Anyone else buy this game day 1 and be just.. Gutted by how shit it is?

Big, big Ace Combat fan since 04 here. Also a big flight simmer (DCS A-10 is my current poison). Was really excited to see what Project Aces have done, but it turns out what they done did was break a bunch of shit that wasn't broken, and then add more broken shit on top of it. It's like Ace Combat was gang raped by several Call of Duties and came out with Stockholm syndrome.

My overlong review: http://www.giantbomb.com/ace-combat-assault-horizon/61-32297/user-reviews/?review_id=21039

So, this game is fun and I like

What colorful language.

I guess you visit thatguywiththeglasses.com a lot with that colourful display of language for use in a simile.

I remember playing Ace Combat 2 for the PS1, that was the last time I played Ace Combat. It was great.

After picking up ACAH my reaction was "finally this game is fun to play."

I was a fan of Ace Combat back in the PS1 days, but I'm growing more and more wary of classic japanese franchises. They are having a hard time keeping up lately, with a few exceptions. And although the response to ACAH is being more positive than AC6, it didn't made me want to play it.

I played AceComabt 4, 5, 0, and 6. I loved those games, the stupid but cool super weapons you took down, all the cool jets you had, and having to roll and pull up to turn was so great. I'm sure people who didn't like the games I listed will love Assault Horizon, but that's not the series I love.

This game clearly wasn't made to established Ace Combat fans, because there's no money in that niche. I can't begrudge them for wanting to draw in a larger audience. Just accept that they are making the game for a different audience and either adapt or move on.

I'd say flight combat is the niche, not Ace Combat. The difference was that Ace Combat had established itself with its narrative style and individual quirks. Now it's just planes shooting planes.

Speaking of niches. The amount of players in Assault Horizon online with user names straight out of past Ace Combat games (Razgriz, Strigon, Mobius and Garuda references everywhere) tells me that franchise has world-building legs Namco just never managed to sell. Taken at face value, AC looks boring as shit. I picked up AC5 (first game in the series i played) on a whim, and was totally surprised at what the game was.

You don't fly down the barrel of a gun in Assault Horizon, or dodge giant lasers targeting you from across the horizon. You just repeatedly shoot planes and poorly animated dudes on blurry textures. That's a pretty massive step backwards.

Another thing that kept bugging me was a tendency I see in what feels like a lot of Japanese games aimed at the west these days. What's with the pandering to America? I mean, this is a Japanese produced game that goes out of its way to have foreigners say stuff like "Hey, the Americans are really something!". In a way it reminds me of that South Park episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIx1vDKCmuU

oopsy

@Sunjammer:

Between the DCS A-10 QL and putting some time in on the jets in BF3 in the last week or so I was starting to consider buying this on the cheap if I could find a good deal. The months since I played the demo had made me forget the experience I had with the demo - which was overwhelmingly negative, and very much in line with Sunjammer's linked review.

I've been a big fan of this series since AC2, and AC:AH compromised or ditched everything I loved about the franchise.