9 Best Games Like Ace Combat That You Should Know Update 04/2024

Games Like Ace Combat

Despite the fact that Ace Combat 6 is only available on Xbox One, PC gamers may still get in on the Ace Combat action.

Arcade and flight simulation have met perfectly in the Ace Combat series. You don’t need to read a dictionary-length user manual to grasp its present and near future planes, yet you’ll still feel like you’re in control of the aircraft. Other flight simulations that err on the side of the arcade can give you the impression that you’ve been riding a train the entire time.

PCs were once mostly utilized to play flight sims. Many popular mass market flight games were published in the late ’90s to early ’00s, including Combat Flight Simulator, Crimson Skies, F 16 Fighting Falcon, and many others. Because Ace Combat 7.Skyes Unknown is the first triple-A flight combat game to be released on PC in a long time, it’s worth getting excited about.

You can check out our PC review of Ace Combat 7.Sky Unknown here. However, if you’d like to add more plane games to your collection, we’ve compiled a list specifically for you. We’ve looked at games that are more approachable than Ace Combat in some circumstances, and comprehensive flight simulators in others. There is also one game that doesn’t require any flying at all.

You can tell us if you know of any more games like Ace Combat.

1. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown

As a starting point, let’s look at the most obvious example. However, it doesn’t have the same impact as the exclusive Xbox version of Ace Combat 6. However, it does have its high points. Even after a hundred hours of flight simulation, you may still not have a firm grasp on even one plane. Within the first hour of playing Ace Combat, you’ll develop a bond with your character. The joy of the game comes from the fact that, after the fourth mission, every scene feels like it belongs in an action movie.

Because you’re in a sandstorm, you can only see a few supply trucks on your radar at a time. Fly over low-lying clouds and into the range of long-range missile turrets protecting mountaintop radar sites. Ground assistance for VIPs driving through a city in the middle of a war is one of the more challenging missions in the game.

2. DCS World

With its dogfights, Ace Combat leans arcade. It’s perfect for assignments that require quick thinking and a lot of action. There is DCS World, on the other hand, should you prefer something more complicated. If you’re looking for a flight simulator with an instruction manual that’s so large it might squash a duck, this is it. An accomplishment is making it off the runway.

Even yet, if you can get the hang of the basics, DCS World is an excellent game. With a host of meticulously replicated planes, the main game is completely free, but may be upgraded with a variety of additional planes. When a new plane is introduced, it presents a unique set of challenges that must be overcome in combat.

Flight games may never be the same to you if you enjoy simulation-heavy aerial warfare.

3. House of the Dying Sun

House of the Dying Sun

Ace Combat’s dogfighting is its most compelling feature. Moments when you’re either chasing an enemy jet and trying to maintain your sights on the target, or if you’re the prey and trying to get your plane away from danger. Adrenaline rushes, and the outside world dissolves.

There are still those moments of aerial cat and mouse even though this film is set in space. A space fighter pilot faces absurd odds every day and can only succeed if he or she executes flawless maneuvers and has perfected their trigger finger technique.

4. Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Microsoft Flight Simulator X may be a good option if you want to scratch your simulation itch without having to worry about AI pilots trying to shoot you out of the sky. Controlling your plane is more difficult than in the Ace Combat games, but you’re doing so in a world lacking missiles and high-caliber machine guns, which makes it easier.

MFS X’s scope is truly mind-boggling. There are over 24,000 destinations to choose from throughout the world. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals of flight, the options are virtually limitless. In addition to additional planes, missions, and towns, there are a slew of add-ons available to expand the globe.

5. Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles 4

You must understand that Valkyria Chronicles is not an aircraft sim. It’s more like XCOM than Ace Combat, a turn-based strategy game. In recent years, the backstories of the Ace Combat pilots have become increasingly important. As part of a long-running conflict, you’re not just flying random missions over uninhabited airspace; your operations are intertwined with the experiences of the pilots on the ground.

As in Neon Genesis Evangelion, the characters in Ace Combat ponder their own morality and the impact their actions are having on them as soldiers. If the story of Ace Combat is what keeps you coming back to a game, try out Valkyria Chronicles, which sits at the same table.

6. War Thunder

War Thunder, a free dogfighting game, is well worth loading up if you’re seeking for straight-up arcade flying. In the multiplayer version of World War II, the focus is on dogfights and ease of use. A HOTAS joystick set is unnecessary because the physics model is generous, allowing you to perform barrel rolls and loop the loops without much chance of stalling out. In addition, there are a wide variety of vehicles to choose from, so you should be able to locate a vehicle that suits your needs..

War Thunder was originally designed to be a combat flight game, and that’s still where it’s most enjoyable to play.

7. IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad

If you’re looking for a flight sim that doesn’t go as far as DCS World but still includes a comprehensive flight manual, go no further than IL 2 Sturmovik. As a WWII pilot flying over the besieged Russian city of Stalingrad, you’ll take control of historically accurate planes that shoot each other to pieces.

Using heat-seeking missiles, radar-guided rockets, and laser-guided bombs, Ace Combat is a blast to play. Sturmovik in IL 2 is a lot more straightforward. These weren’t fly-by-wire aircraft. The flaps on these planes were physically moved by the pilots, who pushed and pulled levers. When changing course, the flight models might feel heavy, and pulling out of fast descents can be difficult.

8. X-Plane 11

The X Plane series has a storied history in flight simulation games. For more than 20 years, the simulator’s features have been constantly improved, making the most recent version as feature-rich as flight simulators can be.

By actively promoting mods, X Plane stands out from the crowd. Adding new planes, sceneries, and plugins is a breeze. Because the game’s dynamic flight model calculates how airplanes behave by modelling the forces at work on each component, modded planes typically work as well as those introduced by the developer as well.

9. Superflight

Superflight

As a base jumper, Superflight pulls into one of the series’ most appealing aspects, even though you aren’t actually piloting any kind of plane.

flight by the skin of your teeth. Get your plane low in the city and fly quickly, dodging a building crash while escaping certain death, can be a ton of fun. Instead of doing it to avoid detection or lose a tail, in Superflight you do it simply for the sake of having fun.

In Superflight, your character is thrust into a blocky, randomly created environment and driven to fly as near as possible to the earth. The closer you get to danger and the longer you remain there, the more points you’ll accrue for your efforts.

Superflight is a must-see for fans of high-flying action movies.

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