ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN

比打战雷爽

This was my first ace combat game and wow, At first i was skeptical and admittedly put the game down but after a break i picked it up and binged it, I do not regret it. Ace combat REALLY makes you feel like a ace pilot, the game is as advertised. Honestly this is the first of its kind that i've honestly played genre wise in the last decade so I don't really have anything to compare it too all i can say is I was immersed. The flight controls feel fluid and responsive once you pick it up but it took a while for me to get used to it. Actually gameplay felt amazing and got better the more I played. Going up against air/ground forces especially multiple at once felt stressful but in a good way I could feel the urgency the game wanted to convey and felt like the whole "mission" was riding on my own "skills and success" it was very immersive, especially verses named enemy rival pilots(no spoilers) fighting them in a thunderstorm while the weather takes out our instruments and messes with our jets was actually a peak moment, you can hear the enemies terrain alerts and missile alerts while hearing your own was crazy memorable. Gameplay, sound design and presentation during missions was "peak" I got legitimately excited seeing each new threat. However presentation outside of missions is not so good. At the start of the game and early missions there is a 10min exposition dump narration cutscene, because this was my first ace combat game I have no idea who these nations or people are and I dont know the history behind them, It felt like the cutscenes were dragging and i almost started skipping them, until half way when they stopped dumping information and starting building up character development and relevant story content. These cutscenes actually made me drop that game at first I just felt they were not so good since they are completely disconnected from your character for a good amount of time. The story is there and i actually liked some of the B plots and the game has a good twist, I thought I messed up a mission but it just kept going. I can see the message they were trying to push and I think its "good" but again the frontloaded dump of information really hurt my retention. If you are reading my review power through it dont drop the game! It will get better I promise. Progression was there but I picked up a bundle dlc and had access to endgame jets on mission 1. I did not know this, I assumed it was intended, This was a shame because I basically didn't interact with the progression throughout the game that much I felt like I cheated the early missions because of this, they are cool but in hindsight I would've liked upgrading and unlocking jets as intended i hope for a sequel they have things locked atleast for a little or atleast tell me they are a dlc and i should play with normal jets for the authentic experience. The music is crazy good and the game is genuinely beautiful flying above the clouds was mesmerizing. If you want a game the make you FEEL like a ace pilot the world is riding on please play this game, power through the narration and you will find a great game, I will definitely look into previous games since it felt really short it took me 13 hours to finish the campaign and dlc missions