ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN - TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set

I'll be straight with you: if your yardstick for DLC value is new missions or mechanical depth, you can close this tab right now. The TOP GUN: Maverick Aircraft Set is a cosmetic-and-aircraft expansion for one of the best arcade-combat sims of the last decade, and it lives or dies entirely on how much you want to fly movie-accurate metal through AC7's cloud systems. What you get is six aircraft, counting the F-14A Tomcat, the F/A-18E Super Hornet, their special Top Gun: Maverick film variants, and the fictional DarkStar prototype from the movie. Bandai Namco even threw in a renamed Su-57, listed here as the "5th Gen Fighter" to match the film's vague adversary. Each jet comes with its own special weapon loadouts - the standard F-14A runs LAAM, SAAM, and SFFS, while the Maverick-skinned Tomcat variant swaps to the HPAA for pure air-to-air aggression. Thirty-eight skins, ten emblems covering Maverick, Rooster, Hangman, Payback, and Bob, plus twelve callsign nicknames round out the cosmetic side. The underlying game that this DLC drops into remains one of the strongest arguments for the arcade-sim middle ground. Ace Combat 7 sits in a comfortable lane between flight stick simulation and pure arcade blasting, with clouds that actually function as a tactical mechanic - flying into a storm front degrades your missile lock-on range, ices your wings, and cuts radar clarity in ways that change how you approach a dogfight. The Aircraft Tree progression system, where MRP earned from missions unlocks new jets and upgrade parts, gives the base game genuine build variety across different mission types. The Tomcat slots into that tree as a strong air-superiority option, and the Super Hornet leans multi-role with HCAA, 4AGM, and LAGM loadout options. If you have been grinding the multiplayer Team Deathmatch and Battle Royal modes, the Keiki Kobayashi-arranged "Top Gun Anthem" and the instrumental "Danger Zone" are a legitimate quality-of-life upgrade for your queue music. Here is the honest accounting of what this pack does not do. There are no new missions. There is no story content. The DLC cannot be cherry-picked aircraft by aircraft - the set is bundle-only, so you pay for everything whether you want the DarkStar or not. Steam reviews specific to this DLC sit at Very Positive but on a much thinner sample than the base game's 56,000-plus reviews, and the criticism that surfaces consistently is the same one: the price-to-content ratio depends almost entirely on how much you value the cosmetic layer and the film tie-in. Players who came in primarily for the movie brand found it satisfying; players expecting a mission pack walked away underwhelmed. For strategy-minded pilots who treat the Aircraft Tree like a build chart - deciding which jet fits which mission archetype, swapping loadouts to cover anti-ground versus air-superiority splits - the Tomcat and Super Hornet are genuine additions to that decision space. The DarkStar is more of a collector's trophy. If you are already deep into AC7's multiplayer and want the soundtrack upgrade and the prestige skins, this pack earns its place. If you are new to the series entirely, the smart move is to get comfortable with the base game's roster before reaching for licensed content.

Diego · Scout Team

Strategy & simulation

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