For all the information and lore that Project Aces has inundated us with recently – from Ace Combat Online and the 16-minute opening cinematic to the overview trailer – this is blissfully straightforward. “Rex” takes to the skies with Joker Flight, his squadron, taking out various targets (and the odd Superweapon) with missiles and slick aerial maneuvers. All of this is set to a rocking soundtrack that’s as emotionally striking as it is catchy.

And while that’s all well and good, a core appeal of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is the narrative and the wingmen that you bond with, not to mention the conflict raging between the Republic of Sotoa and Central Usea. Check out our review – where we scored it a nine out of ten – for more details.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve launches on October 2nd for Standard Edition owners. Pre-ordering either edition nets a modern version of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, completely free.

Well, you should be grateful because originally, it was quite a bit more restricted, per game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz to Eurogamer, “where it was harder to beat the game. But, after all of those voices, before release even, we knew that it could be a problem, and we rebalanced it this way to give the buffer for the people to not fear this.”

The Prologue, where we first experience the tragic circumstances that befall Coen and his family, remained unchanged, but the main game saw adjustments. “We were afraid that people would complain too much that it’s too restricted.”

How restricted is “too restricted,” though? “You needed to think about everything even more carefully. But we started to speak with Mateusz [Tomaszkiewicz, creative director] and the rest of the team about what we wanted to achieve, and we figured out that we don’t want to create a mini-game from it. We wanted to give the player the proper feeling and proper emotions in the main story.”

Because at the end of the day, the timer is serving The Blood of Dawnwalker’s narrative, not completely overtaking it. “This is the purpose of the main story, not to create a challenge for it,” said Tomaszkiewicz. And even if mods were created to remove the timer entirely as soon as the game launched, the general consensus among critics and players is that it doesn’t feel oppressive at all.

Since launching for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, The Blood of Dawnwalker has received bug fixes and performance improvements. However, there’s more to come – its first major post-launch update will bring a new, easier difficulty option tailored for those only interested in the story. Rebel Wolves is also working on the ever-popular New Game Plus, though there’s currently no ETA.

Of course, you’re not alone, as Joker Flight’s members are under your command. While featuring over 30 aircraft that can be customized and upgraded, not to mention the franchise’s iconic Superweapons, Ace Combat 8 makes some pretty notable changes to the formula. For instance, you can now attack outside of the specific target space to deal damage.

Much of the narrative is also presented in first-person with dialogue choices. As for multiplayer, there’s Ace Combat Online with co-op, PvP, limited-time missions like Emergency Sorties where eight players team up against a Superweapon, and more. Of course, if you want to hang out with friends in your base and play classic Namco arcade games, that’s an option.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve launches on October 1st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, but Deluxe Edition owners can start playing on September 29th. In the meantime, check out our review – we scored it a nine out of ten, praising almost everything about it. You can also check out the opening cinematic here.

However, there really isn’t any other franchise that gives us war stories like Ace Combat does. Even as far back as its PS2 days, the series has consistently attempted to walk a fine line between giving you a large-scale narrative about global conflicts that tend to involve many countries while never forgetting how such conflicts affect individual people on the ground, and in this regard, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is no different.

"The story picks up a decade after the events of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown."

There are a few stories going on in Ace Combat 8’s campaign in parallel, all tying into each other in interesting ways. Aside from the larger story of the Sotoan war of expansion against the Federation of Central Usea, you also get a few small-scale stories like the ones about the protagonist, Rex, taking over as the eponymous Wings of Theve from the previous pilot to hold that title, Cope, after an early-game ambush, and the mysteries surrounding the motivations and goals of the megacorporation only known as the Enso Order during the war. Among all of these, the biggest running theme of the game revolves around how the actions of the nation of Sotoa and the FCU’s self-defensive moves affect regular people.

The story picks up a decade after the events of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. The FCU is still doing its best to recover from the brutality of the Lighthouse War, slowly rebuilding thanks to the aid of the Enso Order, a company that has been investing several of its own resources in helping Usea build itself back up. Sotoa, previously a largely isolated country, has decided that the desertification of its own homeland is no longer viable for the nation’s long-term survival.

