The aircraft carrier Endurance, your home base during the game, is old and battered, having recently taken on refugees as the result of a major conflict. This has left you and your squad to protect a small fleet of ships and civilians who are trying to make it to the next day in one piece. Think “Battlestar Galactica” meets “Top Gun” with a dash of “Mobile Suit Gundam,” and you have a sense of what ACE8 is looking to deliver here narratively this time around.

This cinematic storytelling is one of the biggest changes in years for the series, by telling its story from a first-person perspective it helps immerse you further in the moment-to-moment air combat drama. Your wingmen, from the spunky pink-haired Tasha to the poetic veteran Professor, address you directly; comparatively, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown’s story was largely told through cinematic cutscenes and animated briefing maps.

In a lot of ways, this approach reminds me of the classic Wing Commander (age check verification complete) in how you would move about the Tiger’s Claw, talk to the crew, and sit in the briefing room before heading out to the flight deck. The same emotional connection is taking place here, right down to the briefing room banter, making you more invested with your fellow pilots by putting faces, hopes, and dreams to the names that pop up on your HUD during battle, raising the emotional stakes and investment in the game.

In the opening mission, you’re introduced to Jan Cope, the Wings of Theve himself, an “ace pilot” who tells you he’s just a normal guy that has been propped up by war propaganda to keep morale high in the face of danger. As such, he has a target on his back on every mission he flies – and it isn’t long until his number gets called. We didn’t know Cope for long, but he leaves a lasting impression on us by reappearing as a manifestation and narrator to our high-flying adventure. Oh, and now we’re the next Wing of Theve – need to keep that war propaganda machine rolling!

We get a preview of how this plays out through a few subsequent missions that introduce us further to our wingmen. Cope continues to narrate in real time during the mission, giving us some more background on the state of the world and my sidekicks. Visually everything looks stellar, which has always been a strong element for the series. All the aircraft models have amazing visual fidelity, right down to the bolts on the fuselage and scratches on the paint; I didn’t think planes could look better after ACE7, but here we are. It’s very impressive.

One of the newer graphical features this time is the technology behind the cloud layers, which helps give a greater sense of speed as you’re flying through them, as well as an obstacle to navigate during combat encounters. Like the plane models, this too is an incredibly impressive looking tech that’s on display.

Flight controls feel just as solid as those found in Ace Combat 7, which itself felt excellent to play. Planes have real weight to them as you move through the skies, loosing up at lower speeds and tightening up at higher velocities. That’s still to say that Ace Combat games have never leaned too hard into flight simulator territory, preferring to give you a solid arcade-like flight experience – this lets you enjoy the spectacle of firing dozens of missiles at your enemies without worrying about silly things like logic to hold you back. You still need to mind elements like the ground and how speed can affect air combat, but approachability has always been a strong suit of the series and that is coming through here in spades.

To help bring future pilots on board, there are two flight models to swap between: standard keeps your aircraft pretty level though combat encounters, whereas expert unbuckles you to fly anyway you see fit. I’ve preferred the expert level of control myself – being able to have more of the complete freedom to move behind my target and execute my attacks, or diving and spinning to avoid missiles, has always been part of the excitement for me in these games.

Our overall time with the game was brief, just the opening hour, but that was enough to give us a better idea on how this entry is looking to elevate the franchise by having us more invested with our wingmen, delivering both an emotional and exhilarating experience that we can’t wait to play more of when it launches October 2, 2026, for XBOX Series X|S.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is launching October 2, 2026, for XBOX Series X|S and is available for pre-order today on the XBOX Store. Or Grab Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Deluxe Edition to start playing on September 28, 2026. Pre-order any version of the game to receive a copy of the classic Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War for free.