mode that has been used in most of the game's media and hasn't been seen in the series. The "Original" control scheme is similar to the controls in the previous titles under "Expert". It gives the players full control of the aircraft, with the left stick making it roll instead of turn. In addition to these settings, there are many options to tweak the controls and adapt to the player's style. It includes the choice of normal or reverse settings for the Pitch Control, Camera Control, Throttle, and Yaw. High-G turns return from Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, as well as Auto Pilot if both shoulder buttons are held down. Lastly, the Flight Assistance provides opportunities to players such as Auto-leveling, Automatic Collision Prevention, Automatic Stall Prevention, Sight Assist, and Automatic Forward Target Selection. Flight Assistance can be turned on or off. On the Xbox 360, the game supports the Ace Edge Joysticks released with Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. Plot Setting Unlike other games in the Ace Combat series (but in the same vein as Ace Combat: Joint Assault), Assault Horizon takes place in real-world locations. The story itself takes place between 2015 and 2016, in locations within East Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and the United States. Characters The game's protagonists are mostly members of the United Nations' 108th Task Force, a joint NATO-Russian military organization primarily assigned to quell a rebellion spreading over East Africa. Players primarily assume the role of Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop, head of the United States Air Force's Warwolf Squadron. He is assisted by wingman José "Guts" Gutierrez, French NATO General Pierre La Pointe and pilots of the 108th's Nomad, Shooter, and Spooky squadrons. The antagonists are Russian General Ivan Stagleishov, and Russian Air Force pilots Andrei Markov and Maj. Sergei Illich, who are members of a Russian criminal syndicate called the Blatnoi. Story In the prologue, USAF Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop leads an American defense of Miami against Russian forces, but is shot down by a mysterious plane with a "shark mouth" motif; the entire sequence is revealed to be a nightmare. He later awakes and sees the survivors of a helicopter raid on an insurgent stronghold in East Africa being rushed in for treatment. Their force is wiped out after a large explosive device is set off on the stronghold by the SRN rebel group. The 108th regroups to