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Ace Combat 7's VR Support Needs The Astro Bot Treatment

Ace Combat 7's VR Support Needs The Astro Bot Treatment

A little over two years ago now I wrote an article about a little game called Robot Rescue. It was a free demo included in Sony Japan’s Playroom VR launch compilation for PSVR. Its vision of a third-person platformer enhanced by player participation was so compelling I argued it needed a full game. Many others agreed.

Two years later we got Astro Bot, one of the best VR games out there.

But it’s time to rally our voices once more. There’s a new PSVR game on the scene which again offers a tantalizing taste of what should be a full experience. So powerful is this game that I can’t help but implore Sony to throw whatever mounds of cash it can spare towards its development team. I am of course talking about Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

Last week saw the long-running flight combat series return to consoles and PC. On PS4 it’s got a PSVR exclusive campaign. It’s all original content, but there are only 3 missions which anyone with any past experience could see it off in 30 minutes.

But, goodness me, what a 30 minutes they’ll be. Ace Combat 7’s VR support is a joyous celebration of near-misses, missile locks and machine gun fire. It’ll shake you where you sit, drop your jaw, hammer your pulse and maybe even turn you into a series fan. It has that same revitalizing power that makes Wipeout VR so special and makes you excited about the future of VR once more. This is all coming from someone that hadn’t played the Ace games since the 1995 original.

Now, here’s the thing. We don’t necessarily need a full new game here. I’d just as quickly welcome full VR support for the game’s main campaign. Heck, developer Project Aces could also revisit the many, many other past games in the series for inspiration. A compilation of missions from Ace Combat 6, Infinity and Ace Combat 7 would be more than enough. Just chuck out the bits that wouldn’t work in VR and let us loose in this wonderful aerial playground.

Of course, it took nearly four years for Ace Combat 7 to go from reveal to release. Expecting a full VR campaign in the next two years might be a little ambitious. With that in mind, might we suggest this as a blockbuster game for PSVR 2? PS4’s limited horsepower probably played some part in making this mode so limited. Any hypothetical VR follow-up appearing on any hypothetical console follow-up could relieve those constraints a little.

So, if you’re listening, Sony, please take heed. Get on the phone to Bandai Namco. Tell them all about PSVR 2 and why it’ll be great. Let’s make this a reality.

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