Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve shows that aerial action games are not dead yet

Do people no longer want to fly? When I was a child, there were loads of flight games everywhere. We had simulators and arcade games, flying on this planet and in space. We even had submarine games inspired by flight games, so we “flew” in submarines, too. Now? You can count them all on one hand. There are almost no simulators, and AAA arcade games have disappeared as well. They used to be made by EA, Microsoft, LucasArts, Sega and others. Today, only Bandai Namco remains, so its position is essentially unchallenged. That does not mean it is not trying.

At Gamescom, I got to fly in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, which is coming out on October 2. Specifically, I had access to the fourth mission and a surprisingly extensive selection of aircraft, so I played it several times just to try out the differences in how the individual machines handle. There were 11 of them, including legendary aircraft from various parts of the world: F-14, F/A-18, Typhoon, Mirage, MIG-29A, Su-38 and others. You get to sit in the cockpits of a wide range of machines and choose the ones that best suit your preferences.

The story draws inspiration from the real world, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but takes place in the series’ classic fictional world. It is the year 2029, and the conflict between the Republic of Sotoa and the Federation of Central Usea (FCU) continues on the continent of Usea. The player takes on the role of an FCU pilot who must become the legendary Wings of Theve. He was a terror to enemies in the skies and was also important to the country’s morale. After his death, someone else must secretly take on the role. That someone is you. You also take command of his squadron, made up of a diverse cast of characters, and head into a battle that is surprisingly dramatic from a story perspective. But that is something of a tradition in this series. You can expect betrayals, losses and a lot, a lot of dialogue.

The mission begins with a genuinely detailed briefing that explains everything you need to know. Do you think you head straight into the action afterward? Not at all—that was only the beginning. Now you have to choose an aircraft and its loadout, taking the mission’s requirements into account. You need to make sure you have enough missiles and other weapons for the battles ahead. You will be fighting in the skies, but also destroying ground targets. You should also choose an aircraft based on the characteristics that suit you—not only for yourself, but for your squadron as well.

Even then, you do not get into combat yet, as you can still distribute upgrades/perks across three areas—body, arms and misc. There are genuinely a lot of upgrades, and you choose them based on what suits you. For example, if you know you are not particularly good at avoiding hits, you can reinforce your aircraft a little. These upgrades also differ from one machine to another—in both their number and available options. But after that, you really do head into battle.

The differences between the aircraft are immediately noticeable, right from the first touch of the controller. You can feel that all the choices you made earlier really have a purpose. You can also feel that you are not alone in battle, and that you can issue orders to your squadron—such as whom to attack or whether to use special weapons. The battles are fast, often chaotic, but very engaging. It is an arcade game, but one grounded in reality, creating a nice balance that is easy to get into while still offering plenty of depth. Alternatively, you can choose Expert controls and move closer to a simulation. The differences compared to previous games also include the fact that you can now destroy enemies by hitting them anywhere. It depends on the severity of the hit. A shot-down aircraft can also endanger other targets.

Graphically, the game is fine. I admit that when I watched a presentation of Ace Combat 6 a long time ago, it blew me away. The same was true of Ace Combat 7 seven years ago. Here, however, the graphics are merely good. There are better-looking games today, and you can already see areas where it falls a little behind, but many details are genuinely impressive. You will especially enjoy the aircraft themselves. It is understandable that in such fast-paced aerial action and dogfights that draw you in, the environment is the weaker aspect. Overall, though, I am relatively satisfied.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is just around the corner, and there is plenty to look forward to. The game brings many new features to the long-running series. For the first time, the story is told from a first-person perspective. We can expect an extensive campaign, the ability to influence the fates of characters, extensive aircraft customization options and a genuinely broad selection of machines. There will be more than 30 aircraft in the full game. And if that were not enough, the developers promise the biggest online mode in the series to date, although it is difficult to say what exactly we should expect from that for now. In any case, the whole thing will be here soon.