Brought to you by “Bandai Namco Entertainment” comes “Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown”. If you have been with us for a while, you would know that in January 2019, the initial release date on PC and console, MKAU reviewed Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. Dust off those helmets and strap back into the cockpit for we’re launching back into the danger zone but this time on the Nintendo Switch.

The campaign takes you on the journey of “Trigger” going from mediocre pilot to convict, and then their ultimate rise to war hero. The 20-mission-long campaign was quite intriguing and was well put together, however, I did find myself at times getting lost in the story and having to go back and watch the cutscenes again to gain all the info on what was going on.

Starting up the game you’ll be met with the decision to choose your control settings, expert, and novice. The controls were straightforward to understand with “ZL” being thrust, “ZR” being brake, “Y” to shoot and so on. The only difference between control settings is that expert allows you to perform more realistic aircraft manoeuvres such as rolls and high-G turns to name a few. As you progress through the campaign and objectives, you gain XP points or “MRP” (Military Result Points). These points can be put towards upgrades, and weapons in the aircraft skill tree. Upgrades purchased can be used to boost the performance past the base performance of your aircraft, with some upgrades being limited to single-player only and others multiplayer only.

Overall, the controls felt smooth and were easy to get the hang of, the one thing I did notice though was that the joystick controls felt a bit touchy. I would often find myself trying to make little or minor adjustments with the camera but would instantly flick my POV around way more than I wanted.

Apart from all this, the major thing that stunned me was the environmental effects and weather which can impact your aircraft heavily, such as clouds disrupting missile lock-on, or water droplets and ice forming on the cockpit glass from flying into said clouds. Enough about the campaign, I fully forgot to mention the intense multiplayer, this only has two modes, one being an 8-player battle royale and the latter being a 4v4 team battle all played over the maps from the campaign.

When I heard that Ace Combat 7: Skies Unkown was coming to the Switch platform I did have my doubts, graphics-wise, if it would be up to par with the consoles or PC and boy was I stunned. The vibrant colours of the minimap and target signatures stood out well and were easy to see, as I mentioned earlier even the little details like water droplets forming on the glass from flying through clouds, terrain destruction from a downed aircraft, and even the debris and explosion from hitting an enemy further added to the experience.

I did however notice some bugs with the trees when flying too low, but this did not affect the gameplay whatsoever as I was too busy leaning back and forth as I was zooming through the sky pretending to be Maverick.

Game sounds are another notable mention with each aircraft sounds almost identical to its real-life counterpart. I was a little underwhelmed as there is no soundtrack to the game, but I’ll let that slide as the environmental sounds made up for it. The sound effects department went to town, with the delay between distant explosions, the lightning cracks, and the bullets or missiles flying by were all just superb leaving me thoroughly impressed.

In conclusion, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was a pleasure to enjoy, I was astounded by how well it performed on the Switch and all the details that Bandai Namco have managed to pile in. The amazing graphics and crisp sounds genuinely had me moving around in my seat as if I were in the cockpit flying and I highly recommend grabbing this one on the Nintendo Switch for newbies and veterans alike.

Written by: Larry