Ace Combat Infinity

 PlayStation 3
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 69
  3. Negative: 25 out of 69

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  1. Projava
    Jun 8, 2014
    7
    This is a game that I feel conflicted about.
    On one hand the game stays true to its roots, the series feels almost like I'm playing Ace Combat 4 mixed with Ace Combat X. The combat feels fluent and you feel powerful taking down lesser targets. From the last entry I've played, some UI upgrades have been put in, including a small health-bar, with how much damage your next missile will hit    This is a game that I feel conflicted about.
    On one hand the game stays true to its roots, the series feels almost like I'm playing Ace Combat 4 mixed with Ace Combat X. The combat feels fluent and you feel powerful taking down lesser targets. From the last entry I've played, some UI upgrades have been put in, including a small health-bar, with how much damage your next missile will hit for. This is awesome, gives you good feedback. and I love that they've added it.

    On the other hand, this feels like a pay-wall. The fuel system honestly feels worse than the energy system from Farmville. This fuel system they put in the game needs to be tweaked. I can overlook that the game is bare bones, and is missing campaign missions, maybe. The pay wall makes me feel like I'm back playing other F2P games, Like MMOs.

    I'm also split on them re-using music from the last games. I'm loving the throw backs, but i feel conflicted on how they didn't make new music for the series.

