Is ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE Worth $70? Gameplay, Combat & Multiplayer

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the first mainline entry in the series since 2019's Skies Unknown, and after a seven-year wait, Bandai Namco isn't treating it like a quiet follow-up — it's a full campaign, a rebuilt multiplayer suite, and over 30 aircraft, all wrapped in visuals that early hands-on previews have called some of the best the franchise has ever put out. Worth noting up front: the game doesn't launch until October 2, 2026, so there's no post-release consensus yet — no aggregate scores, no "does it hold up after 40 hours" reports. What this is built on instead is a string of genuine hands-on previews from outlets who spent real time with the game, plus confirmed details straight from Bandai Namco. If you're weighing whether to pre-order, PriceRadar is worth checking first — it tracks prices across sellers, so you can compare ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE Steam key price before deciding where to buy.

What's the Setup?

The story picks up in July 2029. The Federation of Central Usea has just been steamrolled by a surprise invasion from the Republic of Sotoa — most of the country's occupied, its military is in pieces, and the aircraft carrier Endurance is basically all that's left standing. You're pulled aboard as a nobody and handed a legendary name instead: "Wings of Theve," a title that once belonged to an ace pilot who died before the game even starts. The twist is that the whole legend was manufactured to keep morale from collapsing. Now you're the one who has to live up to a lie, with three squadmates — Noise, Tasha, and Professor — flying alongside you as Joker Flight.

It's the ninth mainline entry in a series that's been running since 1995, and the first new numbered Ace Combat since Skies Unknown back in 2019. That's a seven-year gap, and Bandai Namco's clearly treating this as a statement release rather than a quick follow-up.

Ace Combat 8 Gameplay: What's Actually New in Combat

Ace Combat's arcade-flight-sim identity hasn't changed — you're still flying fast, shooting things out of the sky, and occasionally blowing up something the size of a small city. But there are real additions this time. Wreckage from downed aircraft can now physically damage other enemies on contact, which is a small detail that apparently changes how some fights actually play out. Pilots can also carry two Special Weapons per sortie instead of one, and larger enemies now have unmarked parts you can damage that previous games locked behind fixed weak points. The Wingman Command system is back too, closer to how it worked in Ace Combat 5 than in 7, giving you more say over how your squad behaves mid-fight.

More than 30 aircraft will be available at launch, split across four categories, each handling differently enough that loadout choice actually matters before a sortie — not just cosmetically.

On the visual side, multiple outlets who got early access weren't shy about how the game looks. Bandai Namco's built the game on Unreal Engine 5 combined with an in-house system called Cloudly, which handles volumetric cloud and lighting effects specifically — and it's apparently the part that impressed people most. One preview described the water and sky as good enough that flying from outside the cockpit almost feels like a mistake, since you'd be missing the view. That's a strong claim for a preview build, but it's coming from more than one outlet independently, which counts for something.

Early hands-on impressions have also been positive about approachability. Multiple previewers who'd never touched an Ace Combat game before said they were flying competent sorties by the end of a short session — one journalist admitted to failing the very first tutorial mission before pulling off a full mission later the same day. Series veterans reportedly still have plenty to dig into on higher difficulty settings, so this isn't a case of the game getting dumbed down to chase new players — it sounds more like a wider difficulty curve than past entries had.

Multiplayer: Ace Combat Online

This is the biggest structural change in the game, and Bandai Namco has been treating it as a headline feature rather than an afterthought. Ace Combat Online runs as its own mode with separate progression and save data from the campaign, built around a customizable mercenary pilot and a hub called the Air Base that can hold up to 100 players at once, complete with cross-play.

There are two core modes. Co-Op Assault is straightforward PvE — two teams of four compete for the highest score against AI enemies and objectives. Co-Op Warfare complicates that by adding a PvPvE layer: two four-player teams face off against each other and NPC forces at the same time, with scoring built around "Threat Level" and "Aces" mechanics that reward taking down high-value targets. On top of the core modes, limited-time events rotate in — Scramble missions throw a team of four against a tough NPC squad, and Emergency Sortie missions have eight players teaming up to fight one of the series' classic giant superweapons, which is as close as this franchise gets to a raid boss. There are also straight-up deathmatch events, both 4v4 team and 8-player free-for-all.

None of this has been tested at real population scale yet, so how it holds up once matchmaking has to serve a live playerbase — rather than a curated preview build — is genuinely an open question. A 100-player lobby and cross-play sound great in a press release; whether queue times and matchmaking balance hold up after launch week is something no preview can answer.

So, Is It Worth $70?

Here's the honest answer: nobody can tell you that with certainty yet, and be skeptical of anyone who claims otherwise before October 2. What can be said is that the signals are unusually consistent for a pre-release game — several independent outlets who played substantial hands-on sessions came away impressed by the flight feel, the visual work, and the accessibility for newcomers, without the usual mixed bag of preview reactions. The confirmed feature set is also generous: a full campaign, a genuinely built-out multiplayer suite, 30+ aircraft, and pre-order bonuses that include a bundled copy of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War.

If you're a series veteran or a flight-combat fan who's been waiting seven years for a new mainline entry, the pre-release picture looks strong enough to justify the price for most people in that camp. If you're on the fence, it might be worth waiting a few days past launch to see how the multiplayer holds up under real load and whether the campaign delivers over a full playthrough rather than a curated few hours.

Conclusion

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve looks like a confident, well-supported return for a franchise that's been dormant for years, built on genuinely new mechanics rather than a straight reskin of Skies Unknown. The early word is good, but "early" is the operative word — a real verdict on whether it's worth $70 will depend on how it holds up once it's actually in players' hands. Either way, before you buy, it's worth taking a minute to compare ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE Steam key price on PriceRadar to make sure you're getting the best deal at launch.