Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve and EA Sports FC 27 review roundup

Two very different games had their reviews land in the last week of September. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is Bandai Namco's first new Ace Combat in seven years, and critics have barely a bad word to say about it: 98% of Metacritic reviews are positive. EA Sports FC 27 is the yearly football game, with steady critic scores in the 70s and a far angrier response from players.

So this roundup tells two stories. For Ace Combat 8, the only real argument is about its plot. For FC 27, the more important split isn't between critics. It's between critics and the people playing it.

Scores below were taken at the time of writing and are still moving.

Ace Combat 8 and EA Sports FC 27 at a glance

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve review scores: 88 on Metacritic

You play a pilot rescued from the ocean and made navigator to Rex Cope, a famous ace known as the Wings of Theve. When Rex is killed, your side hides his death by giving you his identity and command of his squadron, and his voice stays with you throughout the campaign, commenting on how you fly. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, and reviews went live on September 25.

Metacritic lists it at 88 from 62 critics, with 61 positive reviews, one mixed and none negative. OpenCritic has a Top Critic Average of 87, with 99% of critics recommending it.

What critics love about Ace Combat 8

The flying, the skies and the sense that the series is back at full strength. PC Gamer's Nova Wright calls it "arcade flight action and anime melodrama refined to the highest possible level." GameSpot's Richard Wakeling says it "picks up where Ace Combat 7 left off, underlining that the series is well and truly back to its best."

There's a lot of it, too. Hardcore Gamer and the Italian site Multiplayer both put the campaign at around 20 hours across 30 missions, and Shacknews counts "around 30 aircraft in this game and they serve distinct roles." On PS5, Push Square's Stephen Tailby recommends the performance mode ("60 frames-per-second is a must for Ace Combat") and singles out the controller: "The triggers vibrate when you pull off high-G turns."

Where Ace Combat 8 reviews split: the story

The main argument is the plot, which is fitting for a series famous for melodrama. TheSixthAxis's Dom Leighton says "narratively, this is the most cohesive that Ace Combat has ever been." CGMagazine's Eduard Gafton disagrees completely, calling the moment-to-moment story "impenetrable and incoherent," and adds that mission goals "get more repetitive as the campaign goes on." Hardcore Gamer finds the radio chatter overwhelming at times, with "five different layers of conversations" running at once.

Multiplayer is the other soft spot. There's a 100-player hub, co-op and PvP modes with cross-play, but Multiplayer's Italian review found the selection thin, and Shacknews worries that upgrade grinding could leave new players behind in PvP.

Check PC before you buy

Critics mostly played on console. On Steam, players have flagged real PC launch problems: crashes, missing flight stick support and an anti-cheat that some dislike, and the developers acknowledged the crash reports on September 30. PC requirements are high, too: Windows 11, hardware ray tracing, an SSD and 150 GB of storage.

EA Sports FC 27 review scores: 75 on Metacritic

EA Sports FC 27's big new mode is The Grounds, a social football hub with kickabouts, one-on-ones and clubs, available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2 but not on older consoles. On the pitch, EA has moved towards slower, more manual defending.

Metacritic lists the PS5 version at 75 from 59 critics (63% positive, 36% mixed, one negative), with 82 on Xbox Series X, 76 on PC and 76 on Switch 2. OpenCritic has a Top Critic Average of 78, with 70% of critics recommending it.

What critics like about EA Sports FC 27

The football and the career mode. Press Start says "the core gameplay of EA Sports FC 27 is as good as it's ever been," and CGMagazine calls it "one of the best football games in recent memory."

Career Mode gets the biggest overhaul. Transfers now run in several stages, with clubs and players negotiated in parallel and rival clubs able to hijack a deal. Destructoid notes that "for the first time in the franchise, we can complete transfer payments in installments," and Press Start is pleased that AI clubs now "outright reject rival clubs making bids on their players." Player ratings now move with form and fitness: DualShockers says a player's short-term potential "can sometimes be upwards of 10 points ahead" of their base rating. DualShockers sums it up: "if you like managing a club through its ups and downs, there's no better game than FC 27."

Where FC 27 reviews split: is it enough?

The lower scores don't call it bad. They call it familiar. Cubed3 says "despite countless reworked systems, EA Sports FC 27 is more of the same," and finds the new multi-day transfer system "more headache than immersion." Press Start compares The Grounds to NBA 2K's The City and says "everything about the mode lacks polish." In Ultimate Team, TheSixthAxis finds play so end-to-end that "goalkeepers are kind of pointless."

Monetisation is the most common complaint. Vandal argues Ultimate Team is where EA puts its effort because microtransactions bring the bigger return, and suspects The Grounds is another route to cosmetic spending. Cubed3 calls out "countless pointless microtransactions," including an avatar clothing shop. Destructoid is more positive: The Grounds itself is free to play in, and Division Rivals now pays out "significantly higher" coin rewards.

FC 27 on Switch 2

Nintendo Life calls it "the best football option on Switch 2 at the moment," but it runs at 30fps with no performance mode, and there's no cross-play or cross-progression, so The Grounds depends on how many Switch 2 players show up. Nintendo Everything (3 stars) found a clear graphical downgrade and The Grounds nearly empty.

Players are much harsher than critics

The biggest gap isn't between critics at all. At the time of writing, the PS5 user score on Metacritic is 2.3 and Steam reviews are Mixed. Player complaints focus on how similar it feels to last year's game, the new manual defending and bugs.

Which one to play

Ace Combat 8 is the easy recommendation. If you've ever enjoyed an arcade flight game, critics are close to unanimous that this is the one to play, story aside. Console is the safer bet until the PC crash fixes land.

EA Sports FC 27 depends on how you play. Career Mode players get the most from it, and Switch 2 owners have no better option. If you mostly play Ultimate Team, or skipped last year's game for being too similar, it's worth waiting for a sale or the free trial.

For more on reading scores like these, see our explainer on how Metacritic and OpenCritic scores work.

Sources

• Metacritic: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
• OpenCritic: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
• Bandai Namco: Ace Combat 8 multiplayer reveal
• Wikipedia: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
• Ace Combat 8 on Steam
• Ace Combat 8 reviews: Pixel Byte, DualShockers, PC Gamer, Forbes, Shacknews, TheSixthAxis, GameRant, Hardcore Gamer, ComicBook, Multiplayer.it, Neutral Game, GameSpot, Push Square, CGMagazine, Screen Rant
• Metacritic: EA Sports FC 27
• OpenCritic: EA Sports FC 27
• EA: EA Sports FC 27
• Wikipedia: EA Sports FC 27
• Nintendo Everything: EA Sports FC 27 Switch 2 review
• EA Sports FC 27 reviews: Destructoid, The Games Machine, COGconnected, DualShockers, Hobby Consolas, Nintendo Life, TheSixthAxis, CGMagazine, GamingBolt, Hardcore Gamer, IGN, Press Start, Vandal, BaziCenter, Cubed3