A Spectacular Return To The Skies
It's been a long time since I last stepped into the cockpit of an Ace Combat game. In fact, the last entry in the franchise I properly played was Ace Combat 4, so heading into Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, I genuinely had no idea what to expect. Returning to a franchise after more than two decades can be a strange experience, especially when it has continued to evolve without you, but Ace Combat 8 surprised me across the board.
From its stellar visuals and audio presentation to a surprisingly engaging story and solid cast of characters, there is far more here than I expected from simply jumping back into a fighter jet and blowing things out of the sky. Most importantly, though, the gameplay remains incredibly easy to pick up while offering far more depth than its arcade-focused controls initially suggest, creating an experience that feels immediately familiar while still providing plenty of room to improve.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Ace Combat 8 is how quickly it makes you feel comfortable in the cockpit. This isn't a hardcore flight simulator that expects you to understand every switch and procedure inside a modern fighter jet before you're allowed to have fun, with the series' arcade-focused approach allowing you to get into the air and start engaging enemy aircraft almost immediately.
That accessibility certainly doesn't mean the gameplay lacks depth, though. Banking, controlling your speed, positioning yourself behind an enemy, and knowing exactly when to commit to a turn, all become increasingly important as the campaign progresses. And with what begins as relatively straightforward missile locks quickly turning into frantic dogfights where you're trying to get behind an enemy while simultaneously avoiding several missiles coming towards you.
There is something immensely satisfying about finally lining up an aircraft that you've been chasing, hearing that missile lock and watching it disappear in an explosion moments later. Equally satisfying, is successfully avoiding incoming fire before turning the tables on whoever was chasing you, provides the kind of instant gratification that makes Ace Combat 8's aerial combat hard to put down.
That easy-to-pick-up but difficult-to-master philosophy became one of my favourite aspects of the game. Ace Combat 8 gives you enough control and complexity to make pulling off a difficult manoeuvre feel genuinely satisfying, without ever burying you beneath the overwhelming simulation mechanics that could easily make this kind of game inaccessible.
The different aircraft also have enough individual characteristics that swapping between them can noticeably change how you approach an encounter. Some feel incredibly agile and responsive, letting you aggressively change direction in dogfights, while others require you to think more carefully about positioning and momentum before committing to a manoeuvre.
Your choice of aircraft and equipment becomes increasingly important as the campaign continues, particularly when missions begin throwing combinations of aerial and ground targets at you. Choosing an aircraft and weapon loadout that complements the objectives ahead can make you considerably more effective, and I enjoyed having a genuine reason to think about what I was taking into each sortie rather than simply sticking with the same jet throughout the entire campaign.
That importance never felt overly restrictive, though, and I never found myself repeatedly restarting missions because I had made the wrong decision beforehand. Instead, aircraft selection adds another layer to the gameplay, rewarding you for understanding the strengths of the planes and weapons available to you without turning the preparation screen into something that constantly interrupts the campaign's pace.
There is also a satisfying sense of progression as you gradually gain access to additional aircraft, weapons and upgrades throughout the campaign. Some of the aircraft you'll really want can take a while to reach, but constantly having something new to work towards gave me another reason to keep experimenting with the options available.
On paper, many of the objectives you'll complete throughout Ace Combat 8 aren't necessarily revolutionary. You'll destroy ground targets, engage enemy aircraft, protect allies and escort important assets, with missions frequently combining several of those objectives into one larger operation.
What makes those missions memorable is how effectively Ace Combat 8 builds upon them. A mission can start as a straightforward operation, then quickly balloon into a much larger battle as more enemies arrive, circumstances shift, and even radio chatter grows frantic.
Before long, missiles are flying in every direction, explosions are filling the battlefield, and you're trying to prioritise numerous targets appearing across your HUD. That escalation gives the campaign strong momentum and ensures that even missions built around familiar objectives rarely feel mundane.
Radio chatter also plays a major role in creating that atmosphere. Your allies are constantly communicating with one another, enemy pilots react to what's happening around them, and the changing circumstances of each battle help create a genuine sense that you're participating in a much larger conflict rather than simply moving between objective markers.
Some of the campaign's larger encounters are particularly spectacular, combining huge environments and overwhelming numbers of threats with the kind of ridiculous military spectacle that feels completely at home in Ace Combat. These moments could easily become visual noise, but the clarity of the controls and the aircraft's responsiveness meant I rarely felt like I had lost track of what was happening around me.
Perhaps the biggest surprise throughout my time with Ace Combat 8, however, had very little to do with the flying. Going into the game, I expected the narrative to largely serve as a vehicle to move me between increasingly elaborate aerial battles, but I ended up genuinely invested in the main story and the characters involved.