It must thus capture more territory, and decides to invade Usea with the help of its orbital drop-based satellite weapon known as the Tonitrus Spear. The game itself starts a few months after the war officially began in the Strangereal calendar’s version of the year 2029, with the former citizens of the FCU’s capital city of Theve now being forced to live on one of the few remaining battleships, and much of continental Usea already being under Sotoan occupation.

"While the story itself is immensely compelling, it does suffer from some pacing issues, especially around the mid-point of the campaign."

Rex follows the tradition of a long line of Ace Combat protagonists to not really have much of a personality or any character traits of his own aside from simply being one of the best jet pilots that the entire world has to offer, and most of the character storylines in Wings of Theve largely revolve around the protagonist’s squadron, Joker squadron, along with a few secondary and tertiary characters aboard the battleship Endurance that serves as the protagonist’s base of operations for much of the game.

The plot kicks off with Rex being in the right place at the right time by surviving an ambush by the mysterious Sotoan pilot Shadow-22 of the Lux Lunae squadron while serving as a Weapons System Officer for the original Wings of Theve – Cope. The first mission ends with you taking on the mantle of the Wings of Theve as part of a propaganda cycle aimed at raising the morale of the displaced FCU citizens.

The central story of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is incredibly exciting, and manages to give you a good idea of how the war has been going largely through the effective use of mission briefings, post-mission debriefs, and a few cutscenes sprinkled in here and there. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t any problems whatsoever.

While the story itself is immensely compelling, it does suffer from some pacing issues, especially around the mid-point of the campaign. Along with this, the title suffers from having several missions in a row that involve fewer aerial dogfights and more bombing runs against ground targets, as well as a relatively disappointing final mission that isn’t quite able to follow up on the two phenomenal missions leading up to it when it comes to quality.

Despite this, there are still plenty of highs to be had, from intense, challenging boss battles against Sotoa’s Shadow squadron, to more unique missions that involve, for example, sneaking through a heavily-surveilled valley in a practice plane, and even the franchise’s traditional tunnel run.

The few upgrades that Bandai Namco has touted for the campaign in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, like being able to move the camera around during cutscenes or being able to respond to questions with “yes” or “no” don’t really add much to the overall experience. You don’t really get any meaningful choices in these situations, and at most, even the ability to control the camera during cutscenes leads to little more than being able to simply stare at another character while someone is talking to you.

"The multiplayer offerings of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve are a sign that Bandai Namco might have some long-term plans for the title"

Joining the lengthy single-player campaign is an in-depth multiplayer mode that offers a few new additions over the previous title’s team deathmatch mode: Co-Op Assault, Co-Op Warfare, Scramble, and Emergency Sortie. Co-Op Assault is focused on two teams of pilots competing to see who can perform best in a PvE mission, with progress being measured with points based on how many targets each player destroys. Co-Op Warfare is much the same, but with the addition of some PvP elements, allowing the players to target each other with their weaponry. Scramble is a purely PvE mode where two teams of four pilots each can take on a PvE boss together.

Emergency Sortie is the most interesting mode of the bunch, only being available sometimes for a single attempt. The mode has you, as a team of four pilots, taking on a challenging PvE encounter. Emergency Sortie also tends to offer the most currency and progression of all the modes, which makes sense considering you can’t simply keep playing it.

The multiplayer offerings of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve are a sign that Bandai Namco might have some long-term plans for the title well after it comes out. Since all of the modes involve the same solid gameplay that you can find in the campaign, I couldn’t really find much to complain about, though some UI elements tended to feel a bit sluggish since the title had to constantly check my Internet connection to show me its in-game store’s offerings. There is a battle pass as well, which seems to come with its own ways of unlocking new items like aircraft and cosmetic gear.

While the progression for the campaign and the multiplayer are kept strictly separate, both offer the same core system. Completing missions earns you currency that can then be spent on unlocking new jets, parts upgrades, or even new special weapons for jets you already own.

