Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
Developer(s)	Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher(s)	Bandai Namco Entertainment
Director(s)	Yuta Hamanaka Masashi Koyanaga
Producer(s)	Kazutoki Kono Manabu Shimomoto
Designer(s)	Shinya Hirota
Programmer(s)	Masaki Iwabuchi
Artist(s)	Masato Kanno
Writer(s)	Sunao Katabuchi
Composer(s)	Keiki Kobayashi
Series	Ace Combat
Engine	Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4 Xbox One Microsoft Windows
Release	PlayStation 4, Xbox One January 18, 2019 Windows February 1, 2019
Genre(s)	Combat flight simulator
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is a combat flight action video game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. An entry in the long-running Ace Combat series, it was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2019, and for Microsoft Windows the following month. The game features support for virtual reality, offering a set of exclusive missions in it.

Gameplay

Like the rest of the Ace Combat series, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown forgoes a realistic flight model in favor of faster, more arcade-like, and more accessible gameplay. Players complete missions by destroying various air and surface targets. A mission briefing details the player's expected route of attack and the enemy opposition in a 3D map display. The player can also choose Novice or Expert control settings; the latter enables the player to execute realistic aircraft maneuvers such as rolls and high-g turns. Wingmen accompany the player through the mission, providing exposition and potentially shooting down enemy planes for the player. The game features 28 different aircraft available, with an additional four as downloadable content and another one offered as a pre-order bonus. As with previous entries in the series, most of the aircraft are licensed from the real-world, although a set of fictional superplanes are also included.

Over the course of the single-player campaign, the player earns an in-game currency, known as "MRP," to purchase additional aircraft and equipment through a tech tree. Each aircraft is equipped with standard missiles for both air-to-air and air-to-ground warfare, as well as another special weapon. Special weapons are used to boost an aircraft's ability to carry out air-to-air or air-to-ground attacks. Equipment purchased may also be used to boost the performance of the aircraft beyond its base performance, such as improved engine parts or airframe parts to enhance its speed and survivability. Only eight upgrades may be applied at any time, and certain upgrades are only usable in single-player modes. Aircraft also can have skins applied to them, of which most have to be unlocked by completing certain actions in-game. At times, players may choose to engage in additional minigames, such as mid-air refueling or landing on an aircraft carrier. These minigames can be skipped, but confer additional points to players.

Synopsis

Setting and characters

The game takes place in the same fictional universe as the previous numbered games in the series. Following the events of Ace Combat 04 and Ace Combat 5, the Osean Federation (Osea) brokered peace between the military power of the Kingdom of Erusea and the rest of the Usean continent. The IUN was formed to maintain peace across the Usean continent, while former President Vincent Harling orders the construction of a space elevator off the Erusean coast in order to revitalize the continent's economy, known as the International Space Elevator (ISEV). The ISEV is protected by two massive Osean airborne aircraft carrier drones, known as Arsenal Birds, each carrying a large number of combat drones. Despite Harling's intentions, the ISEV creates resentment among the Eruseans, who see it as Osean intrusion.

The players control the game's silent protagonist, an Osean pilot with the callsign "Trigger". The game's frame story is told through pre-rendered cutscenes played between missions, primarily from the point of view of three characters: Avril Mead, an Osean civilian aircraft mechanic who was caught in the crossfire and forced to work in an Osean penal military unit, Princess Rosa Cosette D'Elise, a member of the Erusean royal family who believes the war will end Osean interference on the continent, and Doctor Schroeder, a Belkan scientist who developed combat drone technology for Erusea. Other major characters include Erusean ace pilot Mihaly A. Shilage, and his granddaughters, Ionela and Alma Shilage. Other characters include Erusean General Labarthe, Osean Major McOnie, Osean pilot Wiseman, as well as Osean pilots from the Mage, Golem, Spare, Strider, and Cyclops squadrons; as well as Erusean pilots from the Sol squadron.

Plot

Rising tensions between Osea and Erusea culminate when Erusea launches a surprise attack on Osea with a massive number of combat drones. Erusea captures much of the Usean continent, including the ISEV and both Arsenal Birds. Avril Mead, who was flying a refurbished F-104C Starfighter when the war began, is shot down in the crossfire and arrested by Osea for breaching wartime aviation laws. Avril is transferred to the Osean 444th Air Base as a mechanic, where a penal fighter squadron known as the Spare Squadron is maintained.

The Osean military attempts a mission to extract former Osean president Vincent Harling from the ISEV. During the mission, a missile strikes Harling's aircraft, killing him. Osean pilot Trigger is accused of firing the missile, found guilty by court martial, and transferred to the Spare Squadron. Considered "expendable" by the Osean military, the Spare Squadron is sent on several dangerous missions. During his missions with the Spare Squadron, Trigger crosses paths with Erusean ace Mihaly A. Shilage, who provides flight data to the Erusean drone program headed by the Belkan scientist Dr. Schroeder.

