The Let's Play Archive

Ace Combat 2 & Assault Horizon Legacy

by nine-gear crow, Trizophenie

Part 2: Mission 2 – Operation Easy Money, March 31st, 1998

Pursuit of Reconnaissance Unit

Mission 2: Operation Easy Money – March 31st, 1998
Mission 2: Operation Easy Money (Legacy Verison)

Overview: Scarface squadron is dispatched to run down an enemy reconnaissance flight passing over Mt. Lambert in Rebel occupied Erusian territory and encounters one of the Rebels’ top ace squadrons.


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Guest Commentators: I am joined by both Blind Sally and ACES CURE PLANES for this brief second mission in the Ace Combat 2 version. Both of them are in between what I suppose you could call “tentpole” LPs at the moment, though Sally has a pair of mini LPs going in the Casual Thread of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Remastered and Off-World Interceptor: EXTREME. ACES, meanwhile, is gearing up to continue his run through the PS2 Armored Cores with Armored Core 2: Another Age.


Meanwhile, in the Legacy version, I’m joined by Trizophenie. In addition to providing all the gameplay footage for this run through of Assault Horizon Legacy, he also did a really cool LP of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II aka “The Game That Killed LucasArts” along with Simply Simon. He’s also doing a “de-hanced edition” LP of the Wii version FU2 for the Casual LP thread along with Simon, Sally, kalonZombie, and myself.





LANCER SQUADRON
Federation of Central Usea Allied Air Force, 16th Air Force Unity, 4th Fighter Wing, 3rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (Defected)
Members:
Squadron Composition: F-14D Super Tomcat (x4)

Once one of the top squadrons in the FCU’s Allied Forces, Lancer Squadron defected and joined the rebellion at the outbreak of the Continental War. Flying a flight of four F-14D Super Tomcats, Lancer was posted to the far western front of the FCU’s military control zone, along the Erusian boarder. Despite flying a quartet of aging, heavy, carrier based jets, Lancer flight proved particularly effective thanks to the tactics of its flight lead, Albert Wahlberg.

Wahlberg studied the tactics of the once-mighty Belkan Air Force and its legendary pilots such as Lt. General Dietrich Kellerman and modeled Lancer’s attack patterns off of the Belkan knights of old. This is reflected both in the squadron’s name and emblem, and in their primary attack: the Lancer Charge. All four Lancer planes would charge at their target and launch their missiles simultaneously, giving their prey next to no time to react.

As you can tell by them not appearing in the Ace Combat 2 video and by the better graphics of the screenshots above, Lancer Squadron is one of the four boss squadrons exclusive to Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy. Now, it might seem like a bit of a dick move to throw a boss squadron at you in only the second mission, but the truth of the matter is that Lancer is a flying joke. They’re a gussied up tutorial designed to teach you how to use Attack Maneuvers and Evasive Maneuvers, Legacy’s stripped down version of Assault Horizon’s much maligned Dogfight Mode. It’s basically just “Press Y to insta-kill your target” / “Press Y to evade enemy missiles”.

The key to this fight, as with the other three boss squadrons in the game, is to focus on taking out the squadron leader first. Without Wahlberg, the remaining Lancers break into a disorganized mess; their formation falls apart, they can’t use their special charge attack any more, and are easy pickings from there on out.

By and large, they’re designed to be “Baby’s First Ace Combat Boss Squadron”. If you lose to these jokers and their predictable, telegraphed attack patterns, then perhaps Ace Combat just isn’t for you.





PRIDE
Real Name: Albert Wahlberg
Callsign(s): Pride, Lancer 1
Age: 28
Sex: Male
Nationality: Erusea (Western Usea)
Signature Plane: F-14D Super Tomcat
Voice Actor: Bryce Papenbrook

The son of a Major General, he joined the Air Force to follow in his father’s footsteps and out of a strong sense of duty and nationalistic pride. That selfsame pride led him to join the rebellion against the FCU government after the southern states’ failed attempt to join the Osean Federation.

His isolated upper class background fostered in him an arrogant personality, and he would often look down upon others around him, believing them to be beneath him in life. Regardless, his patriotic pride drove him to act in what he believed to always be the best interests of his homeland and its people, placing their needs above his own when push came to shove.

It was speculated that Wahlberg was eying a transition to a political career in his home country once his service tenure was up. His colleagues would often note how he seemed more adept at playing politics and glad-handing than he ever was handling a flight stick.





LAMBERT MOUNTAINS
A mountain range in northern Erusea. Its highest point is Mt. Lambert itself, one of the highest peaks on Usea. Along with the Amber Mountains in the south, they form a natural wall effectively fencing Eursea in from the rest of Usea, or more pertinently, keeping Erusea a supposedly “safe” distance away from the rest of the FCU.

One of Erusea’s many early warning radar installations is situated atop the mountains, but beyond that there is very little of interest to say about them. They do play a larger role in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, however.



SUPERFLY

The Named Ace in the Ace Combat 2 version of this mission is called "Superfly" (and while he's replaced by Cosmic in AHL, he does shows up in a later mission in that game). The ace takes his name form the 1972 blacksploitation crime drama Super Fly. The film follows a one-time cocaine dealer named Youngblood Priest (Ron O'Neal) as he tries to buy his way out of the drug trade and land a regular 9-to-5 career with one last massive coke sale. The title song of the movie was sung by Curtis Mayfield.

The mission contains a second hidden reference to Super Fly the movie, as the track that plays over the Ace Combat 2 version is called "El Dorado", a reference to Priest's custom Cadillac Eldorado, which was owned by an actual pimp from Harlem who had a role in the film. The car itself is credited with starting the trend of the Pimpmobile car style.

There will also be a mission itself coming up later in both 2 and AHL called El Dorado.



Aircraft featured in Mission 2: Operation Easy Money


Kfir C.7
Manufacturer: Israeli Aircraft Industries
Role: Fighter bomber / trainer
Manufactured: 1967–????
Status: Semi-retired
Primary Operators: United States, Israel, Columbia, Sri Lanka
Quick Facts:





E-767
Manufacturer: Boeing
Role: AWACS / Electronic support
Manufactured: 1996–Present
Status: Active
Primary Operators: Japan
Quick Facts:

REPEAT OFFENDERS





[ACE COMBAT 2]

Medal: Superfly
Awarded for: Shooting down enemy Ace Superfly in Mission 2.
Description: N/A




[LEGACY]

Medal: Bloody Dragon
Awarded for: Defeating Lancer Squadron in Mission 2.
Description: Awarded to pilots who defeat Lancer Squadron.






AC2


Tracks featured in Mission 2:

DISC 1


ACAHL


Tracks featured in Mission 2:

DISC 1





We also get some sweet fan art from ElTipejoLoco depicting potential squadron emblems for me and some of my fellow co-commentators like Blind Sally and ACES CURE PLANES. Hell yeah