A Naked Dash of Discovery
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the latest installment of the Ace Combat flight simulation games by Bandai Namco, and the first since 2014’s Ace Combat Infinity. It also happens to mark the first time I have ever played a flight simulation game at all (even one as supposedly arcadey as this). As a genre that I had never really had any interest in exploring until another reviewer I trust mentioned how much they loved this game, I was a bit befuddled – but, boy, was I missing out.
Ace Combat 7 combines exciting dogfights, stealth flying missions, and base destruction with great music, clean visuals, and some really solid voice work to create an astounding experience, even for newcomers like me. With a multitude of missions, jets, weapon types, arenas, and objectives, the core experience of Ace Combat 7 never gets old, even if I found myself frustrated at times. Luckily there are multiple difficulty modes, and no penalty for changing from one to the other if you switch.
Publisher: Bandai Namco Developer: Bandai Namco Studios Platform: Played on PC Availability: Released January 18, 2019 on PS4 and Xbox One, February 1, 2019 on PC, and July 11, 2024 on Nintendo Switch |
To put this up front, I am not good at this game. After I completed the main story for the first time, I hopped online and got smoked. I can’t aim a damn thing properly, and barely get around flying, but I managed to pull myself through the game’s story mode, and eventually finished off the side missions from the DLC as well. My piloting skills were especially suspect in the beginning – trying to figure out how to get around, worrying about roll, pitch, and yaw – all while flying and seeing how those things affect your turning and speed in any direction, etc…well, it was a bit overwhelming at first for me. However, I decided to stick it out, because I got a feeling on that first mission that I couldn’t really shake. It was like I just knew that something great was here, I just needed to get my feet wet a little more.
Unfortunately, that process took a bit longer than I would have liked it to. One of my biggest complaints is that the game does a poor job of really onboarding you into the Ace Combat experience. Tutorials for basic maneuverability options and controls don’t even show up until several new missions in. Some things are just straight up not explained at all. I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants for a huge part of the experience. I played on easy for about half of the story and, in that time, I had only died once to anything other than a spectacular crash into a mountainside or lawn. It was definitely a struggle for me, but once it clicked, I found that some of the movements I struggled with became almost second nature.
Beautiful vistas await you as you soar through the skies
As a child, I always laughed at my dad when we’d play something like Mario Kart or Gran Turismo and his body would contort for every twist and turn he took on the course. It was as if he believed that tilting himself and the controller in the direction he wished to go would will the car or kart to do the same. Yet, here I was, thirty-three and counting, twisting myself along with the jets as missiles flew by my cockpit, ducking and weaving as I raced through a canyon. I know my wife must have loved seeing me in action. Truth be told, I get motion sick quite easily now – much to my dismay when it comes to VR or other games I’ve wanted to play – but I did not feel anything during this game that I would consider sickness. I like to think that my tortuous movements helped with that.
The gameplay loop for Ace Combat 7’s story mode is simple – New mission begins with a cutscene, which then leads to a mission briefing where your objectives and map are laid out to you. Usually a good idea to listen well to this, as the briefing will give you a better idea of what types of weapons you might want to bring, or plane types you might want to fly. Then, you’ll head into some menus where you can buy new planes, parts, etc., before moving onto your prep – where you select your plane and weaponry. Missions usually fall into some combination of these 3 types – dogfights (that is, plane on plane battles), Stealth flying, and objective destruction. The dogfights are definitely more my speed. Zipping through the thunderous skies, blowing up an enemy jet, and swinging around to take on a new one is exhilarating. Crawling through a chasm at 1/18th my normal speed hoping not to be seen is not. I can see a world where speedrunners or great pilots love these missions and work their hardest to fly through in record time and love every second. But that’s not me – I’m built different (worse). Once the mission ends, you might have to land the jet, and then it’s on to the next one.
Some scenarios might require a more deft flying touch.
There is a story here, and it is fine. The game’s old now, but at the risk of spoilers, I’ll keep it vague. Cutscenes can feel disconnected to what you the player are doing in the gameplay, but I think it works. I didn’t find anything too profound – there is a war, and you have to fight it – but the direction things took was enough to keep me invested. I think those moments all pay off in a way at the end, so it’s definitely not something I would skip.
Flight controls are tight, if not a bit obtuse at first, but once you get some of the basics down, you’ll be soaring upside down or sideways with relative ease. Weapons are vast and varied, but all function mostly the same with a few exceptions. You have your standard missiles, a machine gun, and a special weapon. This special weapon can be anything from more anti-air missiles, bombs, air to ground missiles, or even a railgun (my personal favorite for dogfights). Different missions might call for different weapon types to get through effectively. Generally speaking, the dogfights are where the game really shines. It’s so fast and fun, and the music never disappoints – always seeming to pick up and work in sync with the moments in-game.
The soundtrack here is truly special. I feel like its among the very best I’ve ever heard, period. Songs like Daredevil, Charge Assault, 444, and Archange elevate the experience well beyond what I would have envisioned. They manage to create moods both intense and emotionally moving at times, in spaces you didn’t know you’d want them to. Keiki Kobayashi really provides us with something special here, and I hope if you pick the game up, you’ll enjoy it just as much as I did.
Multiplayer is an afterthought for me. There are a few differing modes – A free-for-all Battle Royale, and Team Deathmatch. They function as you would imagine them to. Dogfights in team or solo settings, with points awarded for kills - top scores win. I did not put much time into it, but it’s basically the same as a dogfight in the story, but the pilots are better. Unfortunately, the MP Is not very active on Steam. I was only ever able to see a few lobbies at a time in the searches. You might have better luck on the switch version.
A great atmosphere that is elevated by superb music and exciting.
Verdict Ace Combat 7: Skies unknown is an excellent game. As my first foray into the combat flight simulation genre, I was almost always engaged or enthralled with the hectic experience. Notable standouts in the game here are the music, dogfights, and customization. I am left in awe of some of the moments you get to zip through, and it has created a new fan out of me – not just for Ace Combat games, but flight sims in general.  |
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