Andrew Zheng

This game truly is the return to form that we expected Ace Combat 7 to be. Plot: 2.5/5 True, the plot was rather convoluted and one could skip all the cutscenes in a playthrough and the campaign would still make sense due to the lack of relation they have to you, the player. Also, the game has started to "tell rather than show", which is unfortunate and removes some of the effectiveness of the themes prevalent in the game. ACZ did better in this respect, because you the player witnessed and even participated in some of Strangereal's most heinous war crimes ever. But the dialogue in ACZ didn't specifically say "Yo this is bad" but rather showed you the results and let you come to the conclusion. AC7 was lacking in this regard, and thats why I rate the plot so poorly. One thing that AC7 did quite well was the camera angles in the in-mission cutscenes. The camera shot of one's vertical stabilizers while retreating in Mission 4 is truly amazing. Graphics: 5/5 Its amazing. Explosions are beautiful, and this game has some of the most detailed enemy target models I've ever seen. The attention to detail is incredible, down to Caleb's "Dip Munch Repeat" billboards and even water bottles modeled on a field HQ in a mission. Animation in cutscenes could be better however. They so much effort into making things shiny and bright that they forgot to animate peoples' faces. Gameplay: 4.999999/5 Gameplay is immaculate. The mission design is incredible, and the atmosphere in-mission is incredibly well constructed. It truly does strike the balance between excessively arcadey and DCS-level hardcore sim. Flight controls are simple and intuitive, and yet give enough freedom for you to pull off some real sick stunts. And, also, play on Expert Controls for the full experience and barrel rolls and stuff. Normal Controls for me is just too restrictive.