I mean, if you were Bandai Namco with Ace Combat up your sleeve and a new Top Gun movie came out, you'd ask to play shirtless volleyball too, right?

Yep, makes about as much sense as this crossover does from a narrative sense, but you still wanna see it regardless. And so here we are -- Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown picking up the requisite licensing rights to drop an all-new DLC pack on us, themed to the long-in-the-wings sequel to the seminal Tom Cruise classic Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick.



I feel like I should have requested some sort of fly-by with that jumble of an intro, so from here on out these are the official orders that have been handed down:

At long last, the collaboration generations of ACE COMBAT fans have been waiting for is finally ready for deployment. We’re excited to announce that ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN will deliver Top Gun-themed aircraft, emblems, and the “Top Gun Anthem”, “Danger Zone” in multiplayer mode as part of its TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set available today!

The TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set paid DLC package will feature new playable aircraft, including the F/A-18E Super Hornet< | Top Gun: Maverick (The Boeing Company) and the F-14A Tomcat | Top Gun: Maverick (Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation), from the movie. Additionally, there will be a special Top Gun: Maverick collaboration emblem and to top things off, the aforementioned “ Danger Zone “ (arranged by Keiki Kobayashi) will be available as background music in multiplayer mode.

The TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set DLC includes:

• New playable aircrafts
  • F/A-18E Super Hornet | Top Gun: Maverick (The Boeing Company)
    
  • F-14A Tomcat | Top Gun: Maverick (Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation)
    
  • 5th Gen Fighter | Top Gun: Maverick
    
  • Dark Star
    
  • F-14A Tomcat
    
  • F/A-18E Super Hornet
  Emblems and Callsigns from the film
  • Total of 10 Emblems including Maverick, Hangman, Payback, Rooster, and Bob, along with two logos from the film.
    
  • Total of 12 Callsigns including Goose, Cougar, and more!
  Music based on classic tracks for play in multiplayer mode
  • "Top Gun Anthem" (arranged by Keiki Kobayashi)
    
  • "Danger Zone" (arranged by Keiki Kobayashi)
  Additionally, two new editions of ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN are now available on PS4, Xbox One and Steam*:
  ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN - TOP GUN: Maverick Edition
  • ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN game
    
  • Playable Aircraft F-104C: Avril
    
  • TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set
  ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN - TOP GUN: Maverick Ultimate Edition
  ACE COMBAT™ 7: SKIES UNKNOWN game
  
  • Playable Aircraft F-104C: Avril
    
  • Additional content included in Season pass
    
  TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set

*Please be careful not to purchase duplicate copies of the main game, stand-alone DLC or set DLC containing the same content.

This collab feels like a long time coming, but I can't help but feel like there could have been more. Like maybe what's here was simply ejected too... early.

All of the above is available now, while Top Gun: Maverick is also in cinemas all over the country -- go see it.

Bandai Namco's long-awaited return to the skies dropped last month, and we've been slowly Goosing and Mavericking our way through the campaign over the past few weeks. And after landing our F-18 fighter jets to get them fueled up for the next mission, we're ready to take off our aviators and share our review.

The Ace Combat series has always been one that has lived somewhere in the realm between simulation and arcade aerial combat. A danger zone – if you will. The high-flying series from Bandai Namco dates all the way back to the original PlayStation, where it saw several sequels and spin-offs in the years and systems that followed. All building on the same formula, with the same internal Project Aces team at Bandai Namco working on each new entry for close to twenty years now.

That said, it’s been a minute. The most recent numbered Ace Combat, Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, developed exclusively for the Xbox 360, released way back in 2007. That said Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown doesn’t stray from the formula, bringing a very traditional Ace Combat campaign full of varying missions that can be tackled with a wide-range of aircraft.

Click Here to Read Our Full Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Review