The critics agree — Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve marks a triumphant return for Bandai Namco's long-running combat aviation series. With exhilarating dogfights, a heart-pounding soundtrack, and a memorable if soapy storyline, reviewers are besotted with the game's sky-high thrills.

At the moment, Ace Combat 8's aggregate rating sits at 88 on Metacritic and 89 on OpenCritic, with nary a hater in the bunch. That makes it the second-best reviewed game in the series, behind 2001's Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies.

Giving the game a provisional score of 9/10 due to a limited amount of time with the multiplayer campaign, IGN's Will Borger says Wings of Theve "marries exceptional air combat with a melodramatic but moving story, one of the year’s best soundtracks, and incredible visual design to make a war game that never lets you forget how terrible everything happening here is." Borger particularly highlights the game's impressive audio design and sound mixing. The cockpit conversations between pilots tell a vivid, emotional story and make your comrades feel worth fighting for. "It’s most effective in its smallest moments – when Tasha confronts the cost of her pacifism, or when Coster gets to meet his musical heroes in the skies," he wrote.

Destructoid's Andrej Barovic , a newcomer to the Ace Combat series, was floored by Wings of Theve 's larger-than-life approach to both its wide-open environments and its storytelling. "I was genuinely surprised, if not shocked, by how good this series actually is," he wrote.

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