creates also seems a little buggy, sometimes it works, and sometimes I'll be hammering the button while my fighter gets shot to pieces. Some missions contain frustrating beginners traps forcing you to wade through it again and again until you figure out what you are supposed to be doing.

    Story is lackluster and predictable, the Unsung War this is not not, the narrative is broken and disjointed, the characters are generally flat, and you know nothing about them. The attempt to build up the main villain is silly, either the main character is an honest to god psychic, or his opponent is beaming it into his mind. Otherwise this match up makes no sense, they have no reason to personally hate each other, they've never met. The final boss fight is a giant disappointment, teeth grindingly frustrating due to the forced DFM usage, there is no real climax, the plot just kind of meanders with no rhyme or reason.

    Overall: Play the Unsung War if you want to play a good Ace combat game, leave this in the bargin bin    … Expand
  16. Nereus11
    Jul 27, 2014
    0
    I decided to play this game over the course of two days due to steam free weekend. Here's my take.

    This is a shockingly bad game. To call it a game is being generous, it is an insult to my intelligence. The missions are entirely scripted, checkpoints are bafflingly placed at times, and I found myself repeatedly having to turn all sound off, because hearing the same bad Russian accent    I decided to play this game over the course of two days due to steam free weekend. Here's my take.

    This is a shockingly bad game. To call it a game is being generous, it is an insult to my intelligence. The missions are entirely scripted, checkpoints are bafflingly placed at times, and I found myself repeatedly having to turn all sound off, because hearing the same bad Russian accent shout the same tired line for the 30th time was really getting on my nerves. The game's script faults lie in a number of places - events you only get one shot at, like doing a bombing run flawlessly first try, otherwise you have to reload checkpoints and do all the other bombing runs prior to it, over and over and over. Other areas are even worse, the final mission has you in dogfight mode until a certain number of scripted events happen. The enemy you are dogfighting is invulnerable, but you are not. Missiles come at you from all sides, but missiles you shoot at him will not hit until the whole script is over. I will not spoil the mechanic for how this happens, but I can assure you, actually outplaying the games AI only to have it cheat is immensely frustrating. I never finished the final mission as I just couldn't stand to repeat that script any longer. Frequently, enemies would double back and fly directly through my plane, probably breaking a couple rules of physics. This frustrated me for two reasons, some of the scripts are reliant on you remaining in dogfight mode, and I occasionally used one of my few special weapons, only to have the enemy double back immediately and pass right through them.

    Sound is good. That's about the only thing that is, however. My graphics card is currently experiencing overheating issues, this game did not give me any problems. Why? Well, the game's not very pretty. It isn't very ugly, but it's not pretty. For some people who play action games on the PC, this matters. For me, I prefer the narratives and gameplay, gameplay we've covered. Well, the narrative. The narrative isn't bad. It isn't good. It's forgettable, which is arguably worse. Many missions I just tuned out the scripted voices of my 'co-pilot's. Some aspects are so cliche they made me cringe - low grade machismo underscored with cold war era racism and predictable twists. You get given control of your characters head in most areas, so you can look around, during some of the more cinematic moments but nothing more. It doesn't impact the game in any way and as pretty much everything is taking place in grey military bases, there isn't a lot to see to begin with.

