Ace Combat Infinity (PS3) review

[Darwock]

I had been sitting on a million credits for a while, debating whether to upgrade my Strike Eagle to level 10 at a cost of 900K. In the end I decided not to, spent 570K on the Su-34 (which I will never use) just to open the path to the Su-47, which cost me another 350K or so. So my money is all gone but I have an even better multirole in progress now (hopefully cheaper than the Morgan too). I was gambling on the 9->10 upgrade not being worth the money it costs.

[jimtendo]

I wish I'd opened up the bottom tree earlier, only because of the regular missile damage 'Large'. Will be quite useful in the PVP.

At the moment I'm gearing up for it, trying to boost the level of my QAAM and F-22 for next week.

I tried the Morgan (lvl.4) and I'm not quite feeling it at the moment to displace the F-35 for my all around co-op go to plane.

[Darwock]

That missile damage L part needs hella-research. After a sortie if I'm lucky it goes up by 2%. A parts research report gives it 3%. I'm guessing it will be very expensive too, if I ever get it completed. I've got the SU-47 to level 2 already yet that part is still under 15% researched.

[jimtendo]

Well, the F-15C skin & Schnee emblem was quite hard fought to get into the top 1000, considering it was a mini-ranking.
No doubt everyone making one last final use of the sortie weekend to upgrade their craft for the PvP coming up towards the end of this week.

The joy.

I just hope this time PvP sorties are considered for the challenges.

[Darwock]

I know, I had to fight way more than I wanted to, but as I don't rate my chances in the next tourney I felt more inclined to go for the top in this one. Only just got in the high 900s, previous mini rankings i've always been within the top 100-200 with less effort expended. I wonder if it was because of the forced sorties with everyone using them on MDs? To me it makes more sense to save fuel for the pvp rather than burn it up beforehand. Unless everyone is already just planning to buy whatever fuel they need.

I will have to try my three planes to see which has the best chance, level 7 F-14 WD could be the ticket for pure A2A, but my F-15E has more defense and higher level. The Su-47 is just short of level 5 if it turns out QAAMs are the key, although using them in co-op left me distinctly underwhelmed. They seem to miss more than my usual missiles (4AAM/6AAM) and I expect everyone will take more than a couple of hits to bring down.

It hurts already knowing I will have to forego the daily challenges etc if I want to make the most of my fuel for the tourney.

[jimtendo]

I'm a bad man, of unscrupulous intent.

I stalk the sub 1500, or just over1500 rooms for easy prey for the TDM event with my F-22 Raptor (lvl.8)
To maximise my score.

Every man for himself

[Darwock]

I would do the same if I could, but there is always another vulture or two in there that spoils the party. I end up spending more time evading than shooting. A few rooms i have been in with players apparently playing for the first time (warrant officers) - they are just sitting ducks. Unfortunately my team usually also has a few sitting ducks and so the opposing team hits the score threshold before i can make the most of the opportunity for easy points.

Logic and advice I've read dictates that shooting from far off with 6AAMs is the best approach but i never score hits that way, so I get in the mix and try to line up kills with my standard missiles instead. On a poor run I get 15K, on a good one I'm around 30K. Anything less than that as the timer nears the end and I ragequit... fuel is just too precious to waste on a lame scoring round. Only had to do it a few times luckily, I still really hate this whole PVP for prizes thing. The Shogun is definitely out of my reach - with 4 days remaining I just can't maintain the score averages I need.

[jimtendo]

Been alternating between 4AAM and QAAM and it's really a flip of a coin as to their successfulness.
One match I can do well then the next I do abysmal in terms of hitting and killing with.

Now I'm being very choosy in terms of picking rooms now, as there needs to be quite a few on the room being 14xx rank or very low 1500.
As I find 1550+ they smarted up a bit. It's not that that I can't tackle them, it's just that it takes longer.

The longer you spend not constantly scoring then it's not a profitable room.

The lowest score threshold I'll go with is 17,000 but ideally 20,000 - 30,000 is what you should be going for to get a decent shift in ranking.

Just hope either people slow down playing over the weekend (no chance) or a whole load of new guys jump on.