For their commendable performance, all members of Spare Squadron are pardoned, and are transferred to a base on Tyler Island off the coast of Usea. Trigger and his wingman Count are transferred to a special Osean air unit called the Long Range Strategic Strike Group (LRSSG), under the request of LRSSG's leader Wiseman, who witnessed their performance in an earlier battle. Trigger is given command of Strider Squadron of the LRSSG. Assisted by the LRSSG, Osea mounts a series of counter-offensives, destroying one of the Arsenal Birds with a refurbished Stonehenge, a railgun array.

During Osea's assault on the Erusean capital, Farbanti, Mihaly and his Sol Squadron arrives, turning the tide of the battle and forcing the LRSSG to engage them. Mihaly kills Wiseman during the fight. Before Trigger can shoot down Mihaly however, Osea and Erusea destroy each others' satellite network, causing a collisional cascade that breaks down satellite communication networks worldwide. Mihaly escapes in the confusion; Erusea collapses into a civil war and loses control over its AI-controlled drone fleet. With the network down, Dr. Schroeder prepares to travel to the ISEV and use it to transmit the latest flight data gathered from Mihaly onto a new generation of Erusean combat drones, manufactured in automated drone factories across the continent.

Operating independently, LRSSG attempts to extract Erusean General and Osean informant Édouard Labarthe. Labarthe reveals that the war was instigated by Erusean radicals empowered by Belkan drone technology, and that Harling was killed by an Erusean drone that spoofed Osean IFF signals. Due to the communications breakdown, Labarthe is killed by other Osean forces. In the same battle, Dr. Schroeder and Mihaly's granddaughters Ionela and Alma travel across the battlefield in a Kawasaki C-1. They're attacked by other Erusean forces and uncontrolled Erusean drones, and are saved by the LRSSG.

Meanwhile, Avril and the 444th, whom had been attempting to secure their base on Tyler Island, are routed when the communications breakdown throws the island into chaos between various warring factions. They find Erusean Princess Rosa Cosette D'Elise, whose liaison plane was shot down by rebels. Avril and Rosa aid LRSSG in evacuating both friendly military units and refugees from the island, and head to the ISEV to seek aid. The LRSSG arrives at the seceded state of Voslage in search of supplies, where Trigger duels and defeats Mihaly for a final time; Mihaly pleads Trigger to stop the drones he created as he is shot down.

Schroeder and Avril's groups both arrive at the ISEV. When Schroeder prepares to upload Mihaly's flight data, Ionela destroys the data upon learning of his intentions; Schroeder is a Belkan, whose country was humiliated in a devastating war, and Belkans since then have engaged in numerous conspiracies to foster war in an attempt to recoup their glory, including Schroeder. Disillusioned by the destruction his program had caused, Schroeder agrees to help Avril in taking down the drones, but reveals that the data had already been uploaded to two advanced drones, Hugin and Munin.

A coalition of Osean and Erusean forces launches an attack on the ISEV, protected by the second Arsenal Bird, with the intention of seizing it from Erusean radicals. With the help of Rosa and Avril working within ISEV, the coalition forces brings down the second Arsenal Bird. Hugin and Munin suddenly arrive and repel the coalition forces, intending to complete the data transmission and prolong the war. The next morning, Trigger leads the coalition forces on a counterattack. One of the two drones is shot down, but the other escapes into the ISEV from an undersea tunnel. Trigger gives chase and destroys it, finally ending the war.

In the VR mode of the game, Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies's protagonist Mobius 1 engages in combat against the Free Erusea terrorist group. This storyline occurs separately from the main plot.

Development and release

Announced in 2015 and originally set to be released in 2017, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 18, 2019, and was released for Microsoft Windows on February 1, 2019. The game also features special missions in virtual reality, which will be exclusive to PlayStation VR for a year. Two-player local multiplayer was rumored to have been included, but was not present in the final game. The game is the first of the series to use Unreal Engine 4. Pre-orders for the game came with digital copies of Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War for the PlayStation 4, and Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation on the Xbox One. The game also supports post-release downloadable content that adds new aircraft and missions. The first, Operation Sighthound, is scheduled for release in late 2019.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	(PS4) 80/100 (XB1) 79/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Eurogamer	8/10
Famitsu	35/40
Game Informer	8/10
GameRevolution
GameSpot	8/10
IGN	7/10
Forbes	9/10

Ace Combat 7 received generally positive reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, holding aggregate scores of 80/100 and 79/100 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, respectively.

In Japan, the game sold 202,379 copies for the PlayStation 4 during its first week, and has sold 286,570 units as of March 2019. In Southeast Asia, the game sold over 500,000 units within a month. In the United Kingdom, it had the highest debut sales in the series, entering the charts second overall.

External links

• Official website