    I experienced an occasional crash to desktop, but the game is pretty good at returning you to your last checkpoint. I feel like this has been a waste of a couple days, and I did not pay money for the product. I would not recommend anybody else do so. If you do, play it on easy, because you really don't want to be playing this game for its aerial combat.    … Expand
  17. havingar
    Jul 26, 2014
    3
    not a good ace combat game this game was the end of good a good game that was alot of fun. the problem is this ace combat changes up the fighting and camra so much that it just ruined the game for me not to mention the story isnt the best it could be alot better seeing the past storyline. the combat in this game changed so much since ace combat 6. it changed into a more arcade type gamenot a good ace combat game this game was the end of good a good game that was alot of fun. the problem is this ace combat changes up the fighting and camra so much that it just ruined the game for me not to mention the story isnt the best it could be alot better seeing the past storyline. the combat in this game changed so much since ace combat 6. it changed into a more arcade type game were it just felt like point and shoot. in ace combat 6 the combat came down to skill,knowing your aircraft and would often have you replaying partss you messed up on or felt need work, it just felt like after completing the story you were fufilled with a sense of skill. the story in ace combat 6 speaks alot more were as in this ace combat its just action now story later. if you can buy ace combat 6 dont waste money on this even if its on sale its really not worth it… Expand
  18. yiNXs
    Jul 25, 2014
    5
    Long time fan of the series here. When I heard about the PC port I almost pre-ordered it without checking. Glad I hesitated when I heard about the quicktime-like events. Now it's free-weekend on Steam, so I gave it a try. Sadly, it turns out to be as disappointing as everyone says. At first the assisted dog-fighting was somewhat fun, but it got boring and then annoying very fast. I triedLong time fan of the series here. When I heard about the PC port I almost pre-ordered it without checking. Glad I hesitated when I heard about the quicktime-like events. Now it's free-weekend on Steam, so I gave it a try. Sadly, it turns out to be as disappointing as everyone says. At first the assisted dog-fighting was somewhat fun, but it got boring and then annoying very fast. I tried to like it, but I just couldn't. Worst of all, it's pretty much mandatory to use, unlike the assistance-off & ERS modes in HAWX for example (which were actually fun to use). The sad thing is, the game is fine in every other way and deserves a much better grade for everything else. It's just the dogfight-assist that breaks the most important/fun part of the whole game: the one-on-one fights with skilled enemies.… Expand
  19. iansarmy1
    Jul 24, 2014
    1
    I'm usually not this harsh on most games but it is not even worth paying 5 bucks for this game in the current Steam Sale. It's a step backwards for the Ace Combat franchise in every possible way. The flight controls have been atrociously dumbed down and every plane has the same cartoonish feel. The combat system constantly forces you into annoying pre-scripted quick time sequences. TheI'm usually not this harsh on most games but it is not even worth paying 5 bucks for this game in the current Steam Sale. It's a step backwards for the Ace Combat franchise in every possible way. The flight controls have been atrociously dumbed down and every plane has the same cartoonish feel. The combat system constantly forces you into annoying pre-scripted quick time sequences. The story boils down to cliche American bros fighting evil Russian terrorists who somehow have a super advanced air force. Oh and the graphics are horrible. It would be like Activison trying to make "Call of Duty with Planes" and farming out the development to the most incompetent studio they could find.… Expand
  20. BellinoP
    Jul 24, 2014
    0
    We are PCers either great simulations or nothing. keep your Xbox, PlayStation arcade games where they belong, on consoles........Long live IL-2 type games, now that's a game
  21. gaming_delight
    Jul 21, 2014
    2
    I have been a long time fan of this series, but any true AC fan should avoid this game. The music is great as always. Graphics are good, but that isn't a qualifier of a good game. The main reasoning behind this awfulness is the implementation of a new combat system, DFM, or dog fight mode. Sounds cool right? Ace Combat has been around for a long time, they must know what they are doing!I have been a long time fan of this series, but any true AC fan should avoid this game. The music is great as always. Graphics are good, but that isn't a qualifier of a good game. The main reasoning behind this awfulness is the implementation of a new combat system, DFM, or dog fight mode. Sounds cool right? Ace Combat has been around for a long time, they must know what they are doing! Wrong.

    DFM takes control away from you. In the game, there are 'normal' enemies, and than there are 'leader', otherwise known as 'aces' in all the other games. The tough guys that took a bit more maneuvering and skill to take down in all the other games. In this game, the only way to defeat these guys is to enter DFM. Once you get close enough to them, you press a button, and your plane automatically starts tailing them. You have some control; your speed and limited movement. Just enough for you have to aim, but not enough to feel like you are flying. The only purpose for this is to make it look a bit flashier, but it wears off really quickly. Its poorly executed mechanics to excite children and CoD jocks. (which is probably the only reason there are some good reviews of this game)

    The enemy also has the opportunity to initiate DFM with you as well. Once again, it misses the mark. It consists of speeding up, slowing down, and hitting a button.

