Ace Combat 8 Review: You Can Be My Wingman Anytime
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is a fast-paced arcade flight game that more than makes up for its kooky character dialogue with incredible set-piece fights, stunning visuals, and “plane” fun.
By DingusKhaaan · VGP community
My Thoughts on Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
As someone who wanted to grow up to be Maverick from the movie Top Gun, I was blown away by the Ace Combat series when I was a dorky 10-year-old playing Ace Combat 5. AC8 made me feel the same way all these years later, with fast-paced air combat, amazing visuals, and a dash of the science-fiction super machines that have always made the series a blast.
The flight controls are fantastically dialed in when played on the "Advanced" configuration. Dogfighting enemies is engaging and challenging at the higher difficulty levels. Wing Command is back from AC5, allowing you to send commands to your wing mates to help you take down bogeys, or even cover you by dropping countermeasures behind you. There are 30 missions and around 35-40 planes to unlock. I finished the game in a little over 20 hours. Level design and mission objectives are great. There are incredible set pieces to experience, ranging from assaulting a floating mega base at sea to my favorite mission, where you have to track down giant transport planes flying through thick, high-level clouds by following their contrails. Some missions shared the same ground attack theme, but there was always enough difference between them to keep the gameplay from becoming monotonous, and they always tied back well to the overall story. Which leads to my only real gripes about the game…
The story, characters, and dialogue in this game can be… odd. Your team is made up of a cool, smart, astronaut(?) guy with the callsign "Professor"; a Temu knockoff version of Leon S. Kennedy who is basically an anime character, callsign "Noise"; and, quite literally, a girl who went from flying in a circus to jumping into the cockpit of an F/A-18C without any training (and who is apparently bad at math, since Professor is teaching her), callsign "Tasha." The characters in this game are so bizarre. Without spoiling the story, there's a cutscene that was meant to be sad and somber, but it made me bust out laughing when I heard one of the goofiest lines I've ever heard in a video game.
Conclusion
Ace Combat 8 is an easy recommendation if flight games are your thing. It is action-packed, with fantastic graphics and a plethora of planes and upgrades to unlock. If you can tolerate some wacky characters flying with you, there's something special to see here.