Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve – Review
It’s hard to believe that it has already been seven years since the last Ace Combat game was released. Back then, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was still developed with the previous generation of consoles in mind, yet it still blew us away. The game had impressive visuals, an interesting story, and a highly enjoyable gameplay loop, even though the multiplayer servers weren’t the best back then. With all of that in mind, we have had extremely high expectations for the next entry in the series, and now we’ll be able to tell you if those expectations have been met. Without further ado, we present to you our review of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve.
Story
The game takes place in the Strangereal universe, just like the other mainline titles in the series. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve plays out roughly ten years after Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, and you’ll be playing as the new top pilot for the disjointed FCU. The previous ace pilot, Commander Jan “Rex” Cope, sadly got shot out of the air and perished, but the FCU is not ready to admit that. In reality, their ace pilot has never killed anyone, and the publicity team has always spun his achievements in such a way that he has earned the nickname Wings of Theve. You, an unnamed, yet highly skilled, pilot, pick up the mantle as the next ‘Rex’, to keep up appearances. By a strange twist of fate, you were in the same fighter jet as Rex when it was shot down, and now, you keep hearing his voice, not sure if you’re hallucinating or if Rex is actually communicating from beyond the grave. As you progress, more pieces of the puzzle will start to align, as you fight your way through the conflict between the FCU and the Republic of Sotoa, which invaded the FCU, occupying the capital, Theve.
Graphics
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is an absolutely gorgeous game. Even though in a lot of missions the skies and the terrain are most of what you see, we couldn’t help but just look around during the quieter moments. The never-ending skies looked stunning; flying through the clouds truly gave us the impression that we were flying blind, and the explosion effects when shooting down enemies looked rather impressive. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the different available planes and how realistic they looked. Of course, when flying closer to certain structures or parts of the terrain, you’ll notice lacking details, but for the most part, everything looked amazing.
Just like the previous Ace Combat, Wings of Theve has quite a few cutscenes in between missions. While some simply show you the mission map(s), there are others that show you character interactions. We found that the development team created a more likeable cast for this latest installment and also the quality of the animations was so much better.
Sound
The sound design of Wings of Theve is great. The music is captivating, the SFX are spot-on, and there’s great voice acting in-game and during cutscenes. We loved the audio feedback from explosions, but also from our chosen fighter jet as well. The comm chatter added a sense or realism to the experience as well, as there was nevery a truly silent moment thanks to the jet engines, wingmen, and the many combat sequences. The voice acting during the cutscenes was also well done, and all the different characters were brought to life well by their respective voice actor.
Gameplay
Like its predecessor, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is a combat flight simulation game. This means the game does have some realistic elements mixed with combat elements. You’ll be going from mission to mission defending or taking out enemy targets, allowing you to progress through the story mode. The game also offers quite a few multiplayer options, ranging from cooperative modes to more competitive modes. Players are offered the option between more simulation-like controls or simplified controls, making the game a bit more arcade-like. The latter still takes some time to get used to if you don’t play too many flight ‘simulators’.
This new installment in the series also comes with a few new features and gameplay changes. For starters, planes do feel heavier, and things feel a bit less like a fast-paced arcade experience. While you can still pull off impressive maneuvers, you have to be a bit more careful if you don’t want to crash your plane in the water or against terrain. You also feel more like a squadron leader, thanks to basic wingman commands and the ability to choose your wingmen’s loadouts. You can, of course, still change planes for each mission as well, unlock new planes, and even level up skills. This remains the same as in the previous game.
If you still want more content to play through, you can dive into the multiplayer modes to either play competitive or cooperative modes. The multiplayer features have been expanded upon, but you pretty much know what to expect if you’ve played the previous game. We quite enjoyed having more ‘missions’ to play through, but in the end it all depends on whether you’d rather stick with the story content or if you want to see how well you fare against other players.
Conclusion
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is a great continuation of the series with small, yet appreciated upgrades. We were impressed by the game’s visuals, interesting combat sequences, the story development, and the overall progression system. The multiplayer modes added fun additional content for those who want more dogfights after the story credits start rolling. If you’re a fan of the series, or even a newcomer with an interest in the genre, picking up Wings of Theve should be a no-brainer. We hope that the next game doesn’t take another seven years, however.
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