    The skill of this game has been replaced by cheap parlor tricks to make it look flashy. They dropped the focus on a great story, and put their efforts into changing the game so its not even recognizable a Ace Combat game. They changed the way the game is played after multiple titles, so its now just a shell of its former self that is riding on the coat tails of the franchise name. Its not the Ace Combat you grew to love. Its a cheap air combat simulator that stole the name of a great series.    … Expand
  22. DrBlackheart
    Jul 3, 2014
    0
    Ace Combat in name only.

    Not set in the AC universe - instead you play as variety of American pilots and consequently character development suffers.

    But worst of all 'Dogfight Mode' reduces A-A combat to a pathetic QTE.

    Utterly awful.
  23. Ansatsu83
    Apr 28, 2014
    5
    Combat is interesting for a while but is too repetitive and gets boring very quickly. While I appreciate the variety of game play types I find the only one entertaining enough to want to play over and over is the Apache missions. The fighter missions are the LEAST ENTERTAINING!!! I have no idea what they did wrong, perhaps its that whole chase sequence that the game requires. RegardlessCombat is interesting for a while but is too repetitive and gets boring very quickly. While I appreciate the variety of game play types I find the only one entertaining enough to want to play over and over is the Apache missions. The fighter missions are the LEAST ENTERTAINING!!! I have no idea what they did wrong, perhaps its that whole chase sequence that the game requires. Regardless way it failed to make its mark in the one aspect that SHOULD BE IMPORTANT! I recommend hawx (first one) and janes advanced strike fighters, to this. However, I really would like them to make a game that is all about gunships and have similar controls to this one...… Expand
  24. Stevontoast
    Apr 4, 2014
    5
    This game is a pathetic excuse for an Ace Combat game. Dog fight mode is a stupid gimmick, forcing you to use helicopters is pathetic and not true to the series.

    A real Ace Combat fan would delete this piece of **** from their hard drives and play the PS2 games over it. It's sad that a more recent, amazing looking game could have such a terrible story, terrible characters and overall    This game is a pathetic excuse for an Ace Combat game. Dog fight mode is a stupid gimmick, forcing you to use helicopters is pathetic and not true to the series.

    A real Ace Combat fan would delete this piece of **** from their hard drives and play the PS2 games over it.
    It's sad that a more recent, amazing looking game could have such a terrible story, terrible characters and overall poor quality. This game used to have a niche appeal and now they're trying to spread it out. It's not like I don't understand, I honestly do. You just did a very poor job with it.

    I wouldn't give it a 1. I wouldn't give it a 6. The graphics make up a lot for the ****ness of the story campaign but it's still pathetic, mostly because dogfight mode takes away control of your flying so you can't even look at the nice scenery! That is its biggest problem... taking control away from the player.

    Stick to the formula, guys. It's best to have a dedicated following than no following at all.    … Expand
  25. Foxmaiden
    Jan 14, 2014
    8
    O Ace Combat que estou anallisando, é um ótimo jogo, com graficos maravilhosos e com uma história bem peculiar.

    No 1° dia de Lançamento na Steam, eu comprei o jogo e fiquei ansioso para joga-lo, dito e feito, assim que baixou fiquei maravilhado com o mesmo, pois pela jogabilidade e imersão em seus graficos e história o game chama muita atenção e é uma bela obra de arte. Eu recomendo    O Ace Combat que estou anallisando, é um ótimo jogo, com graficos maravilhosos e com uma história bem peculiar.

    No 1° dia de Lançamento na Steam, eu comprei o jogo e fiquei ansioso para joga-lo, dito e feito, assim que baixou fiquei maravilhado com o mesmo, pois pela jogabilidade e imersão em seus graficos e história o game chama muita atenção e é uma bela obra de arte.

    Eu recomendo totalmente, pois a série Ace Combat é realmente uma série para se levar em consideração e jogar sem medo algum de se arrepender, para os que gostam de simuladores que nem Comanche 3 e F-22 Raptor.    … Expand
  26. NulLac
    Jan 2, 2014
    9
    First of all, this is an arcade game, not a 100% simulation (huge stock of missiles each mission, infinite railguns and infinite fuel) so if you are of those strict, perfectly realistic scenario chasers and critics, then this game is not for you.

