Changes: Ace Combat: Joint Assault

Revision as of 16:32, 13 May 2014

Ace Combat: Joint Assault is a 2010 flight simulation game developed by Namco Bandai. It was released in Japan, Europe, and North America in 2010, and is known as Ace Combat X²: Joint Assault in its home country.

A sequel to Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception from 2006, it is the first full game to take place in the real world, and focuses

Gameplay

Joint Assault retains the basic gameplay from its predecessor, but with significant additions and alterations. Aerial combat adopts a visual system called "Enhanced Combat View" to alter the perspective of enemy aircraft close to the player, altering their size to make them appear much closer as a precusor to Dog Fight Mode from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. The arsenal of weapons from Skies of Deception has been greatly enlarged: basic missiles are divided into Standard, High Accuracy, Lightweight and Heavyweight types tailored for different situations, with various benefits and drawbacks.

Aircraft

Ace Combat: Joint Assault includes an arsenal of 44 available aircraft, far exceeding the total from the previous game. Unlike the previous game, they are organized according to country of origin, beginning with United States aircraft. All planes can be upgraded with the tuning system, which has been upgraded to be available for all planes instead of being limited to fictional jets, as with Ace Combat X. Parts from four categories (Engine, Wing, Armor and Avionics) can be purchased and installed to increase performance at the cost of negatively affecting other parameters.

New additions to the game include the F6F-5 Hellcat and A6M5 Zero propeller aircraft from World War II, which may be unlocked as postgame bonuses. A civilian aircraft, the 747 200B airliner of Boeing is the main aircraft for a particular mission in the main Campaign, and the main original fighter introduced in the game is the GAF-1 Varcolac. Fictional jets from Skies of Deception such as the YR-302 Fregata, XFA-24A Apalis and longstanding aircraft including the ADF-01 FALKEN are also featured, but at a much greater cost than in previous titles.

Planes contain six available colors for selection, which are unlocked as a Kill Rate Gauge is filled by continuously destroying targets and completing missions with a certain jet. The colors available range from a basic colorway modeled after existing production aircraft, to special colors from Ace Combat X and "legacy" liveries lifted from past games, such those used by the Espada Squadron and Mobius One. Other colors are cultural references to other Namco series and real life subjects, such as the Japanese armed forces and tokusatsu shows.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer component from Ace Combat X makes a reappearance, but has been modified to be compatible with both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes, allowing players to engage in campaign missions or competitive sessions from anywhere in the world.

Plot

The plot of Joint Assault takes place in the early 21st century, at an undetermined point after the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. The story opens with the private military contractor Martinez Security participating in a military exercise with the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean. Antares One, an experienced air force pilot and new arrival to the M42 Antares Squadron, undergoes improvised training at the event by destroying unmanned aircraft with the Rigel Squadron, only for the Navy to receive a message that Japan is under attack by unknown forces.

Antares destroys aircraft preparing to join the attack over Midway Island, and Martinez is sent to Tokyo to halt an airborne assault led by a giant aircraft, the Spiridus, which they fend off after disabling its onboard railgun. Following the incident in the capital, an Eastern European terrorist group named Valahia announces itself as the perpetrator of the bombing, and launches a wide offensive to strike Tokyo once more. Collaborating with the Seventh Fleet of the US Navy and the Japan Self-Defense Force, Antares repels the attacks and destroys an agile airship over Tokyo, putting an end to the crisis in Japan.

Businessman Andre Olivieri, whose insurance company narrowly survived the economic crisis, approaches the global community to finance a coalition of military contractors, the International Union Peacekeeping Force, to hunt down Valahia. After Valahia leader Nicolae Dumitrescu bribes Rigel leader Milosz Sulejmani and his men into defecting to his group in the final Tokyo attack, Martinez joins the IUPF to clear their name and launches operations targeting Valahian forces across Europe and Asia, dispatching Antares and his men to Croatia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey to dismantle their efforts.

During a mission against Valahian cargo ships in the Adriatic Sea, Antares is lured into an ambush by Sulejmani and his men, now called the Varcolac Squadron, but defeat them and drive them off. After the battle in Croatia, the Spiridus is deployed once more to attack the British capital of London, but is heavily damaged by Antares. The ship's captain attempts to fire the Balaur against Westminster Palace, but the weapon malfunctions thanks to Antares' intervention, leading the Spiridus to sink in the River Thames. The team later destroys the guidance radar of a standalone Balaur railgun in Romania and its guidance radar in Serbia, where they defeat Varcolac once more.

After the destruction of the second Balaur, Antares One is personally hired by Olivieri to fly him in his personal Boeing 747-200 airliner through the Mora mountains of Turkey. As he speaks with an unidentified caller via phone over the ongoing crisis, Dumitrescu's men attempt to shoot down the plane, but Antares escapes the ambush and delivers Andre to an IUPF airfield. Becoming desperate, the Valahia attempt to smuggle nuclear fuel through a container ship in the Dardanelles, but are foiled by Martinez, who later act to stop Dumitrescu from launching missiles at major urban centers from an abandoned nuclear silo in Turkmenistan.

