Ace Combat: Joint Assault

Namco knows how to make fighter jets interesting, as is proven by Ace Combat: Joint Assault. Although it's marred by some slow parts in the story telling, the missions are diverse and there's enough multiplayer content to keep players (and their friends) busy for months to come.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault somewhat tries to bring the franchise up to date without being totally successful. New multiplayer features are interesting and add to the overall length of the game, on the other side gameplay is still the same and perhaps a bit too much simple and repetitive. Fans of the franchise will love the excellent visuals and wide range of missions, which make this installment a good start for new players and veterans alike.

Small issues do exist, such as the goofy storyline and a not-so-useful copilot, but Assault makes an admirable outing for anyone who's ever sought to become Top Gun's Maverick. [Oct 2010, p.79]

Intense, varied, exciting... Ace Combat: Joint Assault gives us the most realistic story in the series, a cooperative campaign against terrorism and a good number of multiplayer modes. If you are a series fan, then... Try it out!

There's more than enough going on in single-player to make it worth a bash. Just don't expect anything to surprise you. [Issue#194, p.98]

There is no need for checking engine lights or other technical difficulties. Just hop on the jet and let the action roll.

The story mode is a little bit repetitious and boring, but the multiplayer excellent and seriously enjoyable.

If you are a seasoned Ace Combat player you'll recognise some things that have been reused from previous games. But the premise is clear: this is a game oriented to cooperative multiplayer.

While I do think the mission structure can be a bit dull, I found myself pretty entertained to the end. The inclusion of co-op is a huge plus for me though, as with most games I found everything here to be better when I knew there was another person playing through the same events with me.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault is great if you are playing with friends either competitively or cooperatively, but if you choose to go solo you will likely grow tired of the trite mission structure far too quickly.

Catchy flies but none of them good enough to justify to stupidity of the campaing mode. Nice graphics, great sound, quite impressive gameplay style but bassically's more of the same that we learned on Ace Combat X. Give it a try if you're a die-hard of the series. It could be interesting for those who're willing to have some multiplayer fun.

Great cooperative play and solid action save the latest Ace Combat game from its lackluster campaign.