While you start off with relatively simple offerings, like a MiG-24A or an F-16, as you unlock more things along the Aircraft Tree, you’ll start getting cooler and fancier jets, ranging from a Typhoon to a Mirage, an F-22A, or an Su-47, among many others. There is a vast number of jets to unlock across both modes, as well as plenty of ways to customize your aircraft to ensure that they fly and fire weapons precisely how you want them to.

"Generally speaking, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve doesn’t bring in any radical changes for its gameplay."

The core gameplay of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve has you pick an aircraft, a pair of special weapons, and some stat bonuses well-suited for your mission before you fly out. The title offers two distinct control schemes to make the onboarding process feel more welcoming – a “Basic” scheme and an “Expert” one.

The former attempts to automate things like turning by rolling and using your rudders into a single push of the left analogue stick, while the latter instead gives you more granular controls over pitch, yaw, and roll. I would recommend that everyone play with the Expert controls, especially since it takes just around 10 minutes of practice for it to start feeling intuitive, and as a result, you can also pull off awesome maneuvers like loop-de-loops or intentional stalls to get behind your enemies quite easily.

Generally speaking, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve doesn’t bring in any radical changes for its gameplay. Rather, it builds on the arcade-style gameplay that was essentially defined by 2001’s Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies. The few changes we do get involve more squad management mechanics, and the ability to equip two special weapons rather than the usual one.

The former gives you better ways to manage large-scale battles by allowing you to set up your squadron’s aircraft and weapons loadout, as well as letting you give them more direct commands like using their special weapons more often, covering you, or attacking targets while being spread out. The latter is another way to ensure that you have more than enough explosive powers to ensure that you succeed in your missions. Neither of these additions brings in any fundamental changes to how you might play the game, especially if you’re a returning player from Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown.

Visually, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is downright stunning, and while the trailers may not fully convey it, actually spending some time with the game reveals that it is definitely a major upgrade over its predecessor. During my time with the PS5 version, I was offered two presets – a Quality mode and a Performance mode. While the Quality mode looked great, I believe that the higher frame rates of the Performance mode greatly benefit not only the gameplay, but other aspects of the visuals as well, like the sheer sense of speed you can get after you’ve heard that first sonic boom of hitting mach 1. One of the key aspects that Bandai Namco spent quite a bit of time discussing was its impressive cloud rendering technology, and I can safely say that the company was absolutely correct to brag about them.

"The setting of Strangereal has never felt so real"

Clouds have realistic formations throughout the game, and I found myself taking some time to stare in awe at the layer of clouds above me and below me simply because of how beautiful the game could look at times. The clouds also affect gameplay; flying through them makes it harder for homing missiles to keep their lock on you.

Doing so can be quite dangerous, since you’re bound to start getting condensation all over your canopy, obstructing your view in the process. Stormy levels might even give you the wrong idea about your elevation unless you’ve been keeping a close eye on your altimeter – a difficult prospect in tense battles – potentially leading you to crash into the ocean. And let’s not forget, high-altitude clouds can even start causing ice buildup on your jet, making it harder to control if you don’t get out of the cloud quickly.

One of the franchise’s strengths has traditionally been incredible sound and music, and Wings of Theve doesn’t disappoint in this regard either. Just about every sound effect has been lovingly crafted as if they were recorded from the real things. Even in the midst of an intense dogfight, you’re bound to start recognizing telltale signs of certain jets, be it a MiG, a Sukhoi, or even the venerable F/A-18E, which also happens to serve as the cover jet for the game.

I have to commend Bandai Namco Aces for delivering on yet another phenomenal soundtrack. Key moments in the campaign are punctuated by epic orchestral scores, while other scenes are often elevated through the effective use of other kinds of music. One of the best examples of this is your squadmate, Coster, who often blasts rock music through the comms channel, and even goes through an entire character arc where he decides that he’ll only play music once the war is over, which leads to an incredible pay-off in one of the final stretches of the game.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is certainly an ambitious game, as evidenced by what is easily the longest campaign in mainline series history. However, this ambition played a part in being the source of my biggest problems with the game, especially when it came to the slow middle act, a plethora of bombing missions, and a final mission that feels like a massive letdown after some fantastic boss battles.

