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Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve · Control-mode trial · Checked 28 September 2026

Standard or Expert? Fly both before your first sortie.

Ace Combat 8 asks one question before you take off: does the left stick turn the aircraft, or roll it? This page lets you fly both with your own controller, flight stick or keyboard and times which one your hand is better at — then covers the high-G turn, the official buttons, the squadron orders that are back and the four difficulty levels.

Standard or Expert? Fly both, then decide.

Six short intercepts. Each bandit is flown once in each mode, and which mode goes first alternates, so practice does not decide the result. Put the bandit on your nose and hold it in the circle for 0.6 of a second to lock; the bench times every run and counts how often the bandit slips out.

Six intercepts, about two minutes. Controller, flight stick, keyboard or touch.

A bench model, not Ace Combat 8's handling: both modes get the same roll, pitch and yaw rates, and the only thing that changes is what the left stick asks for — which is exactly the difference the publisher describes. A run that has not locked after 20 seconds counts as 20. Nothing leaves this browser unless you share the card.

Brake, then pull. Why the circle shrinks.

Holding both triggers is Ace Combat's high-G turn. Letting the speed off first is what makes it tight: a turn's radius grows with the square of the speed, so the same pull at half the speed draws a circle a quarter the size. Drag the speed and watch both turns.

16.3 s 1 km
Hard turn · 5 g
1,301 m · 16.3 s
High-G turn · 9 g
713 m · 9.0 s

Radius · time to turn round (180°)

Brake from 900 to 450 km/h and the same high-G pull draws a circle a quarter the size, and turns round in half the time.

Calculated, not measured: textbook level-turn physics, radius = speed² ÷ (g × √(n² − 1)). The 5 g and 9 g pulls are round real-world figures for a hard turn and a limit turn; Ace Combat 8's own figures are not published and none are claimed here.

The buttons, and what the left stick means

Eight inputs are official: the platform holder's hands-on report lists them for PlayStation. Switch the mode and the left stick changes its job; switch to Xbox and the symbols become letters in the same places.

  • LTurn — push toward where you want to go; let go and the wings levelRoll the wings, and pull or push the nose
  • L2LTDecelerate
  • L2 + R2LT + RTHigh-G turn (hold both)
  • D-padD-padSquadron orders
  • R2RTAccelerate
  • ○BLock on · fire missiles or special weapon
  • ×AMachine gun
  • △YSwap lock-on target
  • □XSwap weapons

Not published yet: L1 / R1Right stickL3 / R3Flares and chaff

PlayStation layout: PlayStation Blog hands-on report, 4 June 2026. Xbox letters are the same positions on the standard layout. The control modes are Bandai Namco's own description, 18 September 2026. The full list lives on the controls page.

Four orders, one flight

Back after Ace Combat 7 left them out: you lead Joker Flight, and the directional buttons give the orders. Pick one and watch where your three wingmen go.

The four orders are listed in the PlayStation Blog hands-on report (4 June 2026); which arrow carries which order is not published, so none is assigned here. The formations drawn are illustrations of each order, not the game's AI.

Choose before take-off

The control mode is picked when you load into the cockpit, and difficulty in the settings. Both can be changed later; neither changes the aircraft you fly.

Standard mode

Push the left stick left or right and the aircraft turns.

Gain
Turns where you push; the wings level themselves when you let go.
Lose
No free roll: every turn is a banked turn the game chooses for you.
Suits
First Ace Combat, or years of third-person games in your hands.

Expert mode

Roll with the left stick, then turn by pitching up or down.

Gain
A wider range of manoeuvres and more precise control, in the publisher's words.
Lose
Every turn is two inputs: roll, then pull.
Suits
Returning Ace Combat pilots, and anyone flying with a stick.

Difficulty

  1. Rookie
  2. Pilot
  3. Veteran
  4. Elite

Four levels, named by Bandai Namco. What each one changes has not been published; this page will not guess.

Mode descriptions: Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, 18 September 2026. Gains and losses are read from those descriptions.

1995 to 2026: what the series asked of your hands

Ace Combat 8 is the eighth numbered game in a series that began in 1995, and most of what it asks of a controller is older than it looks. Watch each mechanic start, change shape and stop as the years pass, or pick a year to jump to it.

2026
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Standard and Expert, as in Ace Combat 7. All four wingman orders come back from Ace Combat 5. Both triggers are the high-G turn, and you carry two special weapons at once. PC needs a ray-tracing graphics card; no VR.

Left stick: two modes
Novice · Expert Optimum · Original Standard · Expert Standard · Expert
High-G turn
Both held Air brake Type A or B L2 + R2
Wingman orders
Four orders Two dropped None All four back
Post-stall on demand
First Not published
Clouds that blind and ice
First Not published
Special weapons at once
Two
Virtual reality
Three missions None

Only sourced points are drawn. A dotted stretch means the mechanic carries on in the games that were checked, not that every game in between was; where Ace Combat 8's side has not been published, the mark says so. Sources: Wikipedia — Ace Combat (series list, platforms, years) · Wikipedia — Ace Combat 2 (Novice and Expert) · Wikipedia — Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Optimum and Original, Dogfight Mode) · Wikipedia — Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (clouds, icing, lightning, VR) · Shacknews — Ace Combat 7 controls (control types, Type A and Type B) · Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe — How to choose your difficulty in ACE COMBAT 8 (Standard and Expert) · Ace Combat Wiki — High-G Turn · Ace Combat Wiki — Wingman Command · Ace Combat Wiki — Post Stall Maneuver · Ace Combat Wiki — Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve.

