Ace Combat: Joint Assault

The newest addition in the Ace Combat series, Ace Combat: Joint Assault, known in Japan as Ace Combat X2: Joint Assault, is a PlayStation Portable-exclusive title, scheduled to release in Summer 2010 (7th of July 2010 in Japan, as seen in the Japanese Trailer/PV (delayed to August 26). August 31st in North America, according to Wikipedia & other sources). It is the second PSP Ace Combat game, the first being Ace Combat X. J.A. marks a radical change in Ace Combat, because it separates from the Strangereal setting and focuses on real life locations, such as Tokyo, Midway, Egypt, London & San Francisco. A multiplayer demo version of the game will be available on the Japanese Playstation store July 15th.

The game will feature over 40 licensed aircraft (With the confirmed appearance of the F-4E Phantom II, F-14D Super Tomcat, A-10A Thunderbolt II, F-22A Raptor, F/A-18E Super Hornet, Su-37 Terminator, EF-2000 Typhoon, F-2A Viper Zero, F-1 Kaizen F6F Hellcat A6M Zero, & others), with Fenrir, the XR-45 Cariburn, the YR-302 Fregata, the XFA-27 and the ADF-01 Falken being the only confirmed super aircraft as of July. With over 40 aircraft, Joint Assault is the game with the second most amount of aircraft in the series (The Unsung War having 53). The flagship aircraft of the game is the F-22A Raptor. The game also features it's own superplane, the GAF-1 Varcolac.

Storyline
CAUTION: Below included Spoilers

Players will play as pilots under the Martinez Security 2nd M42 Squadron "Antares Squadron" in the real world in year 20XX. In the game, a terrorist group formed by members from the former Eastern Europe countries called "Valahia" attacked Japan's capital, Tokyo. Informed by the Seventh Fleet, Martinez Security dispatched the M42 Squadron consisting of Rigel Squadron & Antares Squadron to defend the capital. During the battle, Valahia leader named "Nicolae Dumitrescu" offered the Rigel Squadron leader "Milosz Sulejmani" to join Valahia. Because of Sulejmani's philosophy of "Fighting only for money", he & his men defected from Martinez Security & head south to join the Valahia. Left alone, the Antares Squadron shot down the Valahia 2nd airborne fortress "Orgoi". After several missions, Antares Squadron faced the former Rigel Squadron which is now known as "Varcolac Squadron" over the Adriatic Sea. Soon after, the Varcolac Squadron retreated and revealed a submarine capable of launching Hi-TASM (Thermobaric Missile) missiles to attack the Antares Squadron. Fortunately, Antares Squadron was able to dodge the attacks & destroyed the sub. Soon after, the Antares Squadron was sent to defend London from the airborne fortress Spiridus sent by Valahia to attack London. Fortunately, the Antares Squadron was able to defend London & shot down the Spiridus. After that, the Valahia leader Nicolae Dumitrescu sent out a threat to the world via video record through the media & said "Beware of the "Golden Axe" & revealed a series of old USSR missile silos in Central Asia containing several ICBMs ready to launch to back Valahia's demands. Hearing this, the Antares Squadron was sent to destroy the ICBMs but was held by the threat of the Super Railgun "Balaur". Fortunately, the Antares Squadron managed to destroy the Balaur & continued the journey to Central Asia to destroy the ICBMs. Before destroying the ICBMs, Antares Squadron once again faced the Varcolac Squadron. During the battle, Varcolac Squadron revealed a plan codenamed "Golden Axe" plan instigated by the Olivieri Life Insurance CEO Andre Olivieri before they were shot down. After dogfighting against the Varcolac Squadron, the Antares Squadron went inside a series of tunnels to destroy the ICBMs from inside the missile silos. The explosion killed the Valahia leader Nicolae Dumitrescu. After destroying the ICBMs, the Antares Squadron joined Canopus & others and head out to America to stop the Golden Axe plan. The Antares Squadron fight against several other PMCs, several Orgoi-Type Airborne Fortresses & a New Spiridus with a capability of launching Hi-TASM missiles & covering it's missile silos with an electromagnetic field called READS. After destroying the New Spiridus, Antares Squadron & Canopus head out to defend San Francisco from the Golden Axe Plan. During the battle to defend San Francisco, Antares Squadron faced Varcolac Squadron with their new GAF-1 Varcolac superplanes. After shooting down the Varcolac Squadron, Antares Squadron was ordered to destroy the Olivieri Life Insurance Underground Data Center & Andre Olivieri with it. After that, the war ended & the Antares Squadron continued to protect the skies.

Innovations & Differences



 * Similar to the Allied Support system employed in Fires of Liberation, Joint Assault makes use of the Joint Assault Mission System, which breaks the operating forces into teams, and decisions made in one operation can affect the other: for example, the player is in Team A, which is tasked to eliminate a group of helicopters near Team B's path. If the choppers go down, then Team B will proceed to advance into enemy territory, and knock out the AA defenses.
 * As aforementioned, Joint Assault marks a radical change due to it's setting change: Joint Assault takes place in modern Earth, featuring actual locations, such as San Francisco, Egypt & Midway (note how this features Sand Island AFB, the World War II airbase that became of basis for The Unsung War's Sand Island.)
 * Also, a new addition is the Enhanced Combat View (ECV) mechanic, which aims to remove the long-range visuals seen in most air combat titles in an attempt to turn dogfights into close & personal, one-on-one battles.
 * All 40+ aircraft can be Tuned.
 * For the first time, both special weapons and primary weapons (missiles) can be changed.
 * For the first time, you can pilot WWII Vintage aircraft, A6M Zero & F6F Hellcat.
 * You can pilot the Boeing 747-200B.
 * You can choose one of 4 operators at the beginning of the game, two male and two female, each with their own voice.
 * Graphics have been improved from X.500x_ace_combat_joint_assault-pspscreenshots26654f-14d_snp0048.jpg

Multiplayer
Following Skies of Deception's multiplayer, Joint Assault will feature non-local area restricted Online capabilities, for the game supports both Ad-Hoc Party & Infrastructure connection types. Of course, there will also be adversarial options for the competitive player as well, which can support up to 8 players.

Locations
Tokyo: The second and fifth missions of the game, also the first attack made by the Orgoi and Spiridus which are run by the Valahia. Antares squadron is deployed in a joint assault mission to defend Japan's capital when an attack from the Valahia changes their objectives and are ordered to attack the Orgoi.

Midway atoll: After World War II, the airbase was supposed to be abandoned. Joint Assault changes that. The atoll was used as a training ground for Martinez Security M42 Squadron & the Seventh Fleet.

Middle East: Battles take place near some of the most popular pyramids in Egypt to force the Spiridus from resupplying at the Valahia base located near the Nile River.

San Francisco: Battles take place near the Golden Gate Bridge, to defend San Francisco from the attacks from the Golden Axe Plan. It is also the place where the Antares Squadron dogfights against the Varcolac Squadron with their GAF-1 Varcolac superplanes for the last time. Then Antares Squadron are ordered to destroy the underground Data Center of the Olivieri Life Insurance (and also have the chance to kill Olivieri himself with any weapon the player carries).

Trailers
Video:Ace Combat X2 Joint Assault Japanese Version Trailer|Trailer #1 Video:Ace Combat Joint Assault - Trailer 2|Trailer #2 Video:Ace Combat Joint Assault - PSP - Gameplay Joint Assault Mission|Gameplay #1 Video:Ace Combat Joint Assault - PSP - Gameplay Enhanced Combat View|Gameplay #2