Assault Horizon Legacy is a remake of Ace Combat 2 for the PSX, introduced with reworked voice acting and level design as well as updated graphics, obviously.

I haven't played many titles of this genre, because unfortunately they are not very popular, you guessed, but from the few I have played (around 4 or 5 I'd say) I can strongly affirm this one is the best out of them all!

You can compare the gameplay to pretty much any other dogfighting jet game, in fact, I was very familiar with the controls right off the first time I played it, because of the similarity with Jet Impulse for the Nintendo DS, which I enjoyed a lot.

Controls and gameplay

There are 2 control options: Classic and Default. While I advise beginners and gamers new to the genre to use the default controls, further in the game classic controls will come in handy because they allow more complex maneuvers, crucial for gameplay in hard and ace modes. But the game doesn't force you to stick to a certain kind of control and buttons are fully customizable.

You can also use the touchscreen to lock-in targets, but honestly, that feels more like an useless gimmick and I never used it effectively.

The touchscreen itself has no uses besides displaying useful information and removing clutter out of the top screen, what is very convenient and makes the game look tidy while putting all the information down there, its pretty useful as an auxiliary screen.

The game offers different options for the gameplay screen: HUD only, 3rd person, and cockpit

While the other 2 are pretty much self-explanatory, the cockpit view is quite interesting, and pretty amazing!

From there you see the amount of work devs put into that game. Each cockpit is unique to the respective aircrafts and they are all very detailed.

Although the game is not a simulator at all, the cockpit view gives a nice sense of realism and immersion to the game, 90% of my gameplay time was in cockpit view mode.

They also add a layer of difficulty, since you need a precise virtual awareness of your aircraft, specially when flying on very low altitudes or near solid objects.

Still, In the air its pretty hard to hit another plane, but I've done it before...

The gameplay is solid, and unlike other dogfighting games this one offers kind of what would be "special maneuvers". If you chase an airborne (fighter jets only) enemy long enough your maneuver gauge will fill up and once you press "Y" you will be put right behind it.

This contributes to the fluidity of gameplay, and is not mandatory at all. Some may argue it hurts the game by making it easier, but its harder than it seems!

Using it deliberately may get you into traps, and in harder modes resulting in instant death. Its a very good feature, because if you ever find yourself hopelessly running in circles for a while, you may use it. In Jet Impulse I could stay 5 minutes or more trying to get behind a target.

Attack Maneuver avoids just that.

There is also the defense maneuver. Its tricky, and not very easy. This one, unlike the attack one, is crucial in harder modes. But I recommend not getting to the point of using it, because that means you are in deep trouble!

Mechanics

The game runs smoothly, but has its flaws. Sometimes, when big explosions happen in the air, the particle count goes high and... you guessed, the framerate goes down!

That happens every single time, but you'll get used to it, and I don't remember dying because of it. Still, its an annoying detail.

And there are levels, 2 out of 25, who run at a slower framerates for most of the gameplay. They are an exception because they are the only ones of their kind, (I'm trying to avoid spoilers) so slower framerates will rarely happen, but they occur more often than I would like.

For being a first year game, and probably a work done with the very first 3DS dev kits, (the first step of devs into the hardware) Ace Combat 3DS offers very good and solid gameplay mechanics with a decent performance.

Graphics, 3D and Play value

Ace Combat graphics prioritizes aircrafts and projectiles. Although cities are not very detailed and at some levels mountain textures look ugly and bluryr, the rest looks pretty good.

Clouds, explosions, look detailed and volumetric. I have to say I was impressed with the graphics of this game and how they are so well balanced with the 3D. One of the reasons I love the cockpit view mode is the 3D, because unlikely HUD-only and 3rd person, there are more references, thus, giving the viewer an added perception of depth

Lightning is very detailed, the sun, the clouds, all look very beautiful and vivid. Ground targets models are not high in polygon count, so they don't look as good as aircrafts and helis, but everything else including cruisers and destroyers are highly detailed. There doesn't seem to be a big difference between your plane's polygon count and other object's polygon count, and if there is I can't tell for sure, and I've played this game for nearly 40 hours!

You will find yourself high in the air for most of the time, and up there stuff looks better than near the ground. Still, the devs could have optimized this game more, and push some even more impressive graphics. There is a lot of unexplored potential there!

Now for story mode. Just like every other fighter game, the story is fishy and pretty much...predictable. It is only there to give you a reason to lift your wings to the sky and promote some steel carnage. Campaign lasts around 10 to 15 hours for the most experienced players, that is if you don't play in easy mode. I started playing right off in hard mode, and I was able to clear campaign within 11 hours, minus 5 levels which you avoid in each play session because there are some parts where you have to choose which "way" to go, that doesn't seem to have any additional effects in the story mode whatsoever.

The game offers A LOT, I say, A LOT of aircrafts to buy and customize. Yes, customize. And they are very expensive. The game cash is the game score, the more you score, the more you earn!

Each aircraft has 3 special weapons, one comes with the aircraft the moment you acquire it, and the other 2 you have to unlock by playing and scoring with the aircraft, and later purchasing the new weapon. The more sophisticated the aircraft, the more expensive the parts will be.

You can unlock custom parts for increasing your aircraft status as well but you also have to buy those, although once you get them they are available for your whole your fleet.

Verdict

For a 1st year game, Ace Combat AHL has few issues and I have to say the game easily makes up for them. There is a lot of quality there. Fans will not be disappointed and the game will please most those interested in diving into the jet dogfighting game genre.

Campaign is short, specially for those spoiled by the huge play times of Nintendo franchises. Damn you for being so good Nintendo! And there is no multiplayer mode.

But there is a lot to do in the game! Unlock all paintings, yes, I didn't mention before? You can custom paint your planes, after you unlock them, that is. Unlock all planes, weapons, special parts. Take down all "Ace" enemies, which are hidden among the chaos of each stage. Beat the game in "Ace" mode, unlocked after you beat in hard mode.

Beat extra and survival missions. I have to say, some of these are really BRUTAL, and building up stronger aircrafts is a necessity, or you will try them only to get taken down. And much more. I consider myself a core player, and after 35 hours of gameplay time I was not able to acquire every item or even unlock them all, let alone beat every mission with an "S" rank.

Lets hope Namco makes a sequel for this, with updated optimization, better graphics, and multiplayer features. Because the game engine and design surely has more to offer.

With updated content, from the older russian Mig aircrafts to the newest USAF's F-35 and even some experimental and fictional planes, Ace Combat AHL is a must have for enthusiasts of the genre who own a 3DS and is worth a go for those who haven't tried this kind of game yet.

Dogfights will get very intense, and the amazing orchestrated soundtracks help with the tense atmosphere! The sense of speed and action is incredible, the perfect arcade game for short play sections with pure supersonic warfare.

I'd give this game a 8.0 out of 10

Metacritic user score is 7.5 and Metacritic reviews average is 7.1

Game trailer (YOUTUBE)

Thank you for reading! And let me know if you got the game.

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