At least as far as I'm concerned after playing the demo. Has anyone else played it? Aren't the dogfight sequences fucking amazing?! I came into this expecting nothing, but now I urge you all to download it and try it for yourselves. It's on PSN, and maybe 360 (idk).

It's among the queue of demos I set up to download overnight.  I'll tell you what I think when I get home from work tomorrow.

ignore

I'll check it out tomorrow, but I've got to be honest, I don't come to Ace Combat for the realism. Where are my made up countries with flying aircraft carries and blimps large enough that you can have a dog fight inside them?

@SoldierG654342: haha, well you're in luck because it controls more arcadey than realistic this time around. You don't have to adjust anything while turning. Moving the stick left will make you go left. It's simpler and makes for a fun game.

But yeah, when I say it's amazing, I mean that it totally amazed and surprised me. It's pretty cinematic, simple to control, and seems like it could have a decent story, or maybe just intense setpieces. There are two stages in the demo: a level where you pilot a jet, and one where you pilot a chopper. The plane one is better than the chopper one imo. But yeah, let me know what you guys think when you get a chance to check it out for yourselves.

NOTE: The graphics could still use some work, but i'd rather the game be fun first and then look good.

EDIT: @SoldierG654342 Oh yeah, how about doing barrel rolls in your chopper to evade RPGS? That do anything for ya?

@huntad said:

@SoldierG654342: haha, well you're in luck because it controls more arcadey than realistic this time around. You don't have to adjust anything while turning. Moving the stick left will make you go left. It's simpler and makes for a fun game.

I threw up in my mouth a little bit. You can at least set it to normal flight controls right?

I'll give the demo a try. I enjoyed a couple of the PS2 entries (even though I never finished them). I'm interested if the move to a real world settings helps ground the story a bit.

@Devil240Z said:

I threw up in my mouth a little bit. You can at least set it to normal flight controls right?

Yeah, I would like very much to know this. You make is sound like Star Fox, not Ace Combat. I bought the flight stick on the PS2 for a reason.

@Pinworm45 said:

It's not on 360 FYI. Much to my annoyance.

Yes it is, played it a few hours ago on 360.

The chopper level was kinda fun but as soon as I started playing the Fighter level I got that "oh god not this again" feeling, even with the dogfight thing. I've just played too many Ace Combat games...

@Devil240Z said:

I threw up in my mouth a little bit. You can at least set it to normal flight controls right?

Yeah, I would like very much to know this. You make is sound like Star Fox, not Ace Combat. I bought the flight stick on the PS2 for a reason.

@Devil240Z: @SoldierG654342: Whoa whoa, relax guys. Yes, this is still Ace Combat. If you want to play with the "original" controls (it's actually called original controls), then there is that option. The original controls are classic ace combat controls, and I was just pointing out to the guy that liked arcade-y stuff that it's in there. It just defaults to the newer controls so you'll have to switch it. So, swallow that throw up and try the demo when you can.

@Vexed said:

@Pinworm45 said:

It's not on 360 FYI. Much to my annoyance.

Yes it is, played it a few hours ago on 360.

The chopper level was kinda fun but as soon as I started playing the Fighter level I got that "oh god not this again" feeling, even with the dogfight thing. I've just played too many Ace Combat games...

My bad. When it was first announced it was announced as PS3 exclusive but they changed their mind I guess. Ignore my comment! *goes to download*

So I just got done playing as much of the demo as I cared to. Holy fuck, do I hate the Optimized controls. I felt like I had not control over my plane. Could not switch to Original fast enough. The dog fight feature was nifty at first, but I feels like auto-pilot to me. And why the fuck are there QTEs? I though we had agreed that we weren't using those anymore unless you are Kratos or Bayonetta?

The helicopter mission was pretty boring and overstayed its welcome.

I will say that the game looks pretty amazing visually, especially the destruction of the planes. However, the soundtrack was severely lacking. I only notice this because AC5 is tied for my favorite videogame soundtrack.

