Besides showcasing the events that led up to its story (with a live-action flair), Bandai Namco has more gameplay details to share on Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, specifically the difficulty. Despite the story’s over-the-top nature and focus on aerial dogfighting, you can choose different modes that vary in realism.
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.