    All in all, It feels solid until you hit the pay wall. If you look at where the pay wall is located, it makes sense since there is not a lot of content in this game. Do not ignore that the game is F2P as another review has noted. It is a important part of this games identity, and I feel like in the end it takes away from it
    I have a 6 down, and I hate having to give it a 6, but If i could have given it a 6.5 I would. I can't play it much, and that really detracts from the entire game.    … Expand
  2. Rickyrider35
    Nov 13, 2014
    5
    I'll just start off by saying that I've always been a fan of flight sim and fighter jets in general, hence why I've played a few ace combat games. I've played both PSP titles and ac 4 on ps2
    This is different
    The combat in this is pretty satisfying, balancing between a boring straight on aim and shoot gameplay and intense head twirling action. I feel that, being a fairly good simulator    I'll just start off by saying that I've always been a fan of flight sim and fighter jets in general, hence why I've played a few ace combat games. I've played both PSP titles and ac 4 on ps2
    This is different
    The combat in this is pretty satisfying, balancing between a boring straight on aim and shoot gameplay and intense head twirling action. I feel that, being a fairly good simulator pilot, the expert difficulty offers very good realism in terms of movement and feel of the aircraft. Except for the irritating 'sharp turns' that switch on every time you decelerate and pitch. These often screw up any tentatives made of getting an accurate aim on enemy aircraft and generally act as an unrealistic and unneeded nuisance that also makes avoiding missiles extremely easy. For the rest controls and gameplay will satisfy most hardcore ace combat gamers as well as newcomers to flight simulators, with an overly easy campaign. Online it is a completely different story. You play in co-op teams against the cpu controlled bandits, which I found much more challenging and fun and amusing. The two modes are tied together with a sound and expansive progression system that explores the arcade part that has always dimly been part of the Ace Combat franchise. By finishing multiplayer missions you unlock parts, emblems and aircrafts through an intricate skill tree that offers progressively better upgrades and aircrafts. These have to be bought using credits which are vastly more abundant when winning multiplayer matches rather than single player, which openly outlines the direction in which the game has been set. There is a pretty large catalogue of aircrafts to unlock, including old legends such as the f-14, current gen. such as the f-22, in development aircraft like the revolutionary T-50 and of course fictional aircrafts with huge mounted lasers on them. All of these also have slight variations that you can acquire as entirely different planes, on top of the variety of paint jobs and upgrades which all help make the bulk of metal you're flying in look and feel awesome and unique. However it is hard not to wonder if this is all rendered useless after giving one look at the price for all this. Now I'm not a hater of free-to-play games. Angry Birds, runescape and warframe are all classified as free-to-play because you can simply download or play them online at 0 cost, while usually being given the option to purchase additional features power-ups and DLCs. Ace-Combat Infinity is NOT free-to-play. It is much more easily a demo for a game that doesn't yet exist. Within purchase (after waiting for 2 hours for the game to download and install I might add) all the game offers you are 2 skeletal campaign missions and 1 online battle. After that if you want to play any sort of remotely amusing (i.e. not tutorial) gameplay you will have to dish out a whopping $1.29 for ONE measly 5 minute mission. Or you could instead invest an incredible $52.49 for 60 missions. These include both multiplayer, which get repetitive and monotonous, and single player, of which there are 8. The price wouldn't be too bad compared to paying $90-$100 or $60 if you live in the U.S for a normal game. However Ace Combat Infinity does not act like a normal full feature game, because it is not. It's replayability becomes dim once all the menus and missions are scrolled through, and unless there is a constant flux of money going into the game, it will let you down. Infinity seems trapped on the fence between realism and arcade, one layout against another, and this rather destroys what could have been an entertaining little title. Instead Namco Bandai uses it as an attempt at using the free-to-play scheme, which unfortunately, hasn't quite turned out right this time. It is a shame because it really feels like this game should've been honored more by its developer, but is instead left as a half polished, money robbing failure, with a mediocre storyline which seemed to have way too much background for what the game offered, and mediocre gameplay which included slight features from previous games, all accessible through confusing menus and text around every corner to hold your hand so close around every corner, even pointing out the smallest features in every page. In the end Ace Combat Infinity is a good game, but with its immense cost for a free-to-play game and underdeveloped campaign and multiplayer missions, anything above half the mark would be absolute charity.    … Expand
  3. TheStig747
    Feb 26, 2015
    5
    Time = money... no matter how you look at it! Either pay up front to get the obviously important fuel... or become a slave to the clock (allowing for as much as three units of fuel), only to be held hostage in the co-op lobby for an infinite amount of time for the other pilots to align with your own desire to actually play the mission. Ultimately, the free to play concept has completelyTime = money... no matter how you look at it! Either pay up front to get the obviously important fuel... or become a slave to the clock (allowing for as much as three units of fuel), only to be held hostage in the co-op lobby for an infinite amount of time for the other pilots to align with your own desire to actually play the mission. Ultimately, the free to play concept has completely evaded the developers at NamcoBandai, as there just cant be a good excuse for the ratio of time/money vs. actual play time. Not to mention how discouraging it is to be newly introduced to the previously great Ace Combat franchise only to be outgunned by other players so much so that the fun is sucked right out of it by the black hole called time or the emptiness of one's wallet. Either way, this game is a waste of time from the moment you begin the download. Free to play? Yeah, I gotta call B.S. on that one!!!! A reluctant score of 6... mostly out of misplaced loyalty to previous titles in the franchise, but history and fond memories should count for something, even after running out of fuel, time, and money!… Expand
  4. sharpemang
    Dec 27, 2014
    6
    I love the familiar feeling from the older games like Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies. They even have remixed versions of the old songs, Stonehenge returning, the big battle at the aerospace defense center etc. I also like the aircraft and the amount of upgrades you can do etc. Those are the only good points.

    The bad points? The frequent connection issues is a pain. I have never played a    I love the familiar feeling from the older games like Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies. They even have remixed versions of the old songs, Stonehenge returning, the big battle at the aerospace defense center etc. I also like the aircraft and the amount of upgrades you can do etc. Those are the only good points.

    The bad points? The frequent connection issues is a pain. I have never played a game with online multiplayer with this much connection problems. A room always seems to full up the second you select it, when you finally enter a room, BOOM! "Connection with host was lost". If you make it to sortie and select your aircraft the countdown begins, hits zero and you are in the loading screen. Then, BOOM! Connection with host was lost. If your lucky enough you'll make it passed all that into an actual game. You start racking up some kills and having fun. Then. Suddenly. BOOM! "Connection with host was lost". The few kills you racked up and the start all go out the window. If you make it passed all that you'll make it near the end of the game. You racked up a lot of kills, your team is in the lead etc. Seconds, and Iiterally mean SECONDS before the game ends before you can collect your prize money and rewards, guess what happens? You guessed it! BOOM! Connection with host was lost. It doesn't matter on your actual internet connection, doesn't matter if you pick the games with the best connection quality etc. I literally kept stats of how often the game loses connections with every attempt to join a game and it has a %79 chance of losing connection. You won't have any connection issues if you create your own room though. I've played many games that never had connection problems unless I actually plugged my internet connection out so this game is very faulty.

