Last year, the Ace Combat series turned 15 years old. Fifteen! Even for some shooter, this is a huge time, and even for the air system, albeit arcadian, such an enviable longevity is perceived as something completely incredible. Especially considering that all these fifteen years the game was conducted according to exactly the same rules: to catch the enemy into the sight, wait for a alarm to sawing a self -owned sensor and press the right hand with a thumb with a circle on the gamepad twice a finger twice.
And so, for the first time since 1995, the Project Aces team dared to seriously rewrite the unshakable, seemingly formula for the war in the sky. And, of course, there were those who did not like it very much.
Hear
Understanding such people is extremely simple: the spirit of the game has changed dramatically. Even some professional journalists sculpt her shameful 5.5 points and offend her as children who suddenly took their favorite toy. What to say about the old and loyal fans of the series?
The author of these lines, familiar with her from the second part, also at some point brushed a tear of resentment. But how not to brush when the game in your eyes from a very emotional, touching and slightly naive story Jinx Casino about the war in a fictional world turns into a regular Call of Duty in the air with good Americans and bad Russians?
However, when you fly out for the first mission, all these claims are stuck in the throat. Because you understand that this is a completely different game, which with the past parts of the series is only related to the name and some branded features. And her motto is now as malicious as Michael Bay's smile: more spectacles, and you can without bread!
[Bullet]] In other air systems, such screenshots are usually staged. In Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, something similar happens once per minute.
It becomes completely unimportant how the plot was worked out, why the Americans and the Russians ended up together in Africa, what kind of rebel organization it was with the excellent name Blatnoi, from where it got the powerful weapon of the mass defeat of Trinity and why the main character of Bishop torment nightmares. Another thing is important: there is always another reason to climb into the sky and under the grooves of the electric guitars to arrange a damn thing there: to carry a whirlwind between skyscrapers, almost scratch the stadium, inaccessible stadium, accidentally fill up a tower tap and roll a charge into the enemy’s steel carcass, Watching how she crumbles before her eyes, splashes in all directions with machine oil and, finally, falls, spreading the road denouement.
There is superweapon?
All due to the fact that a new element was added to the familiar formula of air battles. When you firmly settled on the tail of the enemy, a special mode is activated: the camera is close to your aircraft, the autopilot partially takes on the maneuvering, and you can completely focus on bringing down the enemy’s flying unit. To do this, it is necessary to hold it in the sight for some time and feed it to the dump with rockets and machine-gun fire. It is at such moments that all visual feasts are taking place: the planes make unimaginable pretzels in the air, the director dramatically shakes the camera, moves it under the wing, then to a machine gun, then to a bomb compartment and tries to show all the most exciting moments of a duel.
[[Bullet]] Demolition of some Arabic town is in full swing.
It is almost impossible to knock down especially steep aces otherwise – they easily move away from missiles. It is in the battles with them Ace Combat: Assault Horizon issues something very similar to the sensations from the first viewing of the "transformers" Michael Bay. The enemy caught in the sight immediately rushes to twist the turns, and in parallel the game arranges a screenshole, but from that no less spectacular circus performance. And believe me, when you, enthusiastic duel, meet a hefty cargo plane suddenly fly out from behind the high-rise, I want to lean back on the sofa, exhale and say: “It was cool!"
And if I find?
Of course, only you can’t go far from entertainment – even the coolest special effects quickly get bored. This is also the fact that the game was transferred to the real world, completely abandoning the elements of science fiction. You can no longer force the player to attack the colossal flying fortress or, for example, delicately ask him to fly into the muzzle of a giant gun and blow it up from the inside.
However, with the variety of Assault Horizon, everything is in order. Instead of hiding only on air duels with the participation of aircraft, the developers came up with a bunch of entertainment, which successfully alternate from the mission to the mission. The second task transfers you to the helm of a helicopter, and the game turns into something like Desert Strike or, if you like, recent Apache: Air Assault. There is no need to retrain for a long time – it is elementary. The helicopter task includes support for infantry and stripping the ground forces of the enemy: a machine gun, launchers and homing missiles of the Air-Earth class are used. Sometimes enemy helicopters look at the light and twist you in a beautiful waltz, which looks especially impressive among the Moscow City skyscrapers. In the White House, by the way, to plant a rocket is also very nice.
[[Bullet]] Winter, Snow, Tanks on Red Square – We find out native expanses! In addition to the capital of our Motherland, we will be offered to fly also over Paris, Dubai and Washington with all their sights.
The third type of mission is a game for a machine gunner of the same helicopter. Here, developers give free rein to special effects and can beautifully crush some dry cargo transport for ten minutes, occasionally being distracted by hunting for motor boats with grenade launchers on board.
You may also ask you to bomb you (for this in the game there is a special mode similar to a duel between the aircraft, but helping to easily arrange Armageddon on the ground), clear the infantry path, intercept the intercontinental missile until it went into the upper layers atmosphere, sink an aircraft carrier and all like that. Even the mission on the AC-130 is right there, although it would not be better-it's tired.
In fact, Project Aces did something that failed Ubisoft With their dilogy Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. , – created the most spectacular and at the same time to extremely friendly to the beginner pilot Avia Simulator. But the most important merit of the Japanese-for the first time in many years, they moved flight arcades from a dead point and came up with something new: nothing like air duels from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, we have not yet seen.
Different strange things like the restoration of the “health” of aircraft and the inability to break the helicopter, having flew into the building, fade against the backdrop of the riot of special effects and fade into the background. As well as the lack of important features of the series: elements of science fiction, a good plot and memorable characters. However, we seriously hope that all this is a temporary phenomenon, that the team threw all their strength to grinding the new gameplay, and the rest will return in the future. Otherwise … we hasten to remind you that Michael Bay was awarded the Golden Raspberry Awards in the nominations "The Worst Director" and "The Worst Scenario" precisely for the second "transformers", and not for the first.
Reigracy:
Cool plot:
Originality:
Easy to master:
Gameplay:
8
Graphics:
9
Sound and music:
9
Interface and management:
8
Waited?
Eye holiday and rest for everything else. Modern Warfare in the air. "Transformers" from the world of video games. Call as you want, but the essence is one: we have the most spectacular aircraft system for the entire existence of the genre.
Mania rating: 8.5
"Great"
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