The main gripe that I have against the campaign is that all missions are quite long and almost all of the later missions have a twist, usually fast air targets.
You can get told from the mission briefing you can choose your targets and go for ground targets. Or the mission is about close air support. But then surprise! Good luck dogfighting a Su-37 with your A-10 while your wingmen watch in their F-15s.
So attackers are almost useless except for 2-3 missions. And multiplayer is completely out of the question. Sorry A-10. I guess that’s why there’s only two attackers in the game.
And that’s why the Su-34 is far superior to the A-10. It also has a little microwave in the back, a coffeemaker and a toilet.
If I need an A-10 fix, DCS does me fine TBH. It’s hardly outlandish enough for Ace Combat.
Speaking of which, this just occured to me: In the past AC games used to have far more shiny graphics than PC Serious Sims such as Falcon 4.0 or Il-2 1946. But this one, compared to DCS… well… DCS wins imo. Physics-Based-Rendering for the win.
Given that this has to run on consoles and the higher object count, it’s no surprise DCS looks better. But since this is an Unreal Engine game I’m pretty sure it’s using Physics Based Rendering (it’s the de-facto pipeline for modern AAA games).
[The crew members have room to stand and move about the cabin during long missions.[64][65] The space between the seats allows them to lie down in the corridor, if necessary.[63] A galley and toilet are located behind the crew seats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-34)
Almost finished with the story missions. If I have one point of critique that I would have different its the fucking timers. Im old. Let me take my fucking time.
Yeah, and in some of the destruction missions, it’s really unclear what is worth your time destroying. Like that naval base one, if you are brilliant and blow out the core supports all at once by flying and blasting your way through the middle tier of the platform (which I must admit is hugely fun to do) you lose like 5,000 points worth of random guns and missiles and stuff you could have strafed from overhead, because the game doesn’t award you collateral damage from the base destruction…
I’m seemingly an outlier around these parts, but I only had two problems with the mission timers. My first attempt at targeting the silos in Mission 13, and my first attempt at saving the civilians in Mission 17. Otherwise, the main problem I’ve struggled with is with the hidden timer they base your rank on.
For me it wasn’t so much that I had problems completing the missions, outside one or two. It was more I feel I would have enjoyed the game more if the missions weren’t timed.
The occasional mission, or parts of missions that are time critical can be very tense and add variety. With every mission having the time pressure it took away some of my enjoyment.
It also felt like there wasn’t as much room to play around with different loadouts and planes. That said, after restarting the campaign with my unlocks carrying over, the missions I’ve played so far have felt much less stressful.
The timers are important for the design as it is. Missions are pretty straightforward and you need something to fight against in most of them (obviously, escort and defense missions don’t really need timers since the incorporate that into their design). Take out the timers and I think the game becomes bland.
That is, unless you change the mission structure. I would love a game like this with open worldish mission design like the Desert/Jungle/Urban strike series. Having to decide which sub mission to engage with and managing the consequences of not being able to do everything.
I’m on mission 15 on hard. One of the rare games that will feel short for me nowadays. I’m enjoying it that much.
I agree that the timers make you fight harder. I just wish i had an option to make them longer or go away. Because sometimes i just want to leisurely blow to s of shot up.
