Bandai Namco’s flight series has been around long enough that it’s easy to forget about between entries. Critics aren’t letting that happen this time.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is out in reviews, and the verdict is close to unanimous. The dogfights land, the soundtrack lands and even the soapy story lands. It’s hard to find a reviewer who doesn’t like it, and the praise is loud enough to put it among the best-reviewed games of the year.
The quiet moments are the ones critics keep bringing up
You’d expect the praise to be all about the missiles. A lot of it is about the talking.
Reviewers keep pointing to the audio design and sound mix, especially the cockpit chatter between pilots. Those radio conversations carry the story and make your wingmen feel worth protecting. The small beats hit hardest: Tasha facing what her pacifism costs, or Coster getting to meet his musical heroes mid-flight.
The story itself is melodramatic, and nobody pretends otherwise. But critics say it still moves, and the game never lets you forget how awful the war around you is. (That’s a strange thing for a series that makes fighter jets look this cool, and at least one reviewer said so openly.)
Even first-timers got converted
One reviewer came in having never played an Ace Combat game and walked away surprised, bordering on shocked, at how good the series is. Their big takeaway was the look. Graphical fidelity, animation and art direction all got singled out, and the game was called one of the best-looking they’d ever seen.
That scale extends to the storytelling too. Wings of Theve goes big with wide-open environments and a story pitched to match.
The weather is doing more work than you’d think
The dynamic weather system is the feature that seems to separate this entry from the ones before it. One critic described being chased into thick cloud cover by pursuers, flying blind, slamming the throttle and committing to a nose-down race at Mach 3. They said they lost count of how often they leaned toward their ultrawide monitor, locked in, following the enemy’s contrails like the guide lines in a racing game.
That same reviewer called it one of the best games they’ve played in years. Strong words for a series this old.
Where it drags
It isn’t flawless. Long cutscenes slow things down at times, and a couple of missions near the end get repetitive.
Still, critics say the 25 to 30-hour campaign keeps its momentum, thanks to a wide mix of objectives and a fast mission pace. Several described a real sense of growth, starting out as a nervous rookie and finishing as the ace the game says you are. The final missions, where the mechanical and story twists come together, were called some of the loudest in the series, with one reviewer saying they outdo Top Gun: Maverick.
The balance is part of the appeal. Critics placed it squarely between hardcore simulation and pick-up-and-play arcade action.
A war game that’s hopeful about people
The story is about the dangers of blind nationalism, and it can get a little earnest. Even so, reviewers seem willing to let it be sincere.
One critic admitted that plenty of players will fairly ask whether a series built on making dogfights look awesome has anything wise to say. They went along with the game’s optimism anyway, pointing out that despair is everywhere right now.
The soundtrack gets its own round of applause as well. Big orchestral pieces play under the tense fights, and more than one reviewer called it among the year’s best.
Ace Combat 8 comes out Oct. 2 on PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X. Bring a big monitor. You’ll probably end up leaning into it.
