‘Ace Combat 8’ has had some major overhauls to its core functionality over the previous game.
Bandai Namco
Following the news that Ace Combat 8 will be released this October, the game has received an extended gameplay trailer and looks very impressive indeed.
Apart from the typical Ace Combat controls, handling, and camera, there are some nice new functional additions compared to Ace Combat 7.
The first is that you can do area of effect damage to enemies, with enemies doing collateral damage once they are destroyed. In addition, this also carries over to environmental damage, which looks really cool (shown below).
Following that, you can give in-game commands to your wingmen. This is something that is a really big deal and will help you out a lot in a tactical sense.
The final thing is that you can do additional damage to untargeted parts of the enemy. This mainly seems to impact your guns, which seem even more effective now.
You still naturally retain your target view, which is when you hold down the target button, and the camera work on this looks like it has been improved as well.
Overall, there are lots of nice additions to the core functionality, and I’m liking what I’m seeing here and cannot wait to play the game once it’s available.
Again, I am also really impressed with the new in-world narrative camera work, and making the game’s characters more impactful.
The story also seems more involved, as the game is set 10 years after Ace Combat 7, in 2029. Again, you fight for the Usea forces, but the Republic of Sotoa is the new enemy.
Although, as is often the case, there will likely be some Belkan contingent involved at some point, with some highly advanced fighters tucked away for you to unlock.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is released on October 2 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
Follow me on X, Facebook and YouTube. I also manage Mecha Damashii and am currently writing regular columns in Japanese about mecha games and mecha anime for both Game*Spark and Automaton.
