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Namco's re-imagined flight series gets crunching guitars, explosions aplenty

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As we explained in ourrecent preview, the latest Ace Combat is a modern-era departure from the series' fictional, melodramatic roots. Where there was once a made-up army fighting in a made-up country, there's now a battle taking place over a besieged African city. Real-world locations, helicopters and close-quarters combat highlight the game's many new points, but this trailer emphasizes the gritty, darker tone of Assault Horizon, which roughly translates to "make it look like Modern Warfare" and soak that sucker in guitars!

I'm an absurdly huge fan of Ace Combat, but acknowledge the series is in need of a fresh take. While this approach does seem overly influencedby Call of Duty, and tries distressingly hard to make Ace Combat seem rough and tough, it IS certainly more energetic and exciting than trailers for prior Ace Combat games.


Above: But it's no Puddle of Mudd, as heard in Ace Combat 5

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  • Key art showing cliff with sword and shield in hand with supporting characters behind him and a lush world filled with ancient ruins behind him, with the GamesRadar+ Big in 2026 frame Crimson Desert's hack and slash boss bottles "play a crucial role in shaping the game’s intensity", but there's more to the open world adventure – like fishing, cooking, and dragon-riding

For a good sense of where the franchise has come from, check thisretrospective from 2007, which posted just before the last console Ace Combat launched.

March 2, 2011

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CATEGORIES
PlayStation Xbox Platforms
Brett Elston
Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

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