Despite this, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game, and pacing issues aside, firmly find this to be a noticeable upgrade over its predecessor. The setting of Strangereal has never felt so real thanks to how well Wings of Theve was able to compellingly tell a story of war, propaganda, the role corporations play in large-scale conflicts, how people who simply want peace often find themselves dragged into fights they never wanted, and even how well a nation can successfully radicalize its own soldiers into giving up their lives for a cause that might be doomed to failure.

Pair this with new multiplayer game modes that will likely see plenty of play time thanks to how well they combine the fantastic PvE gameplay of the Ace Combat franchise with some PvP elements and you get what might be one of the best titles that the series has ever seen.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

As has already been confirmed, Cope dies, and the player inherits his identity as the Wings of Theve. Of course, before this happens, he reveals that the callsign is little more than a propaganda device used by the Federation of Central Usea after an overwhelming attack by the Republic of Sotoa. Cope himself has no kills and may very well be the latest to adopt the moniker.

After helping escort a civilian airliner, Cope is attacked by an enemy squadron, led by the mysterious Shadow 022 (who says he’ll lead them to the “Promised Land”). As their plane is shot down, the former sinks with the remains, while the player escapes and is rescued once more. The Wings of Theve and command of Joker Squad are thrust upon him, and the story properly begins.

As for where things go from there, you’ll need to find out when Ace Combat 8 launches on October 1st for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here for more details on what to expect.

Another episode of HOUR ZERO has just dropped, and we get a good look at Madison Haskell, a headstrong news anchor who isn’t afraid to go off-script in the interest of the truth. Of course, that’s not ideal when the government is trying to control information about a Sokoan attack from spreading. Things take drastic turns, but there’s a light at the end of even the darkest tunnels. It’s probably going to take the Wings of Theve to bring that hope to a side currently feeling like it has no answer to the threat it’s facing, with people who could buckle under the strain.

There was the doctor from the last episode, for instance, and Madison’s anguish about the situation is brought to life quite well by Tamlyn Tomita, whom you might know from Star Trek: Picard or The Good Doctor. She’s as memorable in this role as she is in her past appearances, and that’s a good thing, since she’s working with some meaty material. We’ll meet her daughter, Betty (and a core character in Ace Combat 8), at some point in the game’s story when it launches on October 1st, so stay tuned.

First-Person Give You The Eyes of a Pilot

Ace Combat 7 told its story through third-person cutscenes, mission briefings, and in-flight squadron dialogue. By the end, many felt they’d witnessed someone else’s journey rather than feeling it for themselves. Switching it up for the sequel, now you’ll experience the rise to flying ace via first-person, from eating in the mess hall with your co-pilots, to stepping onto the flight deck and strapping on your helmet. It’s a more immersive viewpoint, sure, but it also frames the narrative’s comradeship themes. While you might inherit the propagandist mantle ‘Wings of Theve’, the first-person perspective ensures you live it shoulder-to-shoulder with your wingmen.

You Can Now Command Your Squadron

A returning mechanic from Ace Combat titles before Skies Unknown, in Wings of Theve you can issue commands to your squadron. Via directional D-pad inputs, you can tell your wingmen and women to cover your approach, attack a specific target themselves, switch between standard and special weapons, or break formation to engage at will. While you adopted leadership responsibility in Ace Combat 7, the ability to instruct your squadron simply didn’t exist. Ace Combat 8 reintroduces the tactical wrinkle missing from its predecessor, and effective team control could make the difference between victory and defeat.

