What is it? A masterpiece of arcade flight action
Release date: Oct 1, 2026
Expect to pay: $80/£55
Developer: Project Aces
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Reviewed on: Radeon RX 6600, Ryzen 7 7700X, 32GB DDR4 RAM
Multiplayer? Yes
Steam Deck: Not Verified
Link: Official site
The first thing I noticed about Ace Combat 8 was the weight. My F-18C's control yoke felt more like the reins of a mustang, guiding my aircraft's control surfaces while afterburners strained against an ocean's worth of air pressure, desperately pleading for a faster climb or a tighter turn as bandits closed on my six o'clock.
If that sounds dramatic, that's because it is. While Ace Combat has always married its arcade flight action to bombastic theatrics, Wings of Theve soars to greater heights than the series ever has before. Most missions had me zig-zagging between deadlocked frontlines, paving the way for allied advances and turning the tide of seemingly unwinnable battles. Diving to street level to unload a salvo of rockets on an advancing enemy tank column will invite fevered cheers from beleaguered comrades, while your retreating foes tremble at your power, cursing your name as you soar back into the safety of the clouds.
That cloud cover is given real mechanical importance by way of a dynamic weather engine that permeates almost every mission. Clouds loom over battlefields like skyscrapers, offering moments of much needed reprieve from relentless missile barrages at the cost of blinding and disorienting you in a sea of ice and turbulence, which enemy fighters will try to capitalize on.
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