Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve

I haven’t been able to check out the special time-limited modes, spend enough free time running around the ambitious 100-player lobbies, or see how its progression systems unfold outside of a controlled environment, and I want to do all that before coming to a final conclusion. That said, I can easily recommend Wings of Theve based on the strength of the single-player campaign even if you’re not interested in the multiplayer.

Arcade flight action and anime melodrama refined to the highest possible level—a must play for aviation fans.

For all of its quirks, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve ultimately delivers exactly the sort of ridiculous aerial spectacle I was hoping for. There are a few rough edges here and the story borders on melodrama at times, but when everything comes together, there’s very little that compares to the feeling of pulling off some ridiculous high-G manoeuvre, watching your target explode, and immediately looking for the next enemy to shoot down.

Ace Combat 8 is a phenomenal arcade flight sim. You'll feel like Maverick every single time you dodge an enemy missile or manage to take down a rival ace. Where it stumbles is its story, which drags on and attempts to cash dramatic checks that it simply cannot.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve made me feel like an idiot for the first few hours, and I’m grateful for it. Once I stopped expecting Top Gun and started flying the way the game wanted me to, it turned into one of the most immersive flying experiences I’ve ever had, backed by a grounded, surprisingly emotional story about a scared pilot wearing a dead man’s helmet and a presentation that comes very close to perfection.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is an improvement in everything that is quintessentially “Ace Combat," bringing back squadron commands and adding a plethora of different aircraft, new special weapons, and more. The cinematic visuals and deep, twisting narrative immerse the player in the fantasy of being an ace pilot in a war between two nations.

Between the combat, story, soundtrack, and sheer spectacle of it all, Ace Combat 8 delivers exactly the kind of experience I had been waiting years for. It’s easily one of the best games in the series, and I loved damn near every moment of it.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is a great action game and one of the best entries in the franchise so far, with the only major caveat being the incoherent and impenetrable story told in the 30-hour-long campaign mode.