Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve – Review

War… war never changes, be it in the real world or in fictional universes like Strangereal, the iconic setting of Bandai Namco Entertainment’s arcade-style combat flight simulation video game franchise, Ace Combat.

And while the seemingly never-ending conflict between nations like Usea, Osea, Belka, and Sotoa has remained a constant and largely unchanged over the seven mainline titles since the franchise’s debut in 1995, the games themselves have been anything but stagnant, refining their signature air combat gameplay systems with every entry, allowing the franchise to stand the test of time in a relatively niche gaming genre, all while building a fervent fanbase.

Now, seven years after the launch of 2019’s Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – the longest stretch between any new release in series history – the franchise finally makes a flyby with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, and this modern entry is absolutely worth the wait.

Much like how it always is in Strangereal, the conflict rages on, this time between the nomadic Republic of Sotoa and the Federation of Central Usea (FCU). In 2029, Sotoa launched a surprise attack on the FCU, quickly overpowering the country and crippling its military defences using a combination of massive railgun-equipped tanks known as Land Battleships and a devastating orbital satellite weapon known as the Tonitrus Spears. The blitzkrieg invasion was swift and decisive, occupying a majority of the country and leaving the FCU on its last legs.

Still, even in the darkness, there’s one shining ray of hope – the Wings of Theve, an elite Ace Pilot who is single-handedly turning the tide of war with his squadron, one sortie at a time. Players take on the role of a nameless fighter pilot rescued by the Endurance, an outdated FCU aircraft carrier that’s a remnant of its former glory, where they quickly learn the harsh truth – it’s all a lie. The legend of the Wings of Theve is nothing but propaganda, a lie built to keep morale alive as Sotoa slowly but surely takes over.

Armed with this knowledge, the protagonist embarks on a test flight with Jan “Rex” Cope, the Wings of Theve himself, who, in actuality, has no kills to his name. Things quickly go wrong, however, as the pair are ambushed by the Shadows, a deadly Sotoan Ace Pilot squadron, who shoot down their plane and kill Cope. To keep the facade and morale alive, the protagonist is dubbed the new “Rex” and assumes the role of the Wings of Theve.

Unlike his predecessor, the protagonist has actual combat experience, and now, as the leader of Joker Squadron, composed of his wingmen Ellington “Professor” Baxter, Tasha Severskaya, and William “Noise” Coster, the team must embark on sorties across the occupied Usea and take back their nation.

The Ace Combat franchise has long been known for its complex geopolitical narratives, and while Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is no different, it does present one of the most personal stories in series history, as well as one that’s much easier to follow. Unlike past mainline games, where story cutscenes are played out from a traditional third-person cinematic viewpoint, here it’s told from a first-person perspective, which doesn’t just allow the player to witness its events unfold as Rex himself, but also lets them form a stronger connection with their fellow wingmen and crewmates, making the more emotional moments in the campaign hit harder than ever before.

Of course, the way its narrative is told can be hit or miss depending on the player. Military jargon is still used to an excessive extent, and while this makes sense in the context of the story, it can still result in many lines being delivered awkwardly, and the game has its fair share of cringe-worthy dialogue, most egregious of all being the late Jan Cope, who, despite being dead, still serves as a disembodied voice in the protagonist’s head, constantly spouting melodramatic lines on the state of the war.

Still, the main star of the show here is gameplay, and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has certainly made good use of its long development time, as this is perhaps the most fleshed-out the franchise has ever been. Ace Combat has always tried to nail that middle ground between a full-on flight simulator and a more arcade-like shooter, and this latest entry is by far the closest it has ever come to achieving that perfect balance.

On the surface, the game plays out largely like its predecessor, but the devil’s in the details, and players coming from Ace Combat 7 should immediately feel the difference in terms of aircraft handling. Flying now has a more noticeable weight to it, which affects elements like turning radius and pitch speeds. With this in mind, dogfights now feel more like players are actually fighting against the resistance from air currents in the cockpit of a 10-ton jet, rather than controlling a bunch of polygons and meshes that move effortlessly in the direction of a crosshair.

This dedication to a more realistic flying experience extends to its weather simulation, too. While its predecessor introduced reactive volumetric clouds that can affect an aircraft’s handling and weapon systems upon entry, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve takes this to a whole other level thanks to its new “Cloudly” rendering technology. 

This system not only ramps up the features seen before, such as heavy turbulence and aircraft icing that can significantly impact handling, or lightning strikes that can completely disable a player’s HUD for a short time, but it also introduces more reactive weather elements that further improve immersion, such as identifying the locations of enemy aircraft via the contrails they leave behind or engine smoke, with the game relying on this feature in certain missions that pit the player against stealth fighters or radar jammers whose exact locations won’t show up on the mini-map.