    Another problem is the awful fuel system. I know it's free to play, but please....Waiting 9 hours to play another 3 games??????

    Another thing that is awful is the campaign. The campaign itself isn't bad. It's the fact YOU HAVE TO SPEND FUEL. Also to get to other missions you have to choose between using your hard earned credits to either upgrade your aircraft or spend it to unlock another campaign mission. My advice is to spend it on the upgrades on the aircraft because the campaign is a waste of time unless you have all the upgrades and every aircraft and want something to do. You don't get any reward for beating the campaign missions besides 500 credits versus the 400,000 credits you spent to play the one mission that you could have used to upgrade your F22 Raptor or buy a F35.

    In conclusion, I like this game overall. My tips are to create your own games to avoid connection problems, do not use any credits to play a story mode mission because you will be disappointed and take advantage of the challenges so you can get some extra stocked fuel. But, I can't complain about getting a free game though.    … Expand
  5. GamergodsFail
    Jun 30, 2015
    5
    The gameplay and controls to Ace Combat Infinity were great. The real problem were the microtransactions that prevented you from playing through a 2-3 hour long single player campaign for free. You have two options: A. Pay $20 for a really short campaign, or B. Play hundreds of hours in the multiplayer (while only being able to play a few matches a day) to unlock a really short campaign.The gameplay and controls to Ace Combat Infinity were great. The real problem were the microtransactions that prevented you from playing through a 2-3 hour long single player campaign for free. You have two options: A. Pay $20 for a really short campaign, or B. Play hundreds of hours in the multiplayer (while only being able to play a few matches a day) to unlock a really short campaign. Either way, it's unacceptable.… Expand
  6. JKWongR
    Nov 28, 2014
    5
    I played ace combat since its inception and expect more of infinity ! ace combat think this is just a business where you have to buy the game , you have to buy gas , you have to buy passes elite and passes for plant improvements . This ace combat is the baddest who have created ! ahhh and not to mention how slow is the campaign !! take a mission every 3 or 4 months !!
  7. Lewis-Angelo
    Jul 25, 2018
    7
    rejugado hace poco con el cierre de los servidores

    una lástima el f2p, porque todo queda relegado a eso, con una campaña entrecortada y un online roto en el que más paga lleva ventaja

    la banda sonora y la jugabilidad es exquisita como siempre
    deja con muchas ganas de que sacasen un recopilatorio HD de AC4 y AC5
  8. EJBeavis42
    Oct 1, 2016
    7
    So I have played Ace Combat Infinity for over 2 years now and have over 9000 sorties (missions). I buy the 50 fuel packs + 10 free (for 60) when on sale for $35.99. I probably spend about $150/month on fuel and contracts.

    That said, I am mostly a pure Fighter gamer. about 60% fighter, 25% multirole, and %15% attacker. What I have noticed is that the game is biased toward the    So I have played Ace Combat Infinity for over 2 years now and have over 9000 sorties (missions). I buy the 50 fuel packs + 10 free (for 60) when on sale for $35.99. I probably spend about $150/month on fuel and contracts.

    That said, I am mostly a pure Fighter gamer. about 60% fighter, 25% multirole, and %15% attacker.

    What I have noticed is that the game is biased toward the Attacker. What I mean by that is that it is a lot easier to get to 100,000 points in some missions using an attacker instead of a fighter. I have played against friends where I use a Level 20, 42 slot special fighter maxed out with Cst of 2400 - 2600+. The "ground pounder" can still beat me (and most others) with a plane 5-10 levels lower.

    I think the main reason is plain and simple - ground targets DON'T EVADE 4AGMs, SFFS, SODs or regular missiles like Fighters so, etc. It takes a lot of skill and practice (and knowing the map and patterns) to chase RED planes and waste a lot of ammo (MISS, MISS, MISS), while maybe picking off a few 500 - 800 point ground targets with A-A missiles as I pass by.

