Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition (Switch) Review

Did you know the F-16 first flew 50 years ago, a few months ago? It’s currently undergoing Block 70 upgrades, in case you were worried that air forces around the world are still using half-century-old technology. Meanwhile, Ace Fight turns 30 next year and, like an aircraft block revision, it’s growing with each new entry. Sadly, Nintendo owners may have missed out on this evolution entirely, with just one Game Boy Advance entry and two slightly different 3DS versions of a Ace Fight 2 remake successfully navigated the Nintendo skies. Sadly, the 3DS game carries the title in the West Assault Horizon Legacy (+)This has left potential young people confused as they venture into the world of home gaming consoles. Attack horizon remains the most heavily designed entry in the series, with developer Project Aces attempting to include some Call of Duty-ism into the formula with dire consequences.

Pressure mounts. Xbox 360 exclusive Ace Combat 6: Fire Released raised the bar for the series (which was already high after the PlayStation 2 trilogy), so Project Aces needed to make sure that the next numbered game in the series was their sleekest and most beautiful version of the F-16 to date. In January 2019, Ace Combat 7: Endless Sky launched on previous-generation consoles and soon after on PC to rave reviews. Five years later, that same Unreal Engine-powered creation is now available on the Nintendo Switch, which is something none of us at Nintendo Life ever expected to write about. Surely, there had to be a quibble… right?

The year is 2019 and we are in Strangereal, a fictional but quite believable alternate reality Earth where most of the main events of Ace Combat take place. Here, different land masses, different countries, different historical events lead to different wars. For this single-player campaign, we will be playing as a nameless and silent rookie pilot of the Osean Air Defense Force under the alias “Trigger”. The peace is shattered by an invading military force from the Kingdom of Erusea, sparking a conflict known as the “Lighthouse War”, a reference to the plot-critical International Space Elevator facility.

The epic 20-mission campaign details Trigger’s journey from nugget pilot to disgraced prisoner of war, and their eventual rise to legendary war hero. While certainly not original, the presentation is incredibly well done with high-quality cutscenes that could be considered a standalone CGI film, with characters recounting their own experiences from both sides of the conflict and interacting with the player, either as an ally or an enemy. Whether this is your first time playing Ace Combat or not, you’re in for an epic ride. Don’t worry about being overwhelmed by the controls, the first few missions do a great job of disguising themselves as a built-in tutorial with detailed instructions on basic flying and shooting maneuvers.

The biggest new feature in this entry is weather. Despite trying to approach it in a more subtle way in previous entries, weather is fully present here. For the first time in the series, volumetric clouds are spread across each mission’s standalone map, all of which feature hundreds of square miles of detailed terrain, cityscapes, oceans, mountain ranges, and more. Flying your impressively modeled plane into said clouds will cause condensation to form, represented by water droplets and even ice forming on your cockpit glass, as well as smoke trails from the wingtips.

More than just visual feedback, this is also a key element of gameplay, as cloud cover will now disrupt missile locks on both friend and foe, becoming a key strategic element to keep in mind at all times. Hot air currents, desert storms, lightning strikes, and other meteorological phenomena will take down your multi-million dollar warbird, turning a majestic piece of aviation technology into a helpless piece of paper as you clench your controller as if that will keep you from crashing into the ground or the side of a mountain. Add to that a dozen or so enemies on the ground and in the air trying to shoot you down, and it’s easy to overlook the obvious: This game is stunningly beautiful!

Each environment is crafted with such care and detail that it’s easy to miss the smaller details. You can fly straight into cityscapes, fly through underground hangars carved into mountains, and even inside highway tunnels if your skills allow. Every skybox is a mural, every explosion is a chorus of debris. The fact that all of this still exists after the 1:1 content conversion in this Switch port explains why development took over two years.

