Ace Combat Assault Horizon Preview

This Ace Combat: Assault Horizon preview gives a quick look at what can be expected from Project Aces’ upcoming title!

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is an upcoming installment of the Ace Combat arcade combat flight video game series developed by Project Aces and published by Namco Bandai for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The game is due to hit shelves on October 13th (JP), October 11th (US) and October 14th, 2011!

The story is written by New York Times bestselling author Jim DeFelice, and takes place in the year 2015. Players take on the role of Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop, Leader of the Warwolf Squadron and must race to secure a super weapon and the conflict engulfing the rest of the world.

Take a look behind the scenes of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon as Producer/Director Kazutoki Kono talks about the development process and what we can expect from the game!

This stunning 10+ minute demo sees Aces whizzing through buildings, looping, flipping and diving to destroy enemy fighters.

And watch this impressive “Full Blown Assault” trailer showcased at this years Gamescom!

Key Features of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Here is a list of key elements that will be available in Project Aces’ Ace Combat: Assault Horizon based on news and announcements made so far.

New Missions
Also new to the series are attack helicopter missions, stealth bomber missions, and levels where the player controls a Black Hawk door gunner and an AC-130.

  • The ‘Original’ control setting is similar to the controls in the previous titles under the name ‘Expert’. As expected, it gives the player full control of the aircraft, with the left stick making it roll (not turn) when pushed right or left.
  • The new ‘Optimum’ controls (the default mode and the one used in all the trailers released so far) is not the equivalent of the usual ‘beginner/novice’ control style of the series. It prevents the player from doing full rolls but this is to gain the stability needed to get the best of the new ‘Close Range Assault System’.

Capital Conquest
A new multiplayer mode called “Capital Conquest” involves two teams of 8 vs. 8 where each team takes turns either defending or attacking a world capital, such as Paris and Washington, D.C.. In this mode fighters, attack helicopters, and bombers can fly together simultaneously. Each type of aircraft will have its advantages and disadvantages, having specific roles in the battlefield.

Original & Optimum Control System
There are two control schemes in the game, ‘Original’ and ‘Optimum’.

Flights & Squadrons
Four squadrons are known at this time, and they are all elements of the 108th Task Force (all allied with the player). No enemy squadrons have been specified as of yet.

108th Task Force

  • Warwolf Flight: An Air Force flight that is the player character’s main squadron. They fly F-35B Lightning IIs, F-22 Raptors, F-15E Strike Eagles, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F/A-18 Hornets, F-14D Super Tomcats, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and F-117 Nighthawks.
  • Razor Flight: An Air Force flight that flies B-2 Spirits and B-1B Lancers. It is depicted performing a bomb run over AA fire.
  • Nomad Squadron: Addressed at the beginning of the debut trailer in the desert. It consists of the group of MH-60 Black Hawks depicted in the same scene, and is a part of the US Army.
  • Shooter Squadron: Another squadron of the US Army, the Shooter squadron flies AH-64D Apache Longbows.
  • Tiger Squadron: Heard on the radio several times during the first mission. Aircraft unknown.

Antagonists

  • Colonel Markov’s Squadron: One of the enemy squadrons participating in the battle of Miami. Colonel Markov is leading a squadron to fight for African forces with Su-33s and Su-35s.

Characters
9 characters have been confirmed thus far, these are:

108th Task Force

  • General Pierre La Pointe: the commander of the 108th Task Force.
  • Magic: a character asked to give a SITREP about the situation over Miami. He is probably the AWACS supporting the player.
  • Spooky 01: a US Air Force AC-130U serving as a fire support gunship. It may be a playable aircraft during the campaign.
  • Major Janice Rehl: the pilot of Razor 1 , assigned to the operations over Africa by Colonel Bishop. Likes to tease Guts.

Warwolf Flight

  • Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop: the character who is portrayed in first and third person in the trailers over Miami in an F-22. He is the leader of Warwolf Flight. He is also presumably the player’s main character.
  • Captain Jose “Guts” Gutierrez: Bishop’s close friend and wingman in Warwolf Flight.

Nomad Squadron

  • Captain Doug “D-ray” Robinson: the commanding officer of Nomad Squadron.
  • Jack: D-ray’s co-pliot.
  • James “Hawkgunner” Mitchell: he mans the M134 on his MH-60L Black Hawk, and a fellow soldier can be seen accessing his twitter in the opening scene of the debut trailer. He wears a skull mask over his face.

Antagonists

  • Colonel Andrei “Akula” Markov: an Ace, and leader of an enemy squadron during the attack of Miami. He is nicknamed Akula (Russian for shark) because of the design on the nose of his Su-35S and PAK FA.

Close-Range Assault
The major new gameplay feature is a system called “Close-range Assault”, which aims to increase the intensity and bring the action closer to the player, without the feeling of “shooting at faraway dots” commonly seen in flight games. In the game, it is named “Dogfight Mode” for air-to-air battles and “Air Strike Mode” for air-to-ground targets. They are entirely optional. To initiate Dogfight Mode, the player taps LB+RB on the Xbox 360 and L2+R2 on the PS3 when they have gotten close enough to the plane they are targeting. Air Strike Mode is initiated by pressing the same buttons at specific points around the map.

Check out the awesome trailer!

Eagerly anticipating this game? Don’t forget to leave a comment and share your opinion.

Be sure to check out our Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Screenshots Gallery!