In their third encounter, Varcolac is shot down by Antares and his allies before they fly inside the silo itself to halt the missile launch, killing Dumitrescu as its infrastructure collapses. After the destruction of the complex, Antares discovers that Valahia and Nicolae were manipulated by Olivieri as part of a plot known as the Golden Axe Plan, whose ultimate purpose is allowing Olivieri Life Insurance to reap profits from the global increase in demand for war insurance. Believing that Martinez would not condone actions against the IUPF's main funder, Martinez commander Fredric Burford and M42 defect from the company to halt Olivieri's plan.

Burford, his E-767 aircraft Canopus and Antares take refuge in the abandoned airbase in Midway Island, where they destroy an entire fleet of Orgois manned by the private army hired by OLI sent to kill them. After receiving supplies from a seagoing fleet allied with Martinez, the group move to the western US to eliminate Golden Axe troops preparing to besiege San Francisco, taking over an airfield in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and destroying a second Spiridus over Lake Tahoe with the aid of troops from Martinez's ground branch, giving them a foothold to prepare for the upcoming attack

Days after Antares' missions in the region, Olivier's private army launches a large scale attack on San Francisco as the final stage of the Golden Axe Plan, causing Antares Squadron to assist the US military in repelling the invasion. Milosz Sulejmani and his men appear flying the GAF-1 Varcolac fighter developed by OLI, and engages them in a final battle to prove their superiority. After his men are killed, Sulejmani suffers a mental breakdown and reveals his past a child soldier, declaring that money would allow him to reclaim his lost life before charging Antares in a final assault that costs him his life.

The battalions that previously assisted Martinez against the private army move to Olivieri Life Insurance's headquarters to secure a data center containing information of the entire Golden Axe Plan. Antares launches a final attack to blast open an entrance to the building, killing a defiant Olivieri as he challenges them in front of the building and putting an end to the crisis started by the Valahia.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of Ace Combat: Joint Assault was composed by longstanding members of the Namco Sound Team, including Keiki Kobayashi and Tetsukazu Nakanishi. Part of the soundtrack was composed by Turkish composer Inon Zur, famed

Development

Trivia

Contrary to common belief, Ace Combat: Joint Assault is not the first game to visit the real world, but Air Combat 22, where a map of the world can be seen in the aircraft selection screen.
The game contains various aspects that would later reappear in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, such as thermobaric cruise missiles (the Hi-TASM and Trinity) and gameplay elements focused on close range combat (Enhanced Combat View and Close Range Assault.)
Cutscenes and briefings can be seen in Free Mission mode by completing the mission before it takes place.
Pressing autopilot and the square (□) allows the player to lock their view onto a wingman or special ally that they must protect.

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

References

Template:ACGames

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 ''Joint Assault'' retains the basic gameplay from its predecessor, but with significant additions and alterations. Aerial combat adopts a visual system called "Enhanced Combat View" to alter the perspective of enemy aircraft close to the player, altering their size to make them appear much closer as a precusor to [[Dog Fight Mode]] from ''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon]]''. The arsenal of weapons from ''Skies of Deception'' has been greatly enlarged: basic missiles are divided into Standard, High Accuracy, Lightweight and Heavyweight types tailored for different situations, with various benefits and drawbacks.
 ===Aircraft===
-''Ace Combat: Joint Assault'' includes an arsenal of 44 available aircraft, far exceeding the total from the previous game. Unlike the previous game, they are organized according to country of origin, beginning with [[United States]] aircraft. All plans can be upgraded with the tuning system, which has been upgraded to be available for all planes instead of being limited to fictional jets, as with ''Ace Combat X''. Parts from four categories (Engine, Wing, Armor and Avionics) can be purchased and installed to increase performance at the cost of negatively affecting other parameters.
+''Ace Combat: Joint Assault'' includes an arsenal of 44 available aircraft, far exceeding the total from the previous game. Unlike the previous game, they are organized according to country of origin, beginning with [[United States]] aircraft. All planes can be upgraded with the tuning system, which has been upgraded to be available for all planes instead of being limited to fictional jets, as with ''Ace Combat X''. Parts from four categories (Engine, Wing, Armor and Avionics) can be purchased and installed to increase performance at the cost of negatively affecting other parameters.
 New additions to the game include the [[F6F-5 Hellcat]] and [[A6M5 Zero]] propeller aircraft from World War II, which may be unlocked as postgame bonuses. A civilian aircraft, the [[747 200B]] airliner of [[Boeing]] is the main aircraft for a particular mission in the main Campaign, and the main original fighter introduced in the game is the [[GAF-1 Varcolac]]. Fictional jets from ''Skies of Deception'' such as the [[YR-302 Fregata]], [[XFA-24A Apalis]] and longstanding aircraft including the [[ADF-01 FALKEN]] are also featured, but at a much greater cost than in previous titles.
 Planes contain six available colors for selection, which are unlocked as a [[Kill Rate Gauge]] is filled by continuously destroying targets and completing missions with a certain jet. The colors available range from a basic colorway modeled after existing production aircraft, to special colors from ''Ace Combat X'' and "legacy" liveries lifted from past games, such those used by the [[Espada Squadron]] and [[Mobius One]]. Other colors are cultural references to other Namco series and real life subjects, such as the Japanese armed forces and ''tokusatsu'' shows.
 ===Multiplayer===
 The multiplayer component from ''Ace Combat X'' makes a reappearance, but has been modified to be compatible with both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes, allowing players to engage in campaign missions or competitive sessions from anywhere in the world.