Don’t worry about the lack of content. After completing the single-player campaign, you’ll still have dozens of hours to enjoy thanks to the Plane Tree. Each mission will earn you MRP, a currency that unlocks new planes from European, Japanese, American, and Russian manufacturers, along with unique weapon sets for each. Your personal favorites are almost certainly already in the playable list.

Each route also unlocks parts that help you customize each plane to your liking, so it’ll take quite a while to fully unlock and experiment with every combination on offer. Ace pilots lurk in every single-player mission, and hunting them down (and claiming their unique outfits for your skins list) adds even more replayability. All of this is for single-player pilots, but surprisingly surviving the transition to Switch is the online multiplayer mode as well.

While it’s still primitive compared to things that have long since ceased to function Ace Combat Infinity‘S Team-based missions, the eight-player online multiplayer works the same as it did five years ago. There are only two modes (eight-player freestyle and 4v4 team battle) played across a handful of single-player campaign maps. Matches can quickly become endless circle dances between players where no one can get the upper hand or someone has such a superior fighter/special weapon/part that it becomes a one-sided slaughter. Either way, the online multiplayer is the fastest way to earn MRP that you can spend on the plane tree because the rounds are short and even the bottom of the scoreboard will earn you enough MRP to make the pain worth it.

However, just like five years ago, the experience is very unbalanced due to the hundreds of possible plane combinations. At the time of writing this post shortly after launch, we couldn’t find more than one or two active rooms, but at least all the matches we played were free of cheaters, which completely ruined the experience on PC.

It’s time to address the burning issue in the room: Can the aging Switch hardware handle such an ambitious game under Unreal Engine 4? We certainly had our doubts. This Switch target of 30fps (unlocked) means occasional slowdowns when the entire sky is filled with explosions, debris, missiles, enemy aircraft, giant airborne weapon platforms spewing out dozens of drones, storm clouds, rain, etc. There’s also a noticeable geometry creep to trees and buildings if you’re flying at low altitudes, most noticeable in jungle maps or large cityscapes.

Some compromises, then, but there’s a sense that this shouldn’t be happening, but somehow it is. None of these issues really affect gameplay, either in docked or portable mode (where the later OLED Switch models really show off the beauty of this game). After spending over a hundred hours with the original PC version, we were able to really dive into some of the main missions of the single-player campaign to see how much the Switch has to give up for its aging mobile chipset, and we were pleasantly surprised by how well it all worked.

If you’re still thirsty after experiencing everything the base game has to offer, head over to the eShop. The Deluxe Edition moniker translates to a generous offering of three additional DLC missions alongside previously pre-order exclusive planes and even a three-pack of concept planes from before. Ace Fight The game is included. However, that’s where the generosity ends. Every piece of DLC is available on the Switch version, meaning that something that took months to get to players before is now available from day one on the eShop, with the total cost of every last anniversary and concept plane pack coming in at the same price as the base game. Most of these planes offer some truly unfair advantages in both single-player and multiplayer, further demonstrating how unbalanced and unfair the multiplayer experience is.

However, we cannot deny Top Gun: Maverick The crossover pack offers great value by adding iconic planes from the film along with logos, plane images, and even a cover by Namco composer Kenny Loggin Dangerous area. We do feel the need for speed, but the 2022 film’s fictional Darkstar plane is such a monster in that department that it disrupts some single-player missions while being an absolute nuisance in multiplayer. You simply can’t catch one if the pilot decides to turn tail and run! We know all of these are optional, but we have to admit that having the full package is the only way to scratch an itch we can’t get rid of.

We’ll save this last paragraph to point out something that’s often overlooked in reviews: the sound design. Skies Unknown’s soundtrack blends both electronic and orchestral elements with ease. However, it’s in the sound effects department that Project Aces goes the extra mile. Jet engines, missiles, and bullets whiz by, the lag between explosions is long, and the results are boomThe thunder that hits your plane is perfect. It rounds out the presentation very well, and is a great touch that immerses you into the world of Strangereal.