Aircraft and Loadout Customisation Extends to Your Crew

Ace Combat 7 lets you tune your fighter jet with parts, upgrades, and weapons, but Wings of Theve expands mission preparation beyond your own aircraft. As squadron leader, you can customise the machines flown by your wingmen alongside your own, giving an extra strategic edge that was absent in Skies Unknown. In setting your squadron’s loadout and choosing which pilot flies what, Wings of Theve emphasises the importance of pre-mission setup, where squad composition needs to be balanced with the sortie’s objectives.

Clouds Are Completely Overhauled

Clouds, alongside weather patterns in general, were a defining visual character in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. Flying through volumetric clouds was an effective showcase of a fighter jet’s speed and velocity, and given the system’s success you wouldn’t have expected Wings of Theve to need a complete overhaul. Yet, with development shifting to Unreal Engine 5, the developers saw an opportunity to embed their own proprietary Cloud engine tech into the pipeline. Dubbed ‘Cloudly’, Ace Combat 8’s clouds now render in multiple layers, from dense rain clouds to atmospheric wisps, boosting immersion as you’re soaring at Mach 2.

Clouds Have a Greater Impact on Your Tactics

And, the impact of Ace Combat 8’s overhauled cloud system spreads beyond being purely visual to directly influencing your tactics in greater ways than in Skies Unknown. While you could use cloud cover to break missile lock and hide from enemy pilots in Ace Combat 7, now the clouds’ more visceral rendering gives you more opportunities to hide above and below, to lose enemies, and to use inclement weather to your advantage. Also, distinct cloud layers act as cues for assessing speed and approach angle, creating a more intuitive aerial battlefield and, ideally, more controllable dogfights.

Visual Tracking is More Viable Than Before

In Ace Combat 7, you’d have relied solely on your HUD and radar to find your aerial whereabouts, to understand your position in relation to your squad, and to locate enemies. Now, clouds act as readable combat markers, with you able to track contrails, plumes, and smoke through the air. Likewise, the aforementioned multi-layered clouds give you enough visual information to assess how high you’re flying without reading your altimeter. You can get a sense of altitude from the makeup of clouds and weather.

Chain Reaction Destruction Adds Yet More Tactical Layers

If you’re in any doubt Wings of Theve is abandoning its arcade roots, the introduction of chain reaction destruction should put those worries to rest. Akin to combo chasing, in Ace Combat 8 destroying certain targets can trigger cascading destruction, potentially taking out multiple enemies at once. There’s no comparative mechanic in Ace Combat 7; this one’s entirely new, and it changes the question of ‘who do I shoot’ to ‘who do I shoot first’.

Superweapon Battles Are More Elaborate

Now, superweapon battles aren’t new to Ace Combat. Indeed, Skies Unknown featured several colossal setpieces. However, Ace Combat 8 refines the core mechanics underneath how you engage with these massive threats, with the most notable innovation coming in chip damage. That is, whereas previously you could only deal damage by targeting specific boxes, in Wings of Theve any portion of a superweapon’s hull can take a battering. So, while weak points still exist, unmarked sections aren’t immune to your firepower. This makes strafing run accuracy less integral to success while ensuring the fights feel less punishing overall.

Ground and Naval Battles Get Bigger

Ace Combat 7 wasn’t limited to aerial dogfights, with its campaign regularly sending you after ground targets and naval forces. Wings of Theve builds on that foundation with larger, more varied encounters with missions that can throw aircraft, ships, ground installations, and sizeable weapons into the same arena, forcing you to switch between different types of targets rather than simply hunting a single threat. Furthermore, as seen in gameplay footage, you can now destroy environmental installations such as skyscrapers to halt enemy progress. As a result, each sortie will feel broader in scope.

Missions Are More Reactive

While Ace Combat 7 has its fair share of awestriking missions, the objectives and encounters you faced tended to follow predetermined sequences. Wings of Theve, instead, brings more reactive battles, with enemy behaviour, objectives, and even radio chatter changing based on what’s occurring during a mission. And, to counter these dynamically shifting objectives, Ace Combat 8 allows you to pack two special weapon types – air-to-air missiles alongside a ground attack speciality, for instance – whereas Skies Unknown allowed only one.