Compared to the previous Ace Combat titles I have played, the narrative here felt considerably more engaging throughout. The campaign still embraces the exaggerated military drama and larger-than-life scenarios you would expect from the franchise, but it also has a more personal story running alongside the spectacle that kept me interested in what was happening beyond simply completing the next mission.
Without getting too heavily into spoilers, the idea behind the Wings of Theve becomes much more than attaching a cool title to an exceptional pilot. What that title represents to the people around you becomes an important part of the narrative, while the circumstances surrounding your own involvement with it provide an intriguing central hook.
The cast also helped the story work for me. Radio conversations aren't simply background noise while you're flying between objectives, because the characters gradually establish their own personalities, relationships and rivalries as the campaign progresses.
That investment consequently gives some missions far more weight than I expected. When the stakes begin to rise, it actually matters because Ace Combat 8 has spent enough time making you care about the people you hear over the radio, rather than treating them as voices delivering instructions.
Considering the story wasn't something I expected to be particularly interested in, it becoming one of my favourite aspects of Ace Combat 8 was a genuine surprise. I went into the game expecting the aerial combat to carry the experience, but the narrative and characters repeatedly gave me another reason to push forward through the campaign.
Ace Combat 8 is also an absolutely stunning game, with the aircraft beautifully modelled and packed with impressive detail. The environments are equally impressive, particularly when you're flying through dense cloud cover before suddenly emerging into a completely different view of the battlefield.
Lighting creates gorgeous moments as sunlight reflects across your aircraft, while flying dangerously close to the ground gives you a new appreciation for the scale and detail of the environments below. I found myself appreciating just how good Ace Combat 8 looked, even with several enemy aircraft actively trying to shoot me out of the sky.
The audio presentation is every bit as impressive, with engines roaring convincingly as you accelerate and missiles tearing through the air before hitting their target with a satisfying impact. Explosions carry real weight, while the constant warning tones and communication during intense encounters add to the controlled chaos around you.
Then there is the soundtrack, which complements the action brilliantly. The music builds alongside the intensity of encounters and elevates some of the campaign's biggest moments, combining with the sound design and visual presentation to make Ace Combat 8 feel committed to delivering spectacle at every opportunity.
I played Ace Combat 8 on PC, where my experience was excellent from a technical perspective. With the game completely maxed out at 4K resolution, performance remained rock solid throughout my time with it, even during some of the larger encounters where the screen was filled with aircraft, missiles, explosions and environmental effects.
I did encounter a handful of minor bugs during my playthrough, but nothing that meaningfully impacted gameplay or prevented progression. Overall, it was an impressively polished PC experience, allowing the visuals and incredibly fast-paced combat to shine without technical issues becoming a distraction.
Having not properly played an Ace Combat game since Ace Combat 4, I genuinely didn't know what I was walking into with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. More than two decades away from a franchise is an enormous amount of time, and there was every possibility that what Ace Combat had become simply wouldn't appeal to me in the same way anymore.
Instead, Ace Combat 8 surprised me in almost every possible way. Its arcade-focused flying remains incredibly easy to pick up while providing enough depth to make mastering its aircraft and dogfights immensely satisfying, while the importance of aircraft and weapon selection adds another layer of strategy without getting in the way of the fast-paced action.
Yet what surprised me most was everything surrounding that gameplay. The story and characters kept me invested throughout the campaign in a way I didn't expect based on my previous experience with the franchise, while the visuals, soundtrack and audio design combine to create a spectacular presentation that continually enhances what is already excellent aerial combat.
I have very few substantial complaints about my time with Ace Combat 8. Some of the aircraft you might want to get your hands on require a fair amount of progression to unlock, and I encountered a handful of minor bugs, but neither came remotely close to detracting from what was otherwise an incredibly polished and consistently enjoyable experience.
I went into Ace Combat 8 having not touched the franchise in years and with very little idea of what modern Ace Combat would look like. By the end, it hadn't simply reminded me why I enjoyed the series all those years ago; it had left me wondering why I had stayed away for so long.
Developer - Bandai Namco Aces
Publisher - Bandai Namco Entertainment
Released - October 1st, 2026
Available On - PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Rated - (T) - Violence, Blood, Mild Suggestive Themes, Language
Platform Reviewed - PC
Review Access - A review code for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
I’m Jordan I have a background in game design and am deeply passionate about accessibility in gaming. My favourite games/franchises include Shenmue, Red Dead Redemption 2, Plague Tale: Requiem, Metal Gear Solid 3, Yakuza, Splinter Cell, and Assassin’s Creed.