Quick answer
Critics rate Ace Combat 8 very highly. Steam players are positive but less so. All figures are as of Oct 2, 2026.
- Metacritic: 86 on PC, 88 on PS5 and 88 on Xbox Series X. The PS5 page calls it "Generally Favorable".[1]
- OpenCritic: a Top Critic Average of 87, and 99% of critics recommend it.[2]
- Steam: Mostly Positive. Across all languages, about 75% of 6,954 reviews were positive when we checked (our calculation below).[3]
- Most praised: the dogfighting, the music and the visuals.[4][5][6]
- Most criticised: slow pacing and long cutscenes, online play, and the depth of squad commands.[4][6][7] Critics also disagree about the story (see below).
- Early Steam complaints: performance, multiplayer connections, heavier flight physics, HOTAS support, and how the Ace Combat Zero pre-order bonus is delivered.[8]
Aggregate scores: launch week vs today
The Sep 25 column is what news reports recorded on review day. The Oct 2 column is what we read on Metacritic and OpenCritic on October 2, 2026.
| Aggregator and platform | Sep 25, 2026 (reported) | Oct 2, 2026 (we checked) | Our calculation: change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metacritic, PC | 86 from 28 reviews (EGW)[9] | 86 from 34 critic reviews[1] | Score unchanged, +6 reviews |
| Metacritic, PS5 | 87 from 52 reviews (GamesRadar+)[10] | 88. The platform card says 60 critic reviews and the PS5 score box says 58.[1] | +1 point |
| Metacritic, Xbox Series X | 90 from four reviews (EGW)[9] | 88 from 7 critic reviews[1] | −2 points |
| OpenCritic, Top Critic Average | 88, with 100% of 37 critics recommending (EGW)[9] | 87, with 99% recommending. 67 critic reviews are listed.[2] | −1 point |
| Metacritic user score | — | Not open yet. The page says users can review from 12:00pm PST on Oct 3, 2026.[1] | — |
Two counts on these pages do not match:
- Metacritic PS5 count on Oct 2: the platform card says 60 reviews and the PS5 score box says 58. Both are on the same page, and we show both.[1]
- EGW's PS5 count on Sep 25: EGW's report says 87 from 52 reviews in one paragraph, then gives the PS5 version 87 from 54 reviews.[9] GamesRadar+ gives 52 for PS5.[10]
On Metacritic's PS5 breakdown, 57 reviews are positive, 1 is mixed and none are negative.[1]
Steam user reviews by filter
We read Steam's own review summary for app 2288340 on October 2, 2026, at 10:49–10:50 UTC. Steam shows different totals depending on the language and purchase filter, so here are four of them.[3]
| Filter (language, purchase type) | Positive | Negative | Total | Steam label | Our calculation: % positive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All languages, all purchases | 5,214 | 1,740 | 6,954 | Mostly Positive | 5,214 ÷ 6,954 = 75.0% |
| All languages, Steam purchases only | 4,091 | 1,309 | 5,400 | Mostly Positive | 4,091 ÷ 5,400 = 75.8% |
| English, all purchases | 2,979 | 813 | 3,792 | Mostly Positive | 2,979 ÷ 3,792 = 78.6% |
| English, Steam purchases only | 2,519 | 684 | 3,203 | Mostly Positive | 2,519 ÷ 3,203 = 78.6% |
The English store page, read the same morning, showed "Mostly Positive (3,210)" with 78% positive for English reviews.[11] That is close to the English, Steam-purchases figure above. Our calculation: English reviews are 3,792 of 6,954 in the all-purchases filter, so (6,954 − 3,792) ÷ 6,954 = 45.5% of all reviews are in other languages. Those other-language reviews pull the overall positive share down to about 75%.
These counts change by the hour. On September 29, during early access, PC Gamer counted "nearly 1,000 negative reviews".[8]
Critic scores side by side
Each outlet uses its own scale. To compare them, we converted each score to a 0–100 value (for example, 4.5/5 = 90). This is a simple conversion, not how Metacritic or OpenCritic weight scores.
| Outlet (reviewer) | Score as published | Our calculation: out of 100 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Guardian | 5 out of 5 stars | 100 | Guardian[12] |
| DualShockers (Jaime Tugayev) | 9.5/10 | 95 | OpenCritic[2] |
| PC Gamer (Nova Wright) | 92 | 92 | PC Gamer[13] |
| GamesRadar+ (Scott McCrae) | 4.5/5 stars | 90 | GamesRadar+[10] |
| Forbes (Ollie Barder) | 9/10 | 90 | OpenCritic[2] |
| Hardcore Gamer (Adam Beck) | 4.5/5 | 90 | OpenCritic[2] |
| Shacknews (TJ Denzer) | 9/10 | 90 | OpenCritic[2] |
| TheSixthAxis (Dom Leighton) | 9/10 | 90 | OpenCritic[2] |
| GameRant (Nick Rodriguez) | 9/10 | 90 | OpenCritic[2] |
| The Games Machine (Danilo Dellafrana) | 8.6/10 | 86 | OpenCritic[2] |
| Push Square (Stephen Tailby) | 8/10 | 80 | OpenCritic[2] |
Our calculation: the 11 converted scores add up to 993. 993 ÷ 11 = 90.3 mean, and the median is 90. The range is 80 to 100. This is only the outlets in this table, not an aggregate.