Thanks again Namco for the ranking/ scoring system.

[Darwock]

My poor runs are getting poorer, a few games tonight i didnt even clear 10K. People are also getting way fussier about who they fly with so it takes forever to get into an actual game. Not enjoying it in the slightest, and no longer confident in being able to stay in the top 1000. I only have ten fuel left. How many hits on your mission completion rank can you take before you cant join games any more? I'm at 7, down from 10 after ragequitting (which I call economical use of fuel).

My best scoring round tonight ended abruptly, presumably when the host got tired of being a punching bag and quit. Too bad, I got crappy averages instead.

[Profit]

I`ve played over 25 hours now on only free fuel (3 sessions a day , with the occasional free drops/prizes nets me about 10 stocked fuel per week), which is more time than I have spent completing previous full release ace combat games.

Personally, the level of challenge is not that great to need the higher level crafts (been using mainly F15C lev 4 and ADX?-10 Morgan).

Edit. I have to admit, I hope this model evolves as opposed to a new Ace Combat retail game now. The previous retail games were basically of identical mechanic but with different stories. Would love to play more lengthy missions with refueling and missile conservation strategies.

[Darwock]

Back after an absence of around three weeks holiday, and the game is even more broken than before.

Co-op prize bracket has been reduced to 200 as expected, but in addition they have nerfed the rank points you receive (or more accurately, they have tied it more closely to points scored in a round). This just rewards the people who abuse their higher levels to dominate lower ranked rooms. It also makes cheating even more of an issue.

I missed three limited rewards in my absence and will miss two more on my return because I cant build up my fuel stocks quickly enough to stand a chance (which I dont anyway due to the rank point changes). That is partly because they have put crap novelty emblem drops into the red crate, taking away chances to get fuel.

I have mentally checked out of it now, just playing to get the final rank trophy and then I'm out. Well played Bamco.

[jimtendo]

Yep.
The last couple of tournaments with the top 200 placed players winning the craft takes the preverbial.
I managed to get the Shogun in the PvP not too long ago. But the new one starting this weds and finishing next Monday for the Ridgebacks shinden can sod off. Can't be arsed doing more tournaments, as too many games coming out now with Destiny/ Metro Redux/ Monster Hunter 4G. Plus I'm getting back into my Diablo 3 with Ultimate Evil Edition.

[Darwock]

Two months on since I last commented, and the game has been through further changes. I hung on through the dark days of top 200 prize planes, not winning a single one and eventually not even bothering to burn fuel during the tournaments... I think the majority of the population also began to ignore the tourneys because the end result was the prize planes shifted back to the top 1000. Top 200 bracket remains but its usually just a nickname or emblem rather than the plane itself. I have never seen any of those 200 planes actually being used so they may as well not exist. The first tourney I put effort into since the prize brackets were relaxed was for the Yellow 13, which I managed to get and is a top tier fighter to rival the T-50. Currently at level 8 and taking it all the way.

The Su-47 and F-15 S/MTD are dominating the game through their powerful weapons and huge expansion capability - it is rare to join any match where there isn't at least one of these, and that is automatically the team that will win. I have taken to hosting unrestricted rooms and auto-kicking anyone from 1850+ which usually keeps these planes out of it. Lots of rage in the AC community about the lack of balance with these planes though.

The final campaign mission was patched in, and it's the first to actually have that epic AC feel to it, through music, dialogue and strength of enemies. Too little too late though, the campaign is completely forgettable otherwise. The story is left hanging with a teaser of Moebius and the main adversary going undefeated, so I suspect there will be a follow up. Either a new campaign within this game or an entirely new AC:I on the PS4.

In online mode we have had a second new co-op map (Moscow) and a new TDM mode which includes PVE alongside the PVP, but it is tourney only and also has some pretty commonly occurring glitches that mess it up.

I am still hoarding my fuel for the inevitable Razgriz tourney, but I am sorely tempted by the F-15 Garuda event starting in a few days. Not least because I can finally get a skin for my standard Strike Eagle. I have no attachment at all to AC6 (the lost entry in the series) but the F-15 swaps out 4AAM for 6AAM and has more slots, so it's a much more attractive option than my stock one.