An Ace Combat dogfight is the world's coolest form of physics problem

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve - flight sim action — (Image credit: Bandai Namco)

An Ace Combat dogfight is the world's coolest form of physics problem. It's a math prompt phrased in the form of simulated warplanes: Given the trajectories and velocities of two fighters, whose missiles will make their mark? By paring down the realities of air combat to arcade simplicity, AC makes melodrama out of intuitive arithmetic. There's no time to check your work when you've only got a brief moment of target lock, but there's no finer proof your calculations were right than the off-screen thud of a heatseeker hitting home.

Lincoln has been writing about games for 12 years—unless you include the essays about procedural storytelling in Dwarf Fortress he convinced his college professors to accept. Leveraging the brainworms from a youth spent in World of Warcraft to write for sites like Waypoint, Polygon, and Fanbyte, Lincoln spent three years freelancing for PC Gamer before joining on as a full-time News Writer in 2024, bringing an expertise in Caves of Qud bird diplomacy, getting sons killed in Crusader Kings, and hitting dinosaurs with hammers in Monster Hunter.