[Review] Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy (3DS)

Flight combat not only takes strength of the mind, butstrength of the body; as a result, it is perhaps best reserved for those withthe right stuff. After all, hitting speeds of Mach 1.6 and flying at 40,000feet in an F-16 isn’t for everyone. With stereoscopic 3D, the experience couldbe recreated more truly, providing both the sense of speed and distance fromthe ground that’s needed. Ace Combat:Assault Horizon Legacy not only provides that, but an exciting gameplayexperience as well.

Players star as Phoenix, a member of the Allied Forces whoare tasked with taking down the rebels on the continent of Usea. They’ll besent on a variety of missions that include defending bases, attackingsquadrons, and others. Even in the air, AssaultHorizon Legacy manages to provide both variety and a challenge, whether itbe stalling in high altitudes or finding a balance between hitting targets andnot buildings at lower altitudes. Unfortunately, there was no multiplayerexperience to go along with the game, which really killed any lasting appeal itmay have beyond the single player mode.

While many missions have players assaulting ground units orplanes that are otherwise incapable of keeping up with them in speed, almostall missions also include faster planes and dogfights. With aerial combat gamesbeing somewhat of a niche, the game does a good enough job of introducingplayers to the controls. Beginners may take a while to adapt to the upside downy axis and the sluggishness of a fighter jet, but the aerial maneuvers easilyremedy the problem for newcomers to the genre.

Aerial maneuvers take players behind enemies at the touch ofa button or easily dodge an incoming attack. It may sound as though these takethe challenge out of dogfights, but players will still have to make an effortin order to make use of these. The attack maneuver requires players to havefollowed a target for a set amount of time first without being attacked orusing evasive maneuvers, meaning that strategic positioning is definitely key. Evasivemaneuvers on the other hand have fewer requirements; however, players stuck ina cluster of enemy fighters will find themselves evading endlessly, hardly evengiven a chance to shoot off a missile.

Although HorizonAssault Legacy is obviously visually inferior to its console counterpart,the stereoscopic 3D is impressive. It only makes the aerial maneuvers look allthe better. The visuals give the sense of height that 2D visuals just can’t. Whennot preoccupied with shooting down enemy pilots, I was more concerned withenjoying the view from above than I was with the next mission objective. Fromfar away, the landscapes impress, but quickly lose their magic once playersclose in. On the other hand, the fighter jets themselves are renderedsurprisingly well, making for a pleasing viewing experience during anydogfight.  

As an introductory game to flight combat, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy isperfect. It combines the difficulty of flying at high speeds while providingattack and evasive maneuvers so that everyone can join in on the fun and be anace pilot. The visuals are naturally enhanced by the system’s 3D capabilities, whichshould usher in even the most skeptical pilots to give it a try. 

Available on: 3DS; Publisher: Namco Bandai Games; Developer: Project Aces; Players: 1; Released: November 15, 2011; ESRB: Teen; Official Site

Note: A retail copy was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.

[Review] Tekken Hybrid (PS3)

It’s quite evident that fighters are making quite therevival as of late. Even before Street Fighter IV though, the Tekken serieshad never gave up on the genre and only continued to push out titles throughoutthe years. As fighters have become part of the mainstream, it’s only expectedthat it would bleed into other entertainment forms as well, such as movies;likewise, Tekken would be one of thefrontrunners in coming out with a  CGmovie, which is sure to satisfy fans more than the live action failures ofother franchises. Tekken Hybridthrows the past along with the fruits of its labors together, giving fans Tekken Tag 2 Prologue, Tekken Tag Tournament HD, and CG movie Tekken Blood Vengeance all in onepackage.

More than a decade since its original release, Tekken Tag Tournament still manages tobe a fun game. While it lacks the extended combos of recent outings, the solidtag-based is intact. Harking to a more simple time, TTT’s lack of walls and bound-based combos offer solace for gamerswho are tired of being pounded to death upon a single combo that will carry himto the wall. On top of that, it has all the modes that its previous consolecounterpart did, including the mysteriously addicting Tekken Bowl mode. Thoughthe gameplay has kept up, the graphics’ age definitely shows. Like a veteranactress, the game is expected to show some age; it’s an excusable, yetundeniable facet of TTT HD.

It’s hard to look at this package and pick out any one partthat’s the headliner. However, with TekkenTag 2 Prologue’s character selection being heavily influenced by the maincast in Tekken Blood Vengrance, itwould seem that these two go hand in hand in promoting each other. As thefuture of the Tekken franchise, TTT2 Prologue should certainly be thecenterpiece that has gamers’ appetite whetting the most. In addition to the tagpossibilities presented in TTT, TTT2 Prologue includes Tag Assault,which allows two characters bombarding an opponent with attacks, and Tag Crash,which allows one to safely tag out during an attack as another comes in. Bothof these only strengthen the tagging mechanics, making it a crucial aspect to implementduring games. With only Jin, Kazuya, Alisa, and Xiaoyu available, the game ismerely a demo that will leave players wanting.

Graphically, the game already looks better than Tekken 6, with more detailed charactersand stages alike. This is only made all the more impressive by the game’sability to have multiple characters on screen at the same time, pummeling away.The musical stylings established in Tekken6 stay strong, giving players a variety of electronic music, including thetoken dubstep noise.

Film loving gamers may be reluctant to load up Tekken Blood Vengeance, they will bepleasantly surprised if they go against their first instincts. While Blood Vengeance is by no means AcademyAward material, it’s a jump in quality from other fighting game based movies –certainly better than most adaptations of the Street Fighter series. The writing does become confusing and hardto follow at times, but bears the series’ signature combination of serious scenesinvolving the Mishima family and humor with Xiaoyu and Panda. Visually, it isstunning. Avid Tekken followers willundoubtedly draw similarities between the movie’s CG quality and those of thegames’ cutscenes.

For just one aspect of this bundle, Tekken Hybrid may be a hard sell. However, Tekken fans will surely beat themselves over the head foroverlooking an opportunity to replay one of the most iconic games in the series(without the guaranteed three frames of lag on a backwards compatible PS3), watcha visually stunning CG movie that is true to the series, and get a taste of thefuture of the series a full year before it hits (without dropping a dollar pergame at the arcade). General fighting game fans will likely want to take acrack at the title, but they’re advised to wait as the bundle as a whole maynot be as enticing. 

Available on: PS3; Publisher: Namco Bandai Games; Developer: Namco Bandai Games; Players: 1-2; Released: November 22, 2011; ESRB: Teen; Official Site

Note: A retail copy was provided to Denkiphile for review purposes by the publisher.