It’s been almost twelve years since the last numbered Ace Combat game came to consoles. There have been a few spin-offs in the intervening years, but Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the next official continuation in the series. With the official launch just a couple of weeks away, Bandai brought a big presense to PAX South featuring a set of linked multiplayer consoles, and several PS VR setups. I was fortunate enough to get some hands-on time with the PS VR add-on missions, which are unique to the PlayStation®4 version of the game.
The PS VR add-ons give players a choice of free flight, air show, or three story missions. I chose the first storyline mission, and was immediately transported from a spacious hanger featuring an F/A-18E Super Hornet and F-16C to the cockpit of my chosen steed, the F-22A Raptor! Other choices would have been the Super Hornet, A-10C “Warthog” or the SU-30M “Flanker-C”.
Mission One is a scramble to intercept enemy aircraft. I started off at engine start to automatically taxi out to the runway and line up for takeoff. That gave me the time to look around and admire the details of my virtual cockpit. I could look behind me to either side and see the wings, tail surfaces, and selected external armament. Looking inside the cockpit, I could see my virtual left hand on the throttles, legs centered on the rudder pedals, and my right hand holding the side-stick. It’s probably the closest thing this writer will ever get to actually being in the cockpit of a Fifth Generation fighter.
This is where missions start. In VR the only thing missing is the proper hanger smells of Jet-A, grease, and oil.
I wasn’t quite done admiring the scenery when the game switched from automatic to having me in control, but it didn’t matter, we had enemies to intercept. The short flight to the enemy targets took me through some clouds, the better to show off some rain and ice effects on the virtual canopy over my head. Then we arrived at the targets and the fight was on.
Anyone who’s played previous Ace Combat games will know that the first-person view is the most immersive, but also the toughest for situational awareness. There’s a big HUD and cockpit taking up a bunch of your visual space, and a lot of dogfighting ends up involving chasing a targeting arrow around the screen until that pesky enemy fighter finally shows up with a red missile lock box around it. Fire missiles, wash, rinse, repeat until the enemies are gone.
Target tracking is much easier being able to look at the target.
Not so in VR. When an enemy zoomed past my head, I could track them visually and maneuver my aircraft to where it should be. I’m sure I looked a bit silly, craning my head left, right, and up to follow the movements of hostile MIGs and Mirage 2000-5s, but it worked flawlessly. I’ve never felt so in control of an action flight game, even if my stomach was starting to protest at the information mismatch between my eyes and inner ears.
The enemy missile that finally got me came as a surprise. I was so focused on the target in front of me that I failed to heed the missile warnings shrieking in my ears. As flames engulfed the cockpit, I looked around futilely for a yellow and black ejection handle to grab. No luck, I was going down with my multi-million dollar super-fighter.
Eject! Eject! Eject!
As of this writing, PlayStation VR was selling for just under $260 on Amazon. The PS VR missions for Ace Combat 7 may not be enough on their own to justify that expenditure. However, for Ace Combat fans, or just aviation geeks in general, who are contemplating which platform to buy the new game on and already own a PS VR rig, this writer highly recommends the PS4 version.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is available now for Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation®4, and PCs via Steam. Only the PS4 versions have the VR missions.
Marooners’ Rock or its writers may receive a portion of Amazon Affiliate revenue from Amazon links in this article.
