is a 2019 combat flight simulation game released by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The first new entry in the Ace Combat series since 2014's Ace Combat Infinity, the game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2019, and for Windows in February 2019. A Nintendo Switch port was released in July 2024.
Ace Combat 7's plot marks the series' return to its traditional setting of Strangereal, and follows the exploits of "Trigger", a fighter pilot who is assigned to a penal squadron following an accusation of murder, in the midst of a war between the countries of Osea and Erusea. The game features support for virtual reality, offering a set of missions developed for the PlayStation VR headset, as well as several downloadable content packs offering new missions and content. It is the first game in the Ace Combat franchise to be built on Unreal Engine 4, and the first mainline title in the series to release on a Nintendo home console.
Ace Combat 7 received generally positive reviews from critics and became the highest-selling entry in the series, with over seven million units sold across all platforms by January 2026. A sequel, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, was released on October 2, 2026.
Gameplay
Like the rest of the Ace Combat series, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown forgoes a realistic flight model in favor of faster, arcade-like gameplay to increase its accessibility to newer players. The player can also choose Novice or Expert control settings; the latter enables the player to execute realistic aircraft maneuvers such as rolls, high-G turns, and Cobra maneuvers. The game features 28 different aircraft, with an additional nine as downloadable content and the F-4E Phantom II offered as a pre-order bonus. As with previous entries in the series, most of the aircraft are licensed from real-world manufacturers, although a set of fictional superplanes are also included. Several aircraft in the game make their series debut, such as various members of the Su-30 family, as well as upgraded versions of older aircraft like the Gripen E and A-10C Thunderbolt II.
Players earn an in-game currency, "Military Result Points," via gameplay to purchase additional aircraft and equipment through a tech tree. The player begins the game with the F-16C, and is able to unlock the MiG-21 and F-104C Starfighter after the fourth single-player mission without using MRP, with the F-22A Raptor, Su-57, and the fictional X-02S Strike Wyvern as top-tier aircraft in the tech tree. Each aircraft is equipped with standard missiles for both air-to-air and air-to-ground warfare, as well as another special weapon. Special weapons, including anti-ship missiles and laser weapons, are used to boost an aircraft's ability to carry out air-to-air or air-to-ground attacks. Equipment purchased may also be used to boost the performance of the aircraft beyond its base performance, such as higher-spec engine or airframe parts to enhance its speed and survivability respectively. Only eight upgrades may be applied at any time, weight limitations limit the number of a specific type of upgrade that can be applied (e.g. limit to number of simultaneous applicable airframe parts), and certain upgrades are only usable in the multiplayer mode, while others are only available in the game's singleplayer mode.
For the first time in the series, clouds interfere with aircraft, hindering the player's vision and targeting systems when passing through them and rendering laser weapons ineffective due to refraction. In addition, aircraft briefly ice up and stall after staying in clouds for too long, and lightning strikes temporarily disrupt controls and sensors. Each aircraft also carries a limited supply of flares that can be deployed to evade missiles in critical situations.
During the single-player campaign, players complete a series of combat missions that tell the in-game story. Players are given an in-game briefing prior to a combat mission, where they are informed of success parameters, expected opposition, terrain features, and weather conditions using a 3D map display. Players complete missions by destroying various air and surface targets, as well as accomplishing specific mission targets (e.g. destroying in-flight IRBMs). AI-controlled wingmen accompany the player through the mission, providing exposition and potentially shooting down enemy planes for the player. Over the course of the single-player campaign, the player may choose to engage in additional minigames, such as in-flight refueling or landing. These minigames can be skipped, but reward small amounts of MRP for completion.
Multiplayer The player may choose to play in the multiplayer mode regardless of any progress made in the single-player campaign. The multi-player mode comprises the Team Deathmatch and Battle Royale modes. Both modes are PvP, where players shoot down enemy aircraft to earn points against a timer. The two modes differ in that Team Deathmatch involves two teams of two to four players each, whereas Battle Royale is a free-for-all mode. Shooting down top-scoring players and players using higher-tier aircraft confers more points than shooting down worse-performing or lower-tier players. If a player's aircraft is destroyed, they respawn after a few seconds. When the time limit is reached, the team or player with the greatest score is declared the winner.
Synopsis Setting Ace Combat 7 is set in the series' fictional universe of Strangereal, where Earth has entirely different nations, geography, and history. The game's story details the 2019 Lighthouse War, fought between the Osean Federation and the Kingdom of Erusea in the continent of Usea. Following the Continental War, Osea brokered a peace treaty between the Federal Republic of Erusea and the rest of the Usean continent, while the International Union (IUN) formed a Peacekeeping Force (IUN-PKF) for the continent. In 2011, Erusea restored its monarchy ruled by the D'Elise royal family, while former Osean president Vincent Harling ordered the construction of the International Space Elevator (ISEV), a space elevator and communications tower used to convert atmospheric energy into energy, off the coast of western Usea near Erusea. The ISEV is protected by two massive Osean flying-wing airborne aircraft carrier drones known as Arsenal Birds named Liberty and Justice, carrying a large number of combat drones, advanced weaponry, and force fields, and receiving their power via microwave transmission from the ISEV. Though Harling framed the ISEV as promoting a lasting peace, Erusea perceived it as a symbol of Osean imperialism that infringed on Erusean sovereignty, with these resentments ultimately sparking the Lighthouse War.