Disruption Systems Have Been Updated

In Ace Combat 7, you could disrupt enemy approaches, HUDs, and targeting systems through radar jamming, weather interference, and Electronic Warfare. While these systems are carrying over to Wings of Theve, Ace Combat’s eighth mainline entry updates how they behave. For example, Skies Unknown’s jamming functioned like an on-off button, scripted to specific moments or localised ‘jamming’ fields, whereas Ace Combat 8 degrades your lock-on distance depending on how close you are to the source of the jamming.

Onboarding Has Been Reworked

Aiming to retain players that were new to the series following Ace Combat 7, and perhaps capitalise on attracting further rookies, Ace Combat 8 ships with a reworked tutorial. So, even though, ostensibly, the game is about aligning the trajectory of your aircraft with your target before firing, Wings of Theve features lessons on understanding flight systems, reading UI, and selecting targets, alongside more advanced aerial combat manoeuvres. These training modes can run alongside the campaign, and will likely benefit veterans as well as newcomers.

Online Mode is Much Bigger

While the upgrades and additions discussed in this feature suggest Ace Combat 8 will be the most established entry in the series to date, the expansions coming to its online mode are arguably the most significant. Ace Combat 7 included just two PvP modes – an eight-player Battle Royale deathmatch, and a four-vs-four team dogfight – whereas Wings of Theve brings PvE co-operative assaults, and PvP-based battles featuring air, land, and ocean targets. Emergency sorties targeting campaign bosses and superweapons plus dogfights against NPC aces round out the modes, with everything contained in an air base lobby of up to 100 pilots.

Multiplayer Has Its Own Progression

Supporting Ace Combat Online’s newfound independence, participating in Ace Combat 8’s multiplayer modes contributes toward its own progression and save data, keeping it separate from the single-player campaign. You’ll create a new avatar and earn rewards to raise your rank, acquiring aircraft upgrades, unique abilities, and cosmetics such as skins, emblems, and weathering effects. Elsewhere, Ace Combat Online expands Ace Combat 7’s multiplayer bounty system with an individual Threat Level. Before, shooting down the highest scoring players netted you extra points, whereas now you’ll also earn points the longer your kill streak continues.

Ace Combat Online Brings a Wider Selection of Aircraft

In Ace Combat 7’s multiplayer modes you could choose between three aircraft categories: dedicated air-to-air fighters, hybrid multirole aircraft, and ground-assault attackers, with matchmaking balance coming in the shape of a ‘Total Cost’ system. Wings of Theve’s Ace Combat Online introduces an extra class: the Electronic Warfare support ship, outfitted with tools to disrupt enemies. The emphasis this time is very much on team composition too, with you and your squadron needing to balance your chosen classes to succeed. Through classes, loadouts, and ability customisations, Ace Combat Online also allows for dynamic team synergies to emerge beyond Ace Combat 7’s potential.

Tomaszkiewicz has also confirmed that the way combat targeting works will see some changes to make it easier for players who want to escape from some battles by simply running away. However, when it came to a potential New Game+ mode, the director said that the team isn’t quite ready to talk about all of the upcoming additions to the game just yet.

“There is a chance, but I don’t want to speak about it yet,” he said about New Game+. “We will have the proper beats with our publishing team, and if I tell you more, they will kill me.”

As for the new difficulty mode, in a twist, Rebel Wolves is actually working on adding an easier option. As a result, the “Story” difficulty mode will be renamed to something else. The new easier option will take on the “Story” label instead.

“We will introduce an additional difficulty level, but an easier one, because many people are asking for a more easy difficulty. The Story mode which we have right now will be a different difficulty – we will call it Demanding or something like this – and we will add a new Story mode which will be even easier for people who don’t want to experience the combat; they just want to learn the story and go through the game without this gameplay challenge.”

Combat changes will include the game not automatically switching targets when the player stuns an opponent with a difficulty. Tomaszkiewicz admitted that the current behaviour in the game was his fault, and that it was originally meant to work in a different way.