Overall, I'm not exactly feeling it, but I don't think it's exactly bad either. I can't help but think that I would have like it more if it was just "Assault Horizon," because for all the gameplay changes, Ace Combat needs its crazy Japanese melodrama and bananas super weapons.

@SoldierG654342: Really? All of those things you hated, I liked a lot. I was getting so tired of their weird stories, and same ol' same ol' gameplay. Finally, Ace Combat has something new going for it. I think I stopped playing those games at the 4th one. I just got so tired of it. I'm guessing the developers noticed something about it and decided to change it up. As far as Quick Time Events go, there are times to use it and times not to, and they used them in an acceptable way. It's not a taboo thing, and they still can be used effectively if not overdone. I guess i'm just more open-minded to change or something? Idk, but they weren't even that QTE-ish, because they give you so much time to press the button that it just feels more like a tactile way to start a cutscene.

Also, the optimized controls make it EXTREMELY easy to fly them planes! Are you sure you're doing it right? I have to agree that the helicopter part was not fun for very long, though.

The optimized controls fucking suck. Its totally ass backwards to me.

but with normal controls its pretty good. the dogfight mode is neat but it seems a little gimmicky. like the shit that was in hawx. but I do like that it makes your guns actually usable.

Still pretty down on the story. I wish it were Ace Combat 7. where the final boss is like a meteor from space or something.

@huntad said:

@SoldierG654342: Really? All of those things you hated, I liked a lot. I was getting so tired of their weird stories, and same ol' same ol' gameplay.

For better or for worse, those goofy stories are what made Ace Combat memorable. I don't think the market really needs another game where the Russians attack America. They tired going a more realistic route with 6 and ended up with a really dry and ineffectual story. The new gameplay stuff seems mostly gimmicky, designed to make the game look cinematic, but doing so makes the gameplay itself less engaging. But so long as dog fight mode is optional, I can't really complain about it much. Though I will say that it's nice to finally see countermeasures in an Ace Combat game.

The optimized controls made absolutely no sense to me, but then again I've played enough flight sims that I don't even have to think about the three different motions involved with turning left. I suppose if you havn't, then the optimized controls might work just fine. I can't help but feel they are just part of the cinematic problem though, making the player have to do less so the game can show off more.

@Devil240Z said:

I wish it were Ace Combat 7. where the final boss is like a meteor from space or something.

Yes.

@SoldierG654342: I understand. I guess since I only played the demo of the 6th Ace Combat game, I was just done with the series. It needed something a little more interesting. I think the cinematic nature of the game is something that will draw in a different crowd than the same Ace Combat fans that bought the last game. I think that after the 6th game in the series, they should be allowed to change it up a bit, if not only for that reason.

@huntad: Fair enough, I can't really fault them for wanting to try something different. It's not like the Ace Combat series was the most popular to begin with and new blood is almost always a good thing. This new one just dons't seem to be shaping up to be my cup of tea.

@SoldierG654342 said:

So I just got done playing as much of the demo as I cared to. Holy fuck, do I hate the Optimized controls. I felt like I had not control over my plane. Could not switch to Original fast enough. The dog fight feature was nifty at first, but I feels like auto-pilot to me. And why the fuck are there QTEs? I though we had agreed that we weren't using those anymore unless you are Kratos or Bayonetta?

The helicopter mission was pretty boring and overstayed its welcome.

I will say that the game looks pretty amazing visually, especially the destruction of the planes. However, the soundtrack was severely lacking. I only notice this because AC5 is tied for my favorite videogame soundtrack.

Overall, I'm not exactly feeling it, but I don't think it's exactly bad either. I can't help but think that I would have like it more if it was just "Assault Horizon," because for all the gameplay changes, Ace Combat needs its crazy Japanese melodrama and bananas super weapons.

