Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

The story is written by New York Times bestselling author Jim DeFelice, and takes place in the year 2015. Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop, leader of the Warwolf Squadron, is part of the NATO-led 108th Task Force, who are on a mission to stop an anti-government insurgency that is sweeping throughout the African continent. The 108th Task Force is part of a large multinational military force in Africa that includes U.N. troops as well as Russian support forces. However, during their missions, the task force begins to notice that the rebels have created a fearsome weapon called "Trinity", which manages to contain the power of a small nuclear bomb into a warhead that can be fitted on to a standard cruise missile. Later, Markov leads a squadron of rebel aircraft to raid the NATO airbase, and almost half of the Russian contingent defects to his side. Markov and Bishop have a brief aerial duel, with Markov gaining the upper hand by severely damaging Bishop's fighter. Fortunately for Bishop, Markov runs low on fuel and retreats, but not without mocking his American rival. After Bishop returns to base, Markov demonstrates the power of Trinity by using it to destroy a nearby city.
Reeling from the discovery of Trinity and the defection of the Russian pilots, the 108th scrambles to try and stop Markov, who has threatened to use Trinity on Dubai. While Warwolf Squadron intercepts bombers and fighters headed to the city, Shooter and Nomad Squadrons intercept rebel cargo ships in hopes of seizing their Trinity warheads. However, the threat against Dubai was a smokescreen. Markov's true goal was to start a coup in Russia. The New Russian Federation (NRF) quickly takes control of Moscow and several areas of Russia. NATO and loyalist Russians both work together to battle the NRF, and eventually manage to liberate Moscow and force the NRF to surrender, despite the NRF's attempts to stop them by using Trinity. Bishop also gets his revenge on Markov by shooting him down during the battle. However, a spy camera reveals that Markov's true intention was not to take control of Russia, but to take revenge on America for its role in the Kosovo War, since his wife was killed in an American airstrike. He steals the last remaining Trinity warhead and escapes to South America, where he plans to attack the United States directly.
In order to counter Markov, Warwolf Squadron is immediately relocated to Miami to intercept Markov's forces if they attempt to attack. This makes Bishop uneasy, since he has had recurring nightmares of being killed by Markov in an aerial duel over Miami. As expected, Markov and his pilots attack Miami in full force, but are eventually repelled by Warwolf Squadron and the US Air Force. However, Markov manages to ambush Bishop, who is saved when his wingman, Jose "Guts" Gutierrez, blocks Markov's missile with his own plane. Guts is forced to eject, while Bishop manages to damage Markov's plane, preventing him from firing the Trinity warhead, and follows him to Washington D.C. Bishop finds the city already under attack by Markov's forces, and helps destroy them. Markov then reappears, intent on using Trinity on the White House. However, due to the damage he sustained in Miami, he can only fire the warhead at short range, forcing him to duel Bishop again. Markov manages to fire the warhead before being shot down and killed, but Bishop manages to intercept it before it could do too much damage. Upon landing his plane, Bishop is given a hero's welcome.

The major new gameplay feature is a system called "Close-Range Assault" (CRA), which aims to increase the intensity and bring the action closer to the player, without the feeling of "shooting at faraway dots" commonly seen in flight games. In the game, it is named "Dogfight Mode" (DFM) for air-to-air battles and "Air Strike Mode" (ASM) for air-to-ground targets.^[3] They are not optional, as certain planes cannot be destroyed without CRA. To initiate DFM, the player taps LB+RB on the Xbox 360 and L2+R2 on the PS3 when they have gotten close enough to the plane they are targeting. ASM is initiated by pressing the same buttons at specific points around the map.
Also new to the series are attack helicopter missions, stealth bomber missions, and levels where the player controls a Black Hawk door gunner and an AC-130.
A new multiplayer mode called "Capital Conquest" involves two teams of 8 vs. 8 where each team takes turns either defending or attacking a world capital, such as Paris and Washington, D.C.. In this mode, fighters, attackers, attack helicopters, and bombers can fly together simultaneously. Each type of aircraft will have its advantages and disadvantages, having specific roles in the battlefield.^[4][5]

[edit] Controls

There are two control schemes in the game: 'Original' and 'Optimum'.

• The 'Original' control setting is similar to the controls in the previous titles under the name 'Expert'. As expected, it gives the player full control of the aircraft, with the left stick making it roll (not turn) when pushed right or left.
• The new 'Optimum' controls (the default mode and the one used in all the trailers released so far) is not the equivalent of the usual 'beginner/novice' control style of the series. It prevents the player from doing full rolls but this is to gain the stability needed to get the best of the new ‘Close Range Assault System’.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon makes the infamous "spamming missile" or "pixel shooting" techniques ineffective now especially when battling against humans. In order to shoot an ace the gameplay now requires the player to either surprise them or to enter close combat. The 'Optimum' mode makes it easier to learn.
In addition to these settings there are many options to tweak the controls and adapt to the player's style. It includes the choice of normal or reverse settings for the Pitch Control, Camera Control, Throttle, Yaw, and the order maps and weapons are cycled through. High G turns return from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, as well as Auto Pilot if both shoulder buttons are held down.
Last, the Flight Assistance provides opportunities to players such as Auto-leveling, Automatic Collision Prevention, Automatic Stall Prevention, Sight Assist, and Automatic Forward Target Selection. Flight Assistance can be turned on or off.
Ace Combat Assualt Horizon on XBOX 360 will support the Ace Edge Joysticks released with Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation.
Meanwhile, the post credit sequence reveals that Guts is still alive and shows him being rescued.