“When I was playing in some of the gameplay reviews, I wanted to stun an opponent and then switch to the other one, but because I was locked on him still, I hit him by mistake and took the stun from him, and that’s why we made it switch for the other character. But people complain about it, and in the newest patch we will lift off and we will see.

The new system will involve players needing to land three hits to “take off this stun”. This is still an experiment, however, and the director isn’t quite sure how the player base will react. “Maybe people will switch between targets fluently, and if they want to just stun, it will be fine, and if they want to stun and hit a few times, it will also be fine. We will see.”

Updates are also going to focus on improving the technical performance of The Blood of Dawnwalker. While it can run at well over 60 FPS on suitable systems, Tomaszkiewicz noted that players wanted to see even higher frame rates up to 120 FPS.

As for parts of The Blood of Dawnwalker that won’t be changing, Tomaszkiewicz confirmed that Rebel Wolves has no plans to tone down enemy health. This, he explained, was to encourage players to think harder about their character builds.

“It depends a lot on how you develop your character and what gear you have. You can create builds where you’re killing them really fast. If you create other builds, they will be more spongy. It’s really hard to balance between these because if we decrease the health too much and you create a really strong build, you will one-shot everyone.”

Further in the interview, he said that the team didn’t want to change the game balance in this regard. “You can do the builds like this. It depends strongly on you. I know there are some people who don’t develop the character and save the perks because they want to do more content, but if you don’t spend those perks, the enemies will be more spongy because you don’t develop your character.”

The Blood of Dawnwalker is available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.

Standard is pretty straightforward, mirroring first- and third-person titles as the left stick immediately lets you turn left and right. Expert goes further, as the same stick rolls the aircraft left or right, then pitches up or down to turn. It’s more complicated but also lets you execute more complex maneuvers.

There are also four difficulty modes. Pilot is the standard difficulty and is recommended for newcomers or lapsed players. Rookie is easier, with options to reduce damage from environmental collisions, making it ideal for focusing on the story. Veteran is for long-time fans, with more aggressive enemies that have more health and where you need to work to shake off that missile lock.

Finally, there’s Elite. While Bandai Namco doesn’t go into explicit details on what makes it so challenging, it notes that “split-second decisions determine victory or defeat. You’ll need to intimately understand the battlefield and prioritize targets efficiently to fulfil your mission objectives and survive.” Which sounds like you shouldn’t even attempt it without beating the game on Veteran.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve launches on October 2nd, so we’ll find out for ourselves soon enough. It’s coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC – check out all the details here.

Speaking to Bloomberg, game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz said he funded the studio in its first year back in 2022 as they created a pitch document, hired staff and created a prototype. NetEase would eventually acquire 26 percent of the developer and provide a $40 million budget.

Production started at the end of 2023 with Rebel Wolves hiring even more employees throughout. “It’s not like you just say, ‘I want to work with these people’, and they just appear.” While it had 90 employees in 2024, Rebel Wolves now stands at 160, though for good reason: The project kept growing.

“We sat in the production room and counted everything. When we started to work, the game — like always — grew,” he said. While contractors were tapped, Rebel Wolves brought them on full-time, thus further expanding the team. “We decided that the size of the team we have right now is the most fitting for our needs.

“It’s still letting me know everyone. I can speak with everyone every day. I still feel like a creator and not a manager, which is the place I want to be,” said Tomaszkiewicz. However, after the current game’s success, writer Jakub Szamalek is more wary.

“We are aware of this growth, and we are tracking it. We don’t want to overdo it.”

Of course, this is only the beginning for the franchise. Rebel Wolves is already looking for a lead writer on the next game, and we’ve seen teases of Coen in modern times. Such is the preparation that your save data from The Blood of Dawnwalker will carry over, though in what shape and form remains unknown. It’s also undecided whether future games will utilize the same time mechanic.

In the immediate future, you can look forward to New Game Plus for the current title. It doesn’t have an ETA, but Tomaszkiewicz promises it’s on the way.