Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 51 Ratings

  • Summary: Climb back into the cockpit with another installment of the Ace Combat series.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 28
  2. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. Flight sim fans looking for more realism won't find it here, but if there was ever an argument for fun over reality, Assault Horizon is it. [Dec 2011, p.68]
  2. Oct 31, 2011
    86
    Overall, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is an excellent diversion from most modern military shooters which take place, you know, on the ground.
  3. Nov 9, 2011
    73
    You must keep in mind that this is not 'good old Ace Combat' any more. Too much chaos, scripted events and jumping between fighters, bombers and choppers but... it does have a certain charm. [November 2011, p.64]
  4. Oct 16, 2011
    42
    No amount of plot twists, or variation in the type of plane flown, can mitigate Assault Horizon's inherent boredom.

See all 28 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 22
  2. Negative: 6 out of 22
  1. I personally was (and still am) an ace combat fan. I love Ace Combat Assault horizon, and how it added a new mechanism to the game and it promised everything it advertised. Only main problem with the game is that it's set in real locations. Previous Ace Combat games were set in their own parallel universe and what not. But that is about it, I would recommend this game to anyone who is new to this type of genre or who has been a fan for years since the first ace combat (A.K.A Air combat) had been released. Expand
  2. This game is for ACE COMBAT fan but they might get a little bit disappointed becuase of the new close range combat system , but it makes the game much more realistic and the soundtracks are fantastic , gives u the exciting u need , highly recommended for AC fans ! Expand
  3. USG
    5
    Overall, this game is just bearable and nothing more. The developers ruined the series' foundations while making its inspiration too obvious. A mediocre inspiration does not result in an outstanding rebirth. Some nice features are preserved from older Ace Combat games, but most other features that resemble a horribly average first-person shooter to ruin its value and are extremely illogical and unrealistic. Whenever the "Mission Completed" screen pops up, a great amount of disappointment is felt in retrospect to Namco's previous titles. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon has many flaws that has been introduced in the new title.

    The story is extremely forgettable, with stereotypical characters that are given a little thought and lack any depth. Missions are just slammed together in order with no pause. This is complemented by some of the worst songs ever composed for an Ace Combat title which feel unfitting at times whose only goal is to resemble, possibly, the culture of the area the player is flying over but adds nothing to the battle. Some music is just noise. Even Namco has dropped the ball on such staples as radio chatter, with nothing interesting going on and voices are often drowned out on default settings throughout the story.

    The gameplay itself is also broken. The CRA mode and physics are painfully unrealistic. Anything that is airworthy can backflip, go figure. Forget about taking damage too, feel free to crash into the ground and let the plane's regenerative health do the job. The player does not need to worry about purchasing aircraft, they're presented with a selection with unlocked aircraft. Nobody can enjoy the more rewarding system of purchasing aircraft and using any type of aircraft the player desires for any mission. Not even briefings are present anymore, and the only scripted two scripted briefings or so are horribly uninteresting. Only a few times is the player allowed to land, which are during heavily-scripted sequences under stupid circumstances.

    Helicopter missions are completely mediocre and unrealistic and there's nothing special at all with the gunner missions that do not separate Assault Horizon from the rest of the crowd.

    In Assault Horizon, the player is bombarded with constant visual effects. They become irritating, distracting, and disorientating very quickly and also break the pace of the game worse than CRA mode. Once the animation ends, the player must re-orientate and wonder the point of the bells and whistles of the game.

    One very major negative aspect of the game is the inconsistencies in difficulty during story mode. Many sections are are breeze, but then the player smacks a section that is nearly impossible to complete, let alone achieve a high rank on. The missions do not become progressively harder, either.

    About all that has been an improvement are the graphics which is expected. The multiplayer does not stand out in particular itself, although it has been improved from Ace Combat 6. Overall, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is not an enjoyable game and a failure in retrospect to many previous titles. Namco has also failed at marketing it towards western audiences.
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  4. 4
    Where to begin? Overall, AH is a few good things amongst a cluster of horrid, great plane customization, damn good graphics and attention to detail in terms of plane design, decent online(though nobody plays it anymore), and that's about it for the pros. It's pathetic that they had to boost the maneuverability of every plane in this game, the simple change of how planes handle is a major hit to this game, everything but the MiG-21 and the attacker aircraft feels like a complete roller coaster. As for the helicopters, they suffer from seriously poor physics(aka none) and aren't even fun to compensate. Door-gunner and AC-130 missions are an embarrassment, and the bomber mission is basically tap circle as fast as possible. Story is uninspired and riddled with plot holes, forgettable characters, no enemy ace squadrons or named aces in each level, no wingman control, and briefings are done well but there are maybe 2 or 3 for the entire game. Every air-to-air mission(about 70% of the game) turns into an endless DFM-chain, and there are only 3 ground attack missions, I question why they even added in attacker aircraft to this game if you can't use them for anything other than ONE level. Yes you read right, you can't even use whatever plane you wish, you're restricted to classes, this is such a stupid decision. The story is just embarrassingly bad, cliche, and riddled with plotholes. Missions really kill this game, too many air-air missions where DFM gets tedious paired with random side missions that seem like filler ruin this game. The best part of this game are the multirole and attacker missions, and that's it, everything else is too on-rails. Honorable mention of dodging radar cones at the beginning over the bomber mission though, felt like a throwback to dodging lazers in earlier Ace Combats. Horrible game though, only redeeming factors are the graphics, custom schemed planes. The online is buggy with DFM, you can engage people at crazy angles due to lag. I have an amazing connection and still experienced problems with the angles even when playing as host. I don't rate games in the red just because I don't like them, this game really is a 4 Expand

See all 22 User Reviews