Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Gameplay

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon introduces a new system called Close-Range Assault, or CRA, designed to make combat feel more immediate and intense, avoiding the common problem of shooting at tiny distant targets. In practice, this is split into Dogfight Mode for air-to-air fights and Air Strike Mode for ground attacks. These modes are mandatory because some enemy planes and ground targets can only be destroyed using them. To start Dogfight Mode, players press LB+RB on Xbox 360 or L2+R2 on PS3 once they are close enough to the targeted aircraft. Air Strike Mode is triggered by pressing the same buttons at designated spots on the map.

This game also features playable aircraft that are not the usual fixed-wing jets. Players can take control of the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit strategic bombers, the AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and the AC-130 Spectre gunship.

The multiplayer has been upgraded from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. Cooperative missions and free-for-all Deathmatch return, joined by two new modes: Capital Conquest and Domination. In Capital Conquest, two teams of either 4v4 or 8v8 each defend their own headquarters while trying to destroy the opponent's. To do damage, a team must first capture the transmission base in the center of the map. Once that is secured, their multi-role and attacker aircraft (and bombers under certain conditions) can use Air Strike Mode to hit the enemy headquarters. The first team to destroy the other's headquarters wins. If time runs out, the team with the most headquarters health remaining is victorious. On the Ace Combat website, players can join an online faction tied to a specific capital city featured in this mode. Any points they earn while playing in that city contribute to their faction's control over it. Every six weeks, the faction with the highest global control wins the overall competition.

Synopsis

Unlike other games in the Ace Combat series but in the same vein as Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Assault Horizon takes place in real-world locations. The plot is set between 2015 and 2016 in East Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and the United States. The protagonists are mostly members of the United Nations' 108th Task Force, a joint NATO-Russian military unit assigned to quell a rebellion in East Africa. Also playable are pilots of the 108th's Shooter, Nomad, and Spooky Squadrons in helicopter turret, attack helicopter, and gunship sections. After a nightmare of being shot down by a Su-35 with shark mouth nose art during an attack on Miami, Bishop participates in missions against the SRN rebel group in East Africa. After discovering a powerful explosive weapon, Warwolf is attacked by Blatnoi-affiliated traitors from the 108th's Russian contingent, including Markov flying the same plane from Bishop's nightmare. The Russians withdraw as the SRN attacks a city with Trinity, a Russian thermobaric cruise missile warhead with the power of a tactical nuclear weapon.

Development

Bandai Namco first hinted at the game through a trademark filing in April 2010, with an official announcement and gameplay trailer following on August 9. That trailer showcased attack helicopter sequences and campaign footage. Like its predecessor Ace Combat: Joint Assault, Assault Horizon broke from the series' fictional Strangereal setting by depicting a realistic Earth, using satellite imagery to recreate real-world locations accurately enough for players to identify specific buildings. Multiplayer maps included Miami, East Africa, Dubai, Moscow, Paris, and Washington, D.C., with Honolulu and Tokyo later added as downloadable content. A demo arrived on September 13, 2011, free for all PlayStation 3 users, while Xbox 360 players needed an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription for the first week before it became available to Silver members. The demo featured Mission 1, the iconic nightmare air battle over Miami, and Mission 3, an attack helicopter rescue operation in Africa; it is no longer available for download. In 2011, Macross creator Shouji Kawamori designed the fictional ASF-X Shinden II, released as downloadable content on October 25. It cost US$7.99 on the PlayStation Store or 640 MS Points on the Xbox Marketplace.

Release

For European regions, Bandai Namco released a Limited Edition that included the game's soundtrack, a redeemable code for the F-4E Phantom II aircraft, and a notebook signed by the development team, all in a folded box. Pre-orders of this edition received it for the same price as the standard edition. A separate Helicopter Edition contained a 25 cm remote-controlled Black Hawk helicopter with the game's livery, a remote control, a rechargeable battery, a branded pen and keychain, and all Limited Edition contents. A special edition in Japan included Aces at War: A History, an artbook detailing content from Ace Combat Zero, 4, and 5 from an in-universe perspective, plus production notes from Project Aces. In Japan, pre-orders received a code for the F-4E Phantom II; in the US, GameStop offered the plane as an exclusive pre-order bonus. The Japanese edition also had options to download special skins for the F-14D representing Roy Fokker and Hikaru Ichijo's VF-1 Valkyrie from Macross. A patch on November 26, 2012 fixed multiplayer issues. A day later, the PC version was announced, available through retailers, Steam, and Games for Windows Marketplace. The Enhanced Edition, exclusive to PCs, came with optimized controls and graphics, additional aircraft, skins, multiplayer maps, and skills, released in winter 2012. In March 2012, ASCII Media Works released Ace Combat: Ikaros in the Sky, a tie-in novel about Kei Nagase participating in the JASDF's ASF-X Shinden II program, with character designs by Yūsuke Kozaki.