I'll DL the demo to see for myself, but I'm pretty sure you and I are in the same boat. Easy mode controls were an option in the previous games, but who would ever use those? I mean, the games' flight models are arcade enough as it is, if you don't have to bank and trim your own turns, what are you even doing - manning the throttle? QTEs are unwelcome, as are autopilot dogfights. I'll play the demo and see for myself, but if the game is designed around these mechanics it is an intant-fail for me.

More generally troubling is the break from the tone of the series, I want the stupid anime storylines and fake nations like Estobakia and whatnot, flying fortresses, new-game-plus top-tier macross-missile fighters...

I was mad hype when they said they were making another AC game, but from the first details its like they are actively building a game to turn me off, and frustrate fans of the franchise.

@Stahlbrand said:

More generally troubling is the break from the tone of the series, I want the stupid anime storylines and fake nations like Estobakia and whatnot, flying fortresses, new-game-plus top-tier macross-missile fighters...

Yeah, right now as far as I can tell this is just a step above HAWX. It has that series's visual flairs (OFF camera and Dog Fight) and now they both share similar stories about America and Russia fighting it out. At least AC is bringing helicopters, even though I found that mission to be really dull.

I didn't really care much for the controls.  I wish you could roll the plane independent of turning instead of the way it does it automatically.  Add in the whole lock-on chase mode (dogfight mode?) and the game kind of just feels like it's playing itself.

@Spoonman671: You have to change one of the options in settings to control the roll. It sucks that that option is buried in a menu. I'm guessing you set it yourself in the game, but they didn't give you the whole "Tutorial and settings" thing in the demo.

What irked me about the game is how loose the control of the aircraft felt. Dogfighting seemed more spastic than intense.

On the bright side, it looked pretty.

I didn't mind the controls the game had. As a gamer that has played a majority of the ace combat games I still had fun with this one. I liked the new direction they went with the camera and the controls, it felt very fun to play. My only concern is that, from what I had played of the demo, it seems that its going to be an easy game, the new controls simplified it a lot. Then again this is just the demo.

@huntad: The demo's up? Sweet, I have to check it out.

I was afraid to try after HAWX 2 which was not fun. But I decided to give it a go and was surprised. I love dogfight mode really sweet and the action is fun and more arcadey which is what I like personally. Never played an Ace Combat game and I know the others were more realistic so this probably gets some people mad especially on the internet. Anyways the jet level was fun but the helicopter level was too long. It just got boring after awhile plus I had problems shooting down the other helicopters it seemed to take forever (maybe I just suck ha). Anyways overall enjoyable I might check it out now where otherwise I would have not.

gunna give it a try

I am downloading the demo right now.

fucking 3rd person over-the-shoulder shooting with a copter is the best idea ever.

I liked the demo, but those attack helicopter controls are god awful... because the only way to turn the heli is to move the cursor to the edge of the screen, the reticule shoud be fixed and when using the right stick the heli should turn, or at the very least that should be a option.

Not a big flying games guy, but I was shocked (in the best way possible) by this demo. I'm super sold. I know AC veterans might be annoyed by the new mechanics, but these sorts of games really need to have more accessibility options and more dynamic gameplay to bring in new players.

I think it looks promising, the Ace Combat-series could use some mixing up. Don't get me wrong, I love Ace Combat and I've been following the series since AC2. The story direction seems like a bummer though, I prefer the crazy stuff from the earlier games. The antagonist is named Markov, which should tell you what they are going for. But I shouldn't be passing judgement yet. The gameplay feels nice, great sound design and graphics. The dogfight-mode might get repetitive, will have to see how it turns out in the full game. Day one buy for me. Can't wait to get my hands on the bomber stuff!

there seems to be 2 kind of DFM

one of them is non-scripted

the other is heavily scripted, like the tutorial DFM that fly through buildings with your enemy ended up crash into a stadium

non-scripted DFM is ok and kinda satisifying

the problem is the scripted one since it grant the target invincibility until you both fly past certain point