    Meanwhile, the attacker can "fire and forget" with most ground targets and go after the RED targets, knowing they are almost guaranteed a sure kill. In addition, in a lot of missions, there are large clumps of medium and high value targets where one SOD or SFFS run can result in thousands of points. I may have to chase an F22 or F35, etc. for 15-30 sec to get the 2500+ points it offers, wasting a lot of time. And while the ground pounders are using their "special weapon" for ground to get sure kills, they can work on taking out some plane with their A-A. The utilization of ground weapons has to be near 90%, yet for the various A-A I would say that number is around 35-50%. Simply put, fighters have to waste time chasing targets, attackers don't. Thus the imbalance.

    I have only been able to get my MR up to 2100 - 2150 playing strickly AIR (and either 4 players or Hard missions) while the ground pounders are working on 2300, 2400, up to 2700+ I've seen. The reason they can raise their MR so high is that they mostly use the same high level attacker (A-10, Su-34, now FB-22 and F-14B) to crush everyone else to keep winning the match, finishing first (getting MVP) and scoring more than the highest player on the other team. Whenever I drop back close to 2000 when doing TDM, I do some Avalon Dam and get my 100K+ to build my MR up fast. I could keep doing this if it was just the MR I cared about, but that is not the point. I want to fly the FIGHTERS, but I feel relegated to a ground support role to help get the "S" while the attackers almost always get the MVP (if they are good). I know I am a good fighter pilot and that ground is over weighted because I can still beat most of the high MRs in B7R. I can hold my own on the ground, it just isn't as much fun for me.

    Now, as some friends have said to me, "A high MR doesn't get you anything". That is true, but it is an indication now of what type of player they are. It isn't necessarily bad, but when I've played in high MR rooms, they usually swoop around going for the high value targets, leaving the low and in some cases, when the small targets don't get mopped up, you can't get the "S" rank for the mission, That is frustrating.

    I know it is too late now, but NAMCO needs to either lower the amount of points for the ground targets and/or lessen the power of the weapons to adjust this imbalance. A good level fighter with level 20 loaded special planes should be able to get about the same amount of points as a loaded level 20 attacker. Their Air-to-air should be weaker or less accurate. However, all have the same, so they are even, that is why the attacker weapons should be weakened more. I play in 1500 rooms where attackers can still get over 100K but fighters struggle to get 50-75K. I can only get 100K when not fighting for air targets because the others go ground.

    I use this MR "break" to know which rooms are GPs. MRs of 2200-2250 + are almost always ground. I join their rooms if there is a decent amount of AIR on the mission(such as Moscow, Pipeline, Weapon Base) because most other people also try to do ground and the points are divided among more players than the air targets. By doing this, I can still get the occassional MVP using my SU-35, F-14-Chopper, or F-22 Reaper. When you see an A-10 take out the Aigaion with a few bombs, hard to compete.

    Now, when doing these repetitive challenges, I make my own rooms and have no choice but to kick high MRs when I have to do ground because I know an experienced GP will crush me.

    I hope that Namco takes this into consideration when they work on Ace Combat 7. I know that I will not spend the kind of money that I spend on ACI knowing that as a FIGHTER gamer in a series called "ACE COMBAT" that ground guys get all the glory. I thought the Fighter jocks were called "Aces" not the attackers and bombers    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Best PS3 Game of 2014
11
#11 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2014
4
#4 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 4 out of 14
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Aug 4, 2014
    40
    In a game build around multiplayer, it's baffling that the developer would undermine any gains made through Infinity being freely available by making it so difficult to play once you have it. [Aug 2014, p.91]
  2. Games Master UK
    Jul 29, 2014
    27
    The rotting corpse floating in this flight sim's pool is its free-to-play mechanic. [Sept 2014, p.80]
  3. games(TM)
    Jul 19, 2014
    60
    It's a little dull - particularly without PvP - but shouting "danger zone" at the top of your lungs will no doubt alleviate some of the mundanity. [Issue#150, p.116]
See all critic reviews »