    Now for the review: Comparing this one to previous ace combat titles I have to admit this one pushed it to another level with DFM (I played    First of all, this is an arcade game, not a 100% simulation (huge stock of missiles each mission, infinite railguns and infinite fuel) so if you are of those strict, perfectly realistic scenario chasers and critics, then this game is not for you.

    Now for the review:
    Comparing this one to previous ace combat titles I have to admit this one pushed it to another level with DFM (I played almost all titles in multiplayer).
    Simply put, DFM makes this title much more intense and gives you some nice adrenaline injections in multiplayer and in some missions last missions are much harder and enjoyable because of it) where previous ace combat titles all you needed to do was lock at 2.5k-4k kilometers behind target and fire double missiles with rails being unplayable at ranges less than 750 kilometers, and it was pretty much the same in competitive online.
    NOTE: Campaign wise, this game does NOT forces you to DFM all targets!! You can dispose of most of the targets in the campaign while not using DFM. However, some targets that have a "TGT_LEAD" mark on them most be disposed off using DFM because they are relevant to the overall feel of the campaign progression and these count as 5% (at most!) of all targets in the campaign. So you can still enjoy yourself striking some targets down the old Ace Combat way. Needed to clarify that.

    Difficulty:
    - If you are a casual gamer (previous ace combat titles were more casual friendly) you will find it very hard (and frustrating) to beat certain missions in the difficulties Elite and Ace if you do not force yourself to learn the hard way, which is being persistent and be whiling to learn, not just give up and trash the game as most of the people that downgrade this game usually do. Harder difficulties in this game (Elite and Ace, specially Ace) live up to their word, unlike previous ace combat titles where the harder difficulty was not hard at all and it didn't require that much skill or practice.

    Story:
    - As for story, if you are that type of player that values skill,ace pilots and drama, you will love the antagonist and the setting that pans out at the end. You will not like the protagonist that much and the ending itself. They should have made more content story wise in the later half of the campaign. It just feels a little bit rushed over &/or they ran out of ideas.
    - The helicopter, bomber and gun additions were good but not necessary, that's why I really appreciate they still focusing more on the Jet aspect. After all, Its Ace Combat, helicopters and gunships are welcome only if they come and go fast.

    Mechanics:
    - They should have made the DFM circles shorter and longer to charge at very close range to add up more skill and difficulty in both single and multiplayer.
    - Counter maneuvers are hard to execute if you don't understand its mechanics at all. I've seen people complaining and trashing this game just because they don't bother to think and practice its functionality, and it pretty much sums up most of all the DFM hate.
    - About flares, players and NPCs DON'T have an infinite amount of flares, if anyone fails to realize this is because they are just bad or incredibly frustrated for reasons I mentioned above.

    So all in all, its a very fun and somewhat demanding game that makes your adrenaline rush and damages your controller, specially in multiplayer    … Expand
  27. spacepirate369
    Dec 14, 2013
    7
    If you are willing to put aside gripes about not being set in the usual Ace Combat world and the total disregard for realism, this game can be a genuine enjoyment. My biggest gripe with the game is the fact that often, when you are chasing a high-ranking bad-guy, he will become unkillable until he leads you to a certain location, just so a cool killcam can occur. This bothered me because IIf you are willing to put aside gripes about not being set in the usual Ace Combat world and the total disregard for realism, this game can be a genuine enjoyment. My biggest gripe with the game is the fact that often, when you are chasing a high-ranking bad-guy, he will become unkillable until he leads you to a certain location, just so a cool killcam can occur. This bothered me because I feel it stifles your freedom as a pilot and negatively effects gameplay, just for the sake of showing off the visuals (which are fantastic btw). The controls take a little getting used to, especially if you've played past Ace Combat titles on the playstation, but should be no problem after a few hours of gameplay. Ace Combat Assault Horizon: Enhanced Edition: Fun, arcade mess with a disregard for realism, fan service, and gameplay.… Expand
  28. Thigoron
    Oct 19, 2013
    8
    I have not played the previous games but I have heard they where realistic. I can understand why hardcore fans didn't like this game due to DMR and other unrealistic features.
    Personally I liked the game.. Alot! We already have MANY jet simulators so why not some AAA arcade games too. The game is really action packed and with DMR, that works really well by the way keeps the gameplay    I have not played the previous games but I have heard they where realistic. I can understand why hardcore fans didn't like this game due to DMR and other unrealistic features.
    Personally I liked the game.. Alot! We already have MANY jet simulators so why not some AAA arcade games too. The game is really action packed and with DMR, that works really well by the way keeps the gameplay intense. The game also features a wide variety of high detailed jet fighters. The soundtracks are also good.