Speaking of missions, the way Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve’s campaign is designed is by far the most engaging of the entire franchise. While the core gameplay loop of outmanoeuvring foes by circling around them using the High-G turn mechanic introduced in 2007’s Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (essentially performing a “drift” in the air by dropping speed) and finding breaks in between their movement patterns to fire off the perfect missile shot remains a thrilling back-and-forth, the many dogfights against standard enemy aircraft can eventually grow repetitive, especially during the later portions of past titles.

The latest entry solves this unavoidable issue by constantly throwing curveballs at the player in almost every mission. These can range from participating in a full-on invasion to take back the capital of Theve, all while avoiding deadly shots from a long-range enemy railgun, to dropping literal buildings on a massive Land Battleship while dodging skyscrapers and enemy fire alike in a dense metropolis. To keep spoilers to a minimum, we won’t mention anything beyond what was experienced during our previous preview session, but rest assured that the game’s campaign is chock-full of such moments, ramping up the intensity at key points and ensuring that gameplay never gets too stale across its hefty 30-mission runtime.

Adding to the intensity even further is the game’s new “Chain Reaction” system. Unlike previous games, enemy aircraft bodies now operate on a physics-based system, even when they are destroyed. This means that the threat isn’t over simply because they are taken down, as the debris left behind now has the potential to collide with any unlucky plane in its trajectory. 

This doesn’t affect just the player, but other foes too, meaning that downing an aircraft in a formation of enemies offers the chance to trigger a blazing chain reaction, literally killing two or more birds with one stone, or in this case, one well-placed missile. Best of all, this system is entirely organic, meaning these aren’t scripted moments but naturally occurring based on luck and good timing, but when it happens, the feeling of satisfaction is unlike any other.

Just having all these set-piece moments might be enough to make Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve a must-buy for franchise fans, but the game still finds room for even more gameplay additions, most notably, the return of the wingman companion system, this time with AI-controlled teammates that aren’t completely inept. 

The bar might be low for AI-controlled companions in games, but the wingmen seen in the game are surprisingly decent, at least in terms of supporting the player. Rex can issue four commands to his squadron mid-battle – Forward attack, which concentrates all their fire on the currently engaged aircraft; Disperse, which lets the team engage targets on their own; Cover, which tasks them with protection duty; and Special Weapon clearance, which, as its name suggests, allows for the use of their limited supply of powerful special ordnance. 

Of course, the AI can’t win the battle by themselves, and the game won’t be all that fun if a player can just sit back and let the squadron do the work, but where the wingmen system proves the most effective here is in drawing enemy aggression, and more specifically, the Cover order, which even allows them to deploy chaff and flares to try and protect the player from incoming missiles. It’s these little bits of breathing room that can really come in clutch, especially when things get hairy.

Finally, there’s the game’s multiplayer component. Once again, the action doesn’t just stop after the credits roll, and players will be able to test their skills with real human-controlled opponents. While the early review build didn’t have its multiplayer component unlocked, we were able to get our hands on a preview build during Bandai Namco Entertainment’s pre-Tokyo Game Show event at its Tokyo headquarters, letting us try out the variety of PvE and PvP modes on offer.

It all starts from the hub area, a massive aircraft hangar where players can interact and hang out with their custom-made avatars prior to matches. Apart from forming squadrons to take on missions and chatting with each other, this area also offers a nifty arcade game machine section where players can boot up classic Bandai arcade titles like Pac-Man and Galaga while they wait.

The multiplayer mode in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve features three main gameplay modes, with progression being separate from the campaign – Co-op Assault, a PvE mode where players work together to complete missions with objectives that change dynamically; Co-op Warfare, which sees two teams of four players facing off against each other on a large map featuring other AI-controlled enemy units; and Team Deathmatch, a recurring limited-time 4v4 event mission that features randomised elements such as aircraft restrictions.

While our time with the multiplayer mode was brief, fighting against other players presents a whole new ball game, as dogfights become a true test of reaction speeds. Becoming the top-scoring Ace Pilot in the match, or taking down an enemy team’s Ace, becomes even more satisfying when you know that you are winning against an actual human behind the stick, not just a bunch of ones and zeros. Of course, since this was just an early look, it remains to be seen if the mode can retain a steady player base upon release, but judging by the pedigree of the main campaign and its many aforementioned new features that will also be present in multiplayer matches, this mode looks to be more than just a bonus, but one that can keep players engaged for hours on end.

If it wasn’t clear by now, this is exactly the sequel fans have been waiting for. Its narrative is far easier to follow while still maintaining the franchise’s signature tale of war and international conflict, and its gameplay tweaks and additions make the action far more realistic and immersive, all while ramping up the intensity with pulse-pounding set-piece moments. Much like Joker Squadron soaring above the Cloudly skies of a war-torn Usea, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is taking the franchise to new heights, one that shows no signs of a free fall.