Everything this site has on Ace Combat 8

Five pages and none of them repeats another: the buttons, this bench, the launch clock, the graphics-card check and the flight-stick reader. Every figure is counted from what the page holds.

10 bindings keyboard0controller10settings2 Ace Combat 8 controls Every default bind on keyboard and pad, dated, with the settings behind them. 6 benches keyboardyescontrolleryestouchscreenyes Ace Combat 8 input lab You are here 3 platforms milestones4questions13editions3 Ace Combat 8 launch When it came out, the editions and the platforms, dated from the publisher. 2 tiers ray tracingrequiredmemory16 GBgraphics cards4 Can you run Ace Combat 8? Reads your graphics card and places it against the publisher’s own tiers. 16 makers devices4axis roles5uploadsnone Flight stick bench Every axis your stick reports and what each one does, read in the browser.
Answers

Straight answers

Standard steers, Expert rolls; the trial above holds a lock for 0.6 of a second and times you in both. The rest below.

Standard or Expert: which control mode is better in Ace Combat 8?

Neither is better in general; it depends on your hand. Standard turns the aircraft when you push the left stick left or right and levels the wings when you let go. Expert makes the left stick roll the aircraft, so every turn is a roll and then a pull — which Bandai Namco describes as a wider range of manoeuvres and more precise control. The trial on this page times you in both across six intercepts and says which one you flew better.

How do you do a high-G turn in Ace Combat 8?

Hold both triggers together: L2 and R2 on PlayStation, LT and RT on Xbox. R2 on its own accelerates and L2 on its own decelerates. Because a turn’s radius grows with the square of the speed, easing off first makes the high-G turn tighter — half the speed draws a circle a quarter the size at the same pull.

What are the Ace Combat 8 controls on PS5?

From the PlayStation Blog hands-on report: R2 accelerates, L2 decelerates and both together is a high-G turn; Circle locks on and fires missiles or the special weapon; Cross fires the machine gun; Triangle swaps the lock-on target; Square swaps weapons; the directional buttons give orders to your squadron. The left stick flies the aircraft, and what it does depends on the control mode.

How do you give orders to your wingmen in Ace Combat 8?

With the directional buttons. There are four orders: attack a specific target, scatter and engage at will, come back and cover you, and switch to special weapons. Which arrow carries which order has not been published yet.

What difficulty levels does Ace Combat 8 have?

Four: Rookie, Pilot, Veteran and Elite, chosen in the settings menu. Bandai Namco has not published what each level changes.

Does Ace Combat 8 support a flight stick or HOTAS?

Two sticks are licensed for the game: Thrustmaster’s T.Flight HOTAS Neo Ace Combat 8 Edition and HORI’s Ace Combat 8 Flight Stick. For any other stick on PC no support list has been published; the flight-stick check in this lab shows what your browser reads from yours, and Steam Input may be able to present a generic stick to the game as a controller.

Can you use keyboard and mouse in Ace Combat 8?

The PC keyboard and mouse layout has not been published. The trial on this page works on a keyboard — W and S to pitch, A and D for the stick, Q and E rudder, Shift and Ctrl for speed, Space for a high-G turn — but that is this page’s layout, not the game’s.

How many Ace Combat games are there?

Sixteen, counting the main series and the spin-offs: nine main games from Air Combat in 1995 to Ace Combat 8 in 2026 — Ace Combat 8 is the eighth numbered one — plus seven spin-offs such as Ace Combat X, Assault Horizon and Infinity. The series module on this page lays out the eleven home-console and PC games and what each one changed for your hands.

How long after Ace Combat 7 does Ace Combat 8 come out?

Seven years and eight months. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown launched on 18 January 2019 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and Ace Combat 8 unlocks on 1 October 2026 — 2 October in Europe and Japan.

What changed in Ace Combat 8 compared with Ace Combat 7?

For your hands, three things. Wingman orders are back: Ace Combat 7 had none, and Ace Combat 8 restores the four D-pad orders Ace Combat 5 introduced in 2004. You carry two special weapons at once instead of one. And on PC the game needs a graphics card with ray-tracing hardware. Standard and Expert keep the names Ace Combat 7 used, the high-G turn is still both triggers, and there is no VR mode this time. The series module on this page draws every one of these changes back to 1995.

Tools for the same hands

Stick drift test In a flight game a stick that does not rest at centre is a permanent gentle turn for the whole mission. Deadzone tuner Set the floor from your own stick’s noise before adding a deadzone in the game. Gamepad tester The high-G turn is both triggers at once: confirm both reach the browser as analog values. Other game labs The same treatment for the rest of the library.

Unofficial. Keymap Labs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Bandai Namco Entertainment. ACE COMBAT is its trademark. The control modes and difficulty levels are Bandai Namco's own description; the PlayStation layout is from the PlayStation Blog's hands-on report. The trial's aircraft is a bench model built to show the difference between the two modes, not the game's handling. Your results stay in this browser. Controls last checked 28 September 2026.