    I think it isnt fair to vote down this game only because it is "too unrealistic". I don't think the developers actually wanted to create a simulator of this concept. They clearly wanted to create an arcade game wich everyone could enjoy. And for you who actually played the game: THIS PARTICULARY GAME IS NOT AN SIMULATOR IT IS AN ARCADE GAME. I would call this one a spinoff from the original games!

    Summary
    The gameplay was fun and intense, and if you like mindless action and badass jet fights this is the game to get. If you want a simulator DO NOT GET THIS GAME!    … Expand
  29. Flash_Over
    Oct 19, 2013
    3
    Worst Ace Combat game I have ever played. I will first start by saying the positive and that this game is pretty solid and bug free, runs well, even for a console port. However my gripe is with the god awful gameplay. This whole game is on rails. Not sure how you can manage to put a aircraft game on rails, but they do. First off the mission maps are small (The ones where you can actuallyWorst Ace Combat game I have ever played. I will first start by saying the positive and that this game is pretty solid and bug free, runs well, even for a console port. However my gripe is with the god awful gameplay. This whole game is on rails. Not sure how you can manage to put a aircraft game on rails, but they do. First off the mission maps are small (The ones where you can actually fly around.) I am not expecting a flight Sim, this is Ace Combat, but basic flight characteristic should be present as in other Ace Combats. 2 speeds, Stall and afterburners. Oh you think you can fly and dog fighting using your own tactics like in other ace combats??? LOL No. Everything forces you to use this stupid (DFM) mode. Which is pretty much a roller coast auto pilot, where your airplane pulls UFO maneuvers as you try to try to shoot down the enemy... and your pretty much not even flying the plane. So you can fly through Hollywood explosions... Plus for some reason some targets dont even die and 8 direct hits unless you enter Rollercoaster on rails Mode. So stupid! Think you can fly a stealth aircraft and fly through radar undetected? lol... According to Ace Combat you need to fly at low altitude through a radar screen.... Why? I have a B-2 that can fly through it at high altitude. In fact, you would be more vulnerable to be detected from your engines being heard from that low... I dont mind Arcade aircraft games, but that DFM Rollercoaster-cant-kill-anything-without-using-it mode is by far the worst idea to be used in a aircraft game!… Expand
  30. Lancestrike
    Oct 17, 2013
    4
    Okay, this sham of a game is not worthy of an Ace combat title, it has pulled so far away from what it was to become a "modern" FFPS (Flight FPS). The gameplay is cringe-worthy, your actual skill means very little in a dogfight and as a result i lost interest very quickly. I played with controller and that worked as good as one can hope. But Pulling instant 180's and trying to maneuver aOkay, this sham of a game is not worthy of an Ace combat title, it has pulled so far away from what it was to become a "modern" FFPS (Flight FPS). The gameplay is cringe-worthy, your actual skill means very little in a dogfight and as a result i lost interest very quickly. I played with controller and that worked as good as one can hope. But Pulling instant 180's and trying to maneuver a circle over an enemy will never be a flight simulator. I can't say as a game it is bad per se but if you were expecting a return and improvement of the games previous look elsewhere, this is a CoD fan-base grab and the lack of depth skill and story reflects that.… Expand
prev
Page:

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Best PC Game of 2013
60
#60 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Feb 21, 2013
    85
    A title you definitely didn't expect to see on PC, Ace Combat looks like a flight sim and plays like the vehicular sections of Call of Duty. It's a fun game while it lasts. The linear missions mean that the game holds no replay-value whatsoever. [Feb 2013]
  2. Everyeye.it
    Feb 20, 2013
    75
    Ace Combat Assault Horizon is one of the best air combat games on the PC platform. If you can go beyond the limits of gameplay (due to the entire genre) then consider buying.
    Read full review
  3. GameStar
    Feb 15, 2013
    70
    Quotation forthcoming.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »