Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown - Xbox One

Great game, my son has been playing it non stop.

For those expecting it to be a simulator, look elsewhere. This is just a fun causal combat flight game. Some of the missions are excruciating or difficult at first, but the beauty is you can use Free Mission and play them over and over again to farm credits (you'll need to do this or play multiplayer in order to unlock the aircraft tree). Fleet Destruction was kicking my butt at first until I figured out what to do, and then after farming the snot out of this mission, it is second nature to me and I actually use it as a skills refresher if I hadn't played AC7 in awhile. The EML forces you to aim better. While some of the strategy guides recommend getting the F-22 as soon as possible, I'll do one better. Fork out the real money for the CFA-44 Nosferatu. It's not as maneuverable as the ADF-11 Raven, but has the two special weapons that are really above the rest: The twin EML launchers and the ADMM multi-purpose missiles. Each EML launcher takes 7 seconds to reload but that means if you time your shots you can inflict more damage at a faster rate than say using the F-18 with a single EML. The ADMM is a game changer for ground attack/defense missions as it can lock multiple air or ground targets and take them out very quickly. Remember in the first Avengers movie where Iron Man encounters the Chitauri as they invade NYC, and he fires off those miniature guided missiles? Yep, just like that. The ADMM has a much longer range than the standard missiles and you can fire off maybe 1 or 2 salvos with the full number of targets automatically selected. It takes awhile to reload but is worth it. I used the CFA-44 to take out the key enemies in the last few missions, almost too quickly like it was a cheat. Once you beat the game, it unlocks the X02S Wyvern. But the CFA-44 and ADF-11 are purchased with real money if you so choose to do so. I love flight combat games so it was worth it to me. Overall: 5/5 stars, there are some frustrating parts of the game but it is a great game for those interested in a casual flight combat game.

Let me preface this review by saying that, although the Ace Combat series has been around for a very long time, the first (and to date, only other) game in the series that I have played is AC6: The Fires of Liberation. I do not know anything about ACZero: The Belkan War, or AC5: The Unsung War, so I cannot compare this title to those. I was beyond excited when I heard that this game was going to be released. After what seemed like a very long wait after The Fires of Liberation (interrupted by the less-than-steller AC: Assault Horizon, which I have not played either), finally - finally! - there were stirrings of a new game coming out. As someone who has loved dogfighting simulators since Star Wars: TIE Fighter (possibly the greatest game ever made), I was excited to pick this one up, and I'm glad I did. Graphically, this game is amazing. The planes (despite the unrealistically high missile loads and simplified controls) are realistic looking, and zooming over, under, and around mountains and other terrain is both exhilarating from a graphical standpoint and terrifying - mountains create wind currents, and without the proper handling, your plane will likely crash into one. Which brings me to another point of praise for the development: weather. As immensely frustrating as it can be sometimes shooting a missile into a cloud, they add a(nother) touch of realism to this game; in one mission, your plane can be struck by lightning, which affects pretty much everything. Other missions show cloud cover, which can be both advantageous and disadvantageous depending on the mission's context. Where weather did not have a measurable effect on AC6 missions, in this installation it is another factor that players must take into account. Musically, the soundtrack is - again - stellar. Each iteration of this game has a different and amazing musical score to go with it. AC6 uses more choral elements (although can still bring amazing orchestration; see "Liberation of Gracemeria" score), and this one seems to use more electronic elements, though not on every track: the pieces that went with "Operation Daredevil" (called "Lighthouse" and "Daredevil") use classical instrumentation - strings, horns, etc. - to add pulse-pounding thrill to the levels. Countermeasures (flares) were added to this volume as well, which can help you when you have 89% damage and are chasing down that final enemy to complete the mission. They can also be a detriment, such as when said final enemy uses them against the last of your missiles, causing your shot to miss. Now, the bad: Your wingmen and allies in this game don't do very much. They do just enough to not be completely useless a la TIE Fighter, but you cannot order them to do anything (as you could on AC6), and they don't go out of their way to assist you. This leads to frequent shoot-downs and frustration, since it seems you literally have to do everything yourself: chase down one bad guy while watching your own six. Another knock against this game is the fact that the briefings don't clearly detail objectives in every mission, other than "We're going to do X." On AC6, your pre-mission briefs would provide a decent amount of context: "We're going to do X, so we need for you to do Y." Makes sense. This game's briefs don't offer much in the way of time limits either; oftentimes objectives have to be met in a certain amount of time, and the only way to figure that out is through trial and error. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for people who are not gamers (like myself), it can get frustrating. While the visuals in the cinematic scenes are stellar, the scenes themselves don't really add too much to the story, and instead seem to be confusing to the overall progress of the campaign mission. AC6 had some minor characters woven through the narrative, but they at least contributed in some way to the war narrative (I won't ruin it for anyone, in case you haven't played it). With these things in mind, this is still a fantastic game. I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys aerial combat sims as much as I do, and enjoys this particular series especially. Another consideration is the increase of salty language in this particular one, especially compared to AC6. I get that they're a representation of a military force, but (to paraphrase the Stranger in The Big Lebowski) "Do they have to use so many cuss words?" Overall I'd give it 4.5 out of 5.

Love the game and graphics

My buen juego.

Better than I thought. A long time didn't play a xbox and it was marvellous, the graphics, the airplanes are really similar tonthe real ones. So far I love it.

Si amas los aviones esto es para ti si o si

I've been playing ace combat games for nearly 20 years. This game is a return to form of the PS2 trilogy , AC6, X and X2. Gameplay is classic Ace Combat- no DFM nonsense, just really clean dogfighting with a great range of missions. It almost plays like a "greatest hits " of ace combat missions at times but nothing gets too old or boring. The story is classic for this long running franchise, although I feel some characters and plot points could have been fleshed out a bit more. There are many callbacks to previous ace combat games, as mentioned- the fan service is great. Multiplayer is fun but lacks a co op component. Fantastic graphics and a soundtrack that really sticks with you.

Buen producto, cumple las espectativas