TechRadar's Ace Combat 8 Preview: Top Gun Thrills, But Story and Wingmen Need More

The series' appeal, he writes, comes from capturing the thrill of flying a fighter jet in combat without the intimidating knowledge required by simulators, while giving players more control than a rail shooter like Star Fox. Ace Combat 8 continues to take place in the fictional world of Strangereal, whose landscape closely resembles Earth but keeps players away from the awkward politics of real-world conflicts.

In the mission shown at Gamescom, titled "The Fall of the Numbered Fleets," the player is part of Joker Flight of the Federation of Central Usea (FCU), sent to launch an offensive against fleets from the invading Republic of Sotoa. A twist appears in the form of a once-friendly squadron nicknamed the Sharks, which has recently defected to the other side. During the approach to targets on Newfield Island, radio chatter between wingmen Baxter and Tasha carries an informal energy, interrupted when the player damages the enemy fleet and Sotoan transmissions take over. The Sharks eventually appear, and sparks fly between the old acquaintances in a confrontation that, as Wen notes, would not be out of place in anime except for the game's realistic look.

The preview also highlights flexibility in how missions can be approached, such as customizing the loadout before heading out. While the interface carries a lot of data, the report found it readable when it mattered: a missile lock is clearly indicated, and an outline below the aircraft shows where a bomb will drop when trying to sink ships. A simple pleasure comes from watching the display shift from "Hit" to "Destroyed," and players who want to show off can switch the camera to face backward and enjoy the explosion in their wake.

Visually, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve builds on the high standard set by Ace Combat 7 in 2019, making use of both Unreal Engine 5 and Bandai Namco Aces' upgraded Cloudly technology. Wen spent much of his time flying close to the ground while aiming at land and sea targets, repeatedly prompting the game to tell him to pull up. That low-altitude flight showcased another advancement: all objects are rendered at a 1:1 scale, so instead of gliding over flat textures or miniatures, the player feels placed inside the world. This also enables scripted moments such as flying through a tunnel to reach an airbase on the far side.

What the demo captured less convincingly, the report argues, is the human drama that made Top Gun: Maverick more than just an action spectacle. Ace Combat 8 is described as the first entry in the series to present its story from a first-person perspective, presumably an effort to create a more immersive sense of time spent with wingmen, both in mission briefings and in off-duty moments like a canteen. The in-mission banter and small narrative choices are intended to strengthen those bonds; at one point, Baxter asks the player to shoot only around a Sharks pilot's cockpit so he can be captured alive, and the player is free to agree or not. Even so, Wen notes that he did not get enough time in the demo to see how those relationships develop, and he doubts that any character will have Tom Cruise's star power or charisma.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is scheduled to release on October 2, 2026, for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, arriving in time for the franchise's 30th anniversary. Players who pre-order the deluxe edition can get early access from September 28, 2026.