Ace Combat 8 puts Joker Flightunder your command

Attack, cover or scatter: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve gives Joker Flight something useful to do besides talking over the radio. Your three wingmen can receive orders while you keep flying, bringing squadron leadership into the same busy space as lining up a missile. The interesting wrinkle is how differently early PC reviewers have judged that help: one found the commands consequential, another could win without much attention to them.

With the full game released on 2 October, those accounts let us look beyond the presence of a command menu. Ace Combat 8 has restored a way to direct your companions, but that doesn't automatically mean every mission demands careful coordination. Its squadron sits between two appealing roles: people whose company gives the campaign character, and extra aircraft you can ask to support your next move.

Three ways to send your flight

Bandai Namco's June systems breakdown places attack and cover orders alongside the flying itself. You're still trying to stay on target while avoiding incoming missiles; issuing an instruction happens in real time. That arrangement keeps command close to the action. A squadron order has to earn your attention while you're already steering, choosing a target and deciding when to fire.

Phil Hornshaw's June PlayStation.Blog hands-on described the options more precisely. In that PS5 demonstration, directional-button commands could send wingmen after a specific target, let them scatter and engage freely, or bring them back to cover the player. He also described an order to use special weapons. Those are observations from the demonstration, rather than a claim that GamerGuru has tested the finished PC controls.

Attack and scatter make a useful distinction. One tells the flight where you want its attention; the other lets your companions choose their engagements. Cover pulls that attention back towards you. The appeal is being able to change the squadron's immediate job without landing or opening another preparation screen. You can be the pilot pursuing a target and the flight leader directing support in the same encounter.

The publisher also puts preparation before each sortie: briefings explain the objectives, while aircraft, upgrade parts and special weapons let you tailor your own fighter. You choose equipment with the objective in front of you, then issue orders as the fighting develops. That gives the squadron a role after the briefing is over. Asking it to attack or cover you is a response to the current fight, rather than another choice made in the hangar.

Useful help isn't compulsory help

WorthPlaying's Cody Medellin found the squadmates' AI capable enough for general instructions, including attack and cover, to make a meaningful difference during a sortie. His finished-game PC review is evidence that the system can contribute beyond its menu description. It doesn't supply a damage calculation or an optimal command sequence, and neither is necessary to understand the attraction: another aircraft can respond to your direction.

Joe Chivers reached a different judgment in TechRadar's PC review. Having completed the campaign and replayed missions, he felt that commanding wingmen made little difference to whether a mission succeeded. He acknowledged the return of orders and aircraft selection, but found the outcome broadly independent of his squadron management. That is a specific criticism of their tactical importance, rather than a claim that the commands are missing or broken.

These accounts describe different standards of usefulness. A companion can help within a battle without being essential to finishing the mission. Medellin's account supports the first proposition; Chivers questions the second. They don't establish how every difficulty setting behaves, or which missions reward a particular order most. The fair conclusion is narrower: Ace Combat 8 offers active squadron direction, but these reviews don't justify calling it a demanding command simulation.

The people behind the orders

Joker Flight also has a life outside that tactical argument. Bandai Namco introduces Ellington Baxter, callsign Professor, as the patient veteran; Tasha Severskaya is a former aerobatic display pilot who volunteers after the war begins; William Coster, callsign Noise, is a musician as well as a pilot. They accompany Rex, the replacement for the fallen Wings of Theve, rather than existing as three anonymous support slots.

Chivers was much warmer about those companions than about their influence on mission results. He praised their personalities and the squadron's cohesion, including the stakes when a member gets into trouble. Medellin likewise singled out the wingmen as an enjoyable cast. Their agreement here is useful: the tactical disagreement doesn't erase the reported pleasure of spending the campaign with the people receiving your orders.

That's the strongest case for Joker Flight's command system. Attack, scatter and cover give a relationship another form of expression during a fight: these are companions you can address as a leader while flying beside them. The available accounts support enjoying that added involvement without pretending it governs every victory. Ace Combat 8 can let Rex direct a squadron and still leave plenty of room for the player to be the ace.