Ace Combat 7 is a superb sequel to a classic franchise that succeeds because it embraces new technology, but respects its past – and doesn’t try to evolve the series into something it was never meant to be. There are all-new visuals, missions and game modes, but its connection to the past remains fundamental to its success. It’s a proper sequel to the brilliant Ace Combat 5 (a decent port of which is bundled with PS4 pre-orders – and it runs at 4K60 on Pro), with gameplay evolved from AC4 and AC5. However, the fundamental technology has changed: similar to the Tekken and Soulcalibur titles, a proprietary game engine has been ditched for Unreal Engine 4, but thankfully the move pays off handsomely for the most part, with larger environments, lots of destruction and more on-screen entities.
For this new game, the developers have built everything from scratch. All new plane models, new scenery and a lot of new visual features are on display while the move to current-gen hardware enables a wide range of new visual effects, some of which have a direct impact on gameplay. Perhaps the most impressive addition is the introduction of volumetric cloud cover. Such systems have become increasingly common this generation but most games with this feature tend to be ground-based. Ace Combat 7, however, has players diving in an out of cloud cover. These clouds appear as thick volumes which you can fly through. They are impacted by light, such as that from the sun, and ice and rain are taken into consideration.
Fly through a dark cloud and your visibility is reduced significantly, which is key as this feature is also used for gameplay purposes – it’s more difficult to lock-on to or see the enemy through clouds, somewhat implausibly you can cloud-cover to hide from radar detection. This is the first time in series history that cloud cover plays a significant role in mission design and the twist it adds to gameplay is sensational. Along those same lines, Ace Combat 7 introduces weather which can impact your flight performance. In one mission, while flying through tight spaces, strong bursts of wind can throw your plane off course while, later, blasts of lightning can temporarily interrupt your instruments forcing you to fly blind.
These weather patterns are represented with a series of beautiful effects. Rain particles fill the screen at points while globules of water collect on your view screen. Heat wave effects return as well, often visible around the plane’s exhaust port while vapor trails are visible across the sky with thick, beautiful particle rendering. Other cinematic effects are included as well – a subtle film grain is utilised to increase the sense of realism while depth of field features a uniquely grainy appearance that gives the impression of being shot with a camera using a high ISO setting. A subtle motion blur is also featured throughout – it’s kept to a minimum during gameplay to reduce blur during rotation but it’s amped up during the main real-time cutscenes.
It’s not just about how the UE4 feature set, but in how it is showcased by the developers. During flight, a dynamic camera system is used to enhance the action. When playing with the expert control option – which is just the previous standard for the series – the camera feels more natural than previous games while the standard option, which provides an arcade-like experience, features very dramatic camera movement. Terrain is beautifully textured, and materials now appear physically-based, lending the whole presentation a more realistic appearance. Object density is also improved though, regrettably, pop-in is visible across all platforms during flight – something especially evident in forested areas or dense urban environments.