TechRadar (Joe Chivers) and Creative Bloq (Ian Dean) also reviewed the game. We did not find a numeric score in the text of either page, so they appear only in the next section.[6][7] We could not open the IGN or GameSpot reviews, so they are not listed.
What critics liked and disliked
| Topic | Praise | Criticism |
|---|---|---|
| Dogfighting | GamesRadar+ lists "Exhilarating dogfighting" as a reason to buy.[4] TechRadar calls the combat fun, varied and sharp.[6] The Outerhaven praises the aerial combat and missions.[5] | The Outerhaven finds targeting frustrating when several enemies are on screen.[5] |
| Music and sound | GamesRadar+ praises the soundtrack.[4] The Outerhaven praises both the soundtrack and the sound effects.[5] | None of the reviews we read criticise it. |
| Visuals | TechRadar names "The best clouds in gaming" as a plus.[6] Creative Bloq praises its use of Unreal Engine 5.[7] The Outerhaven praises the visuals and aircraft detail.[5] | — |
| Story | GamesRadar+ calls the story surprisingly good.[4] Creative Bloq says the changing narrative adds drama.[7] | TechRadar says the story drags on and lists overly long cutscenes as a minus.[6] |
| Pacing | — | GamesRadar+: "Takes a while to get going".[4] The Outerhaven says the better aircraft take time to unlock.[5] |
| Online | — | GamesRadar+ lists "Online could be much better" as a reason to avoid.[4] |
| Squad and novelty | — | Creative Bloq's minuses are that you have "played it before in AC7" and that squadron commands lack depth.[7] |
Where critics disagree: the story. GamesRadar+ praises it, and TechRadar says it drags.[4][6] These are two reviewers' opinions, and we do not pick a side.
PC performance is also contested: The Outerhaven praises the PC optimisation.[5] In PC Gamer's summary of early Steam reviews, performance is one of the complaints.[8] Specs and test results are on PC requirements and best settings.
Why some Steam reviews are negative
PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon looked at the negative Steam reviews during early access (September 29). He found a spread of complaints: performance, multiplayer connectivity, weightier flight physics and missing HOTAS support. One of the most common was about the Ace Combat Zero pre-order bonus, whose delivery had changed from what the store described before launch.[8] So part of the negative score is about how the bonus was packaged, not the game itself.
Related pages:
- HOTAS and flight stick support
- Error 01 and crash fixes
- Deluxe vs Standard and the pre-order bonus
- Multiplayer modes and crossplay
Is Ace Combat 8 worth it?
There is no single answer. Here is what the sources say for each kind of player:
- For the campaign: critics agree the flying is the highlight, and most scores above are 90 or higher.[2][13] TechRadar's run through all 30 missions took about 18 hours.[6] The full list is on missions list and length.
- If you mainly want online play: GamesRadar+ thinks online "could be much better".[4] Early Steam reviews also mention multiplayer connection problems.[8]
- If you played Ace Combat 7: Creative Bloq says it plays much like AC7.[7] See Ace Combat 8 vs 7 for what changed.
Not confirmed yet
- The Metacritic user score. User reviews open on Oct 3, 2026.[1]
- IGN and GameSpot scores. We could not open those reviews.
- Steam's Recent Reviews score, which the English store page did not show when we checked.
Sources & References
- Metacritic: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve (read Oct 2, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
- OpenCritic: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Reviews (read Oct 2, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
- Steam: review summary for app 2288340 (store review data, language=all and language=english, purchase_type=all and steam, read Oct 2, 2026, 10:49–10:50 UTC) ↩ 1, 2
- GamesRadar+: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review (Scott McCrae, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
- The Outerhaven: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Review (Keith Mitchell, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- TechRadar: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review (Joe Chivers, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
- Creative Bloq: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review (Ian Dean, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
- PC Gamer: Ace Combat 8 Steam reviewers are steaming mad about its pre-order bonus not being a standalone app (Wes Fenlon, Sep 29, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- EGW: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Earns High Praise From Critics Ahead of Launch (Vanillareich, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3, 4
- GamesRadar+: Over 7 years since the last entry, arcade flight sim Ace Combat 8 is one of the best-rated games of the year and a close second within the series (Scott McCrae, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2, 3
- ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE on Steam (English store page, read Oct 2, 2026) ↩
- The Guardian: reviews published Sep 25, 2026 (Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review) ↩
- PC Gamer: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review (Nova Wright, Sep 25, 2026) ↩ 1, 2