Ace Combat 7 Skies Unkown Review

If you are an old fan of ace combat games then we are in the same page here. Ace combat was an iconic series especially around the ps2 era but it dived to it’s doom game after game. The trailer of the game was promising and it raised our hopes we would get what we deserved after so many years and to answer simply if in the end Bandai Namco achieved on that: yes they did!.

Story is..complicated. You are required to play some previous games to understand some of it and especially in the begining you will find it hard to follow what happens but  in the end if you pay attention it makes perfect sense. After all story is there to put reason to your actions just like every ace combat game. It all starts when Erusea declares war on Osea. Your charachter is an unkillable ace pilot of Osea with the nickname “trigger” who is framed in the first missions for killing the former president. You get transfered to a fake airport full of convicts who fly planes to confuse the enemy and after you show your skills you are assigned to a special squadron for the rest of the game. One mistep of the game here is that the pilots who flew with you in the first missions and some of the convicts who also were your companions are never mentioned again like they forgot about them. First character we get introduced to is Avril Mead a mechanic in the fake airport and probably they didn’t know what to do with that character. Most of her actions could be done by anyone else so not much to be said here. Next we have Dr Scroeder the researcher of the drones you will have to fight throughout the game with the help of an ace pilot Mihaly. Mihaly is trying on his old age to keep conquering the skies so he helps on building the drones and gets a special suit to keep flying although his body can’t sustain it. Last we have Rosa Cossete the princess of Erusea. Her voice has strong influnce on the people and Erusea takes advantage of that to turn public opinion against Osea.

Gameplay is magnificent! Missions have an increased difficulty and many times it gives you the feeling you are really doing the difference in the field. Dogfighting never was better especially when you fight bosses the challenge drives you. Missions have in general very good pacing. They have also added some new mechanics which is…weather. You will be challenged by strong winds which will make the aircraft hard to maneuver, lightning strikes from clouds which makes your radar go crazy and icing if you stay too long in the clouds to avoid missiles. Iconic objectives are here too like low mountain flghts and of course flying through a tunnel.  There is a huge variety of aircrafts to use from all categories, different special weapons to add to your plane acoording to your liking and many add-ons to upgrade the stats of the aircraft. Gameplay is where devs put their attention more and it clearly paid off.

Let’s talk about the dlc missions. They comprise of three extra missions between main mission 13 to 15. You are tasked to stop the Alicorn a high-tech submarine and her captain Matias Torres. His crew is very loyal to him and believe if they will stay with him they will live which is a great mirror to your squadron members who have the motto “Stick with trigger and you will make it”. Dlc missions keep the high quality of every mission in the game and they are a great finishing touch to conclude the project.

Lastly there is also the soundtrack. Well i am happy to tell you that it is very good! In many missions it gives you the chills it just makes a great game even better!.

To summarize Ace Combat 7 Skies Unkown is a return to the old good times of the franchise. Devs made a step back saw what really made fans love this game and came together with a brilliant result. For everyone out there who needs to relive the spark of the old games that’s the one! and if you are new and just want to try a good air-combat game you wont be dissapointed.