ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN

Two days before donning the mantle of The Wings of Theve, it's time for me to finally review Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. A singularly special game in a singularly special franchise. Ace Combat has remained with me since I was a little boy. I wasn't fortunate enough to have played many different entries in the series, but I played and replayed ACX endlessly on the good old PlayStation Portable. Even then, I was entranced by what I was playing. A crescendo of music, sound design, action, and presentation coming together to deliver a standout gameplay experience that can't be emulated through another medium. Coming back to AC7, this has not changed one bit. No matter how many times I play through this campaign, I get chills at all the right moments. As an outsider, you might be skeptical of how far a simple dogfighting game could be taken or how the 8th mainline game would continue to innovate on this. Rest assured, Project Aces knows what they're doing, it's all they do and they do it beautifully. Almost every mission will throw new twists into the mix, keeping you on your feet and making you want to achieve perfect air superiority. Music has always been emblematic of the series and AC7's is absolutely the best in its history. Soundtracks are carefully designed and curated per mission to maximize user satisfaction and, as cheesy as it sounds, make you feel like an Ace. Most recently, on my journey to obtain all achievements, I even managed to get quite good at the multiplayer. It's nothing crazy, but there's a lot of fun to be had spinning around in circles chasing your opponents and hoping to land a lucky shot. Though it makes me all the more excited for AC8's multiplayer implementation. AC7 is extra special because it effectively saved the franchise. After a string of mediocre games and a long hiatus, Project Aces came back out swinging and rocked the industry. It seems they've done it once again with AC8. Stick with Ace Combat and you'll make it.