Players control the game's silent protagonist, Osean fighter pilot "Trigger". The game's frame story is told through pre-rendered cutscenes played between missions, primarily from the point of view of three characters: Avril Mead, an Osean aircraft mechanic and penal laborer sent to work for Spare Squadron, an Osean penal military unit; Rosa Cossette D'Elise, the princess and heir of the Erusean throne; and Dr. Schroeder, a Belkan scientist developing advanced combat drone technology for the Erusean military.
Plot Rising tensions between Osea and Erusea culminate when Erusea launches a surprise attack on Osea and captures much of the Usean continent, including the ISEV and both Arsenal Birds, with former Osean president Vincent Harling still in the ISEV. During an engagement between an Osean fighter and an Erusean drone, Avril, flying a refurbished F-104C Starfighter, is shot down in the crossfire, arrested for breaching wartime aviation laws, and transferred to the Osean 444th Air Base, a military prison disguised as an air base, as a mechanic.
Trigger, part of an Osean IUN-PKF squadron in eastern Usea, engages Erusean forces, but the IUN-PKF suffers heavy losses to the Arsenal Bird Liberty and Erusean ace Mihaly A. Shilage, who provides flight data to Dr. Schroeder's drone program. Trigger leads a mission to extract Harling from the ISEV, but an Osean air-to-air missile strikes Harling's rescue aircraft, killing him. Trigger is accused of firing the missile, deemed guilty by court-martial, and transferred to the penal unit Spare Squadron. Considered expendable, Spare Squadron is sent on dangerous near-suicide missions to probe Erusea's drone defenses for weak points, frequently losing members in the process. Trigger encounters Mihaly again and dogfights him to a standstill, impressing Mihaly before he withdraws. For their commendable performance alongside Trigger, Spare Squadron is pardoned and transferred with the 444th to Tyler Island, while Trigger and his wingman Count are recruited by Osea's elite Long Range Strategic Strike Group (LRSSG). Osea and the IUN-PKF launch a counteroffensive against Erusea, destroying Liberty using the sole remaining "Stonehenge" railgun and liberating most of Usea. Meanwhile, Princess Cossette, who initially promoted anti-Osean sentiment, becomes disillusioned with the war.
Osea assaults and captures the Erusean capital of Farbanti, while Trigger duels Mihaly again over the city, but they are interrupted when Osean and Erusean anti-satellite weapons cause a collisional cascade that sparks a catastrophic global communications blackout. In the chaos, Erusea loses control over its AI-controlled drone fleet and collapses into a civil war between conservatives and radicals seeking to end and prolong the war respectively; Osean penal units go rogue; Mihaly flees to Shilage, a seceding Erusean state of which he is the heir to the throne; Dr. Schroeder travels to the ISEV to upload Mihaly's flight data to a new generation of advanced Erusean combat drones produced in automated factories; and the LRSSG is cut off from command and forced to operate independently. The LRSSG attempts to extract an Erusean conservative informant, who reveals Harling was killed by an Erusean drone that spoofed Osean IFF signals, but he is mistakenly killed by Osean forces who misidentify his extraction aircraft due to post-blackout IFF failures.
Meanwhile, Avril and the 444th try to survive on Tyler Island, now the site of a chaotic battle between the Osean military, warring Erusean factions, and rogue Osean penal units. Avril and the 444th rescue Cossette from her shot-down liaison aircraft, lead an LRSSG-assisted evacuation of the island, and travel to the ISEV to seek aid; en route, Cossette realizes Harling had peaceful intentions with the ISEV and that the Erusean radicals lied to her to spark the war. The LRSSG is forced to raid Shilage to replenish their supplies, but Mihaly intercepts them; in the ensuing duel, Trigger defeats Mihaly, who apologizes and begs Trigger to stop the drone threat before he crashes, leaving him unable to fly for the rest of his life. At the ISEV, Avril's group confronts Schroeder, and one of Mihaly's granddaughters destroys Mihaly's flight data before it can be uploaded. Schroeder reveals he sought revenge for Belka's historical loss by tricking the nations that defeated them into needless conflicts and developing drones trained on Mihaly's combat data to create a force capable of crushing Osea. Disillusioned by the destruction his drone program caused, Schroeder agrees to help stop the automated drone factories, but reveals the data was already uploaded to two advanced drone fighters, "Hugin" and "Munin".