Luckily, folks of all skill levels are welcome. Nearly every aircraft in the game’s extensive library includes a cockpit view, and experienced jockeys may opt for expert-level controls, but Assault Horizon is hardly a gauge-obsessed flight sim. You still hurl missiles at distant opponents, but you’ll spend more time in Dogfight Mode, where you get close to your quarry and engage in twitchy, exciting chase sequences. Gun foes to pieces while you lock on with your missiles, or hit the brakes and pull tight loops to turn the tables on tenacious pursuers.

As thrilling as it is, close combat has some drawbacks: the unnatural transitions between Dogfight Mode and ordinary flight aren’t pretty, and losing your prey sometimes sends you inexplicably streaking into the ground. Still, the whole experience beats the tired old “hunt the distant speck” routine. As a welcome bonus, beating some solo missions also unlocks online co-op versions of them, where two or three pilots can gang up on a single foe.

Crave even more variety? Good news: though jets are the focus throughout (especially during simple but frantic competitive-multiplayer sorties), they’re not the only birds in the sky. You also get to grind up ground forces as a door gunner, spray rockets from an attack chopper, rain death from an AC-130U gunship, and chalk up kills as a bombardier. A handful of heinous difficulty spikes will try your patience — especially when you’re protecting something other than your own backside — but even in the game’s roughest moments, its unexpected diversity keeps you engaged.

Publisher: Namco Bandai Games • Developer: Project Aces • ESRB: Teen • Multiplayer: 3 in co-op, 16 in competitive (both over Xbox Live) • Achievements: Steady flow • Cost: $60

On Xbox 360

+ Emphasizes rousing close-range gunning over tiny targeting boxes; detailed ground scenery.

+ Lots of different aircraft, including jets, multi-role fighters, helicopters, and bombers.

– Jarring and sometimes deadly transitions to and from Dogfight Mode; uneven difficulty.

? Why doesn’t the game include local split-screen co-op?

8.0