There is something inherently satisfying about taking a modern fighter jet into the skies, throwing it into a sharp turn and watching a missile streak past just a little too close for comfort. Ace Combat has been delivering that particular kind of arcade flight action for decades, and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve looks set to continue that tradition while bringing the series to the current generation of hardware. A short hands-on session at Gamescom gave us the opportunity to climb into the cockpit and experience a taste of what Bandai Namco Aces has been preparing. While the demo was brief, it was enough to show that the familiar combination of accessible flight controls, dramatic dogfights and cinematic presentation remains at the heart of the experience.
What we know
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is an arcade-style combat flight game developed by Bandai Namco Aces and published by Bandai Namco. Set in the fictional world of Strangereal in 2029, the game follows a conflict between the Federation of Central Usea and the invading Republic of Sotoa. Players take control of a pilot who becomes part of the resistance operating from the aircraft carrier Endurance, eventually taking on the mantle of the legendary Wings of Theve. The campaign combines large-scale aerial battles with a more character-focused story, including interactions with squadmates between missions and first-person sequences intended to give the pilot and the surrounding conflict more personality.
Naturally, the main attraction remains the flying. Players can take control of a range of modern and fictional aircraft, engage enemy fighters, attack ground and naval targets, and make use of different weapons depending on the aircraft and mission. The game also brings back the ability to issue commands to wingmen during missions, giving the player some influence over how the squad approaches particular situations. The accessible arcade handling remains important, although more advanced control options allow experienced players to perform sharper manoeuvres, rolls and high-G turns.
Ace Combat 8 is also expanding its multiplayer ambitions considerably. The game will feature an online lobby where players can customize an avatar and interact with other pilots before heading into multiplayer activities. Co-op and competitive modes are planned, with cross-platform play allowing players on different systems to fly together. Multiplayer will also feature different aircraft roles and progression systems, although the full extent of the online offering remains something to explore closer to release.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is scheduled to launch on October 2, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
What we saw
Our preview is based on a demo build of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve that we played during Gamescom after meeting with Bandai Namco. The session took place at a relatively small demo booth and was fairly short, focusing on a single mission rather than providing a broader look at the campaign. That naturally meant there was little opportunity to judge how the narrative and progression will develop over a full playthrough, but it did give us a useful taste of the game’s aerial combat, controls, presentation and the way it looks and feels on PlayStation 5.
What we thought
Even with only a short mission to work with, Ace Combat 8 immediately feels familiar in the best possible way. Once the aircraft is airborne, the game is much more interested in making the player feel like an ace pilot than in turning the experience into a complicated flight simulator. Jets can be thrown through the air in tight turns and rapid manoeuvres while missiles lock onto targets and enemy aircraft fill the sky. That arcade approach makes the combat immediately approachable, while there is still enough freedom in the aircraft’s movement to reward players who learn how to position themselves properly. The ability to coordinate with wingmen should also give the campaign’s encounters some additional tactical flavor, although the short demo did not give us enough time to see how extensively this will be used.
The controls are another area where the game seems to strike a sensible balance between accessibility and depth. Ace Combat has never been about reproducing every aspect of flying a real fighter jet, and Wings of Theve clearly understands that its appeal lies in letting players perform spectacular manoeuvres without requiring hours of training first. More advanced control options should give experienced players plenty of room to experiment, while the simpler approach makes it easier for newcomers to get into the action. At the same time, some of the more ambitious manoeuvres can make orientation difficult, particularly when the sky and water begin to blend together beneath heavy cloud cover. That could potentially become a bigger issue during longer or more demanding missions.
Visually, however, this is where the move to newer hardware immediately makes sense. The aircraft themselves look sharp, but it is the surrounding environment that makes the strongest impression. Clouds are dense and layered, the ocean stretches convincingly beneath the aircraft and weather effects help sell the sensation of actually moving through an atmosphere rather than simply flying over a static backdrop. Rain and moisture can affect the cockpit view, while flying through clouds changes the way the world around the aircraft looks. Even in the relatively constrained Gamescom setup, there were moments where the scale of the environment made the aircraft feel surprisingly small. This is one of those games that should benefit enormously from being played on a large television, and we are particularly curious to experience it with a proper surround sound system rather than the more limited audio setup of a demo booth with headphones.
The audio also appears to be an important part of the spectacle. Jet engines, weapon fire, explosions and radio chatter combine to make the battlefield feel constantly active, while the soundtrack continues the series’ tradition of pairing aerial combat with suitably dramatic music. The banter between pilots is particularly useful because it gives the battles some personality instead of making them feel like a series of disconnected targets to shoot down. There is still a question over whether the narrative will manage to balance its serious themes with the heightened, sometimes deliberately anime-like tone that Ace Combat is known for, but the early signs are encouraging. After a lengthy absence, it is simply good to see Ace Combat being built specifically for a newer generation of hardware, and the brief PS5 demo suggests that the extra horsepower is being put to good use.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is still a little way from proving itself as a complete package, particularly when it comes to the full campaign and its expanded multiplayer offering. But based on this short Gamescom session, the fundamentals are in place: fast, accessible aerial combat, impressive skies, plenty of spectacle and a presentation that feels ready for the current generation. The demo left us wanting considerably more, which is probably the best possible result for a preview of a game that is still waiting for its final sortie.