It’s been a good while since we had a new mainline Ace Combat game, and now it appears that Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve will be out next year.
The new trailer (shown below) has much more in the way of what I would call “first-person narrative,” and I’m somewhat on the fence about that. However, the actual flight combat gameplay looks great.
The last game in the series was Ace Combat 7, released back in 2019. Developed on Unreal Engine 4, it was an excellent game, both on the PlayStation 4 and later on the Switch.
This new game will be using Unreal Engine 5 and will be coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. From the trailer, the game already looks to have been given a major graphical facelift.
The other bit of interesting news is that the game is still set in the Strangereal universe, of which Sunao Katabuchi had a big hand in its creation and also wrote the story for Ace Combat 7.
In Ace Combat 8, you take on the mantle of the Wings of Theve. A legendary ace pilot from the city of Theve, in the Federation of Central Usea, with Usea being one of the major continental landmasses in the Strangereal universe.
It’s definitely interesting that they are sticking with the Strangereal setting, and that normally bodes well. My only concern is the first-person narrative setup, which feels a bit overdone.
Admittedly, Ace Combat 7’s narrative was a unique experience, with the wonders of the JPEG Dog being a highlight, as well as the laughably long name of the rival ace pilot you fought.
In any case, we have another mainline Ace Combat game to look forward to, and that makes me happier than words can convey.
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