Bandai Namco Announces New Ace Combat 8 Prequel Series, Streaming First on IGN

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, the latest entry of the long-running flight simulation combat series from Bandai Namco, is hitting PCs and consoles next month. But before players get their hands on the game, IGN can exclusively reveal that a live-action prequel miniseries starring Lost’s Josh Holloway and Superman Returns’ Brandon Routh will be available to stream later this month.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Hour Zero Episode Schedule:

• Tuesday, September 15: Act 1
• Thursday, September 17: Act 2
• Wednesday, September 23: Act 3
• Tuesday, September 29: Epilogue

The trailer for Hour Zero, which you can see in the player above, shows Holloway, Routh, and Cobra Kai’s Tamlyn Tomita as “three strangers who survive the opening days of the Republic of Sotoa's invasion of the Federation of Central Usea,” according to the series’ official description.

Holloway stars as “a pilot with nowhere to land,” Routh plays a “doctor who saved his enemy,” and Tomita portrays a “news anchor silenced for telling the truth.” Bandai Namco says the characters’ stories “set the stage for the narrative players will experience in the deep, engaging Campaign Mode in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve.”

I spoke to Holloway ahead of the show’s launch about jumping into the cockpit and joining the Ace Combat universe. Holloway says that acting in the series reignited his love of gaming.

“When I was younger, I was a gamer,” Holloway says. “Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede, Galaga. I went away from gaming for many, many years, and this has gotten me addicted. It's so real and so visceral. Layering a story onto this game really raises the stakes. After playing the game, I could feel myself in that cockpit because I got to do it in the studio. So now I have that sense memory while I'm playing the game, which is a blast.”

Holloway says that getting to participate in the action scenes of Hour Zero fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams, dating all the way back to before Top Gun was on the big screen.

“God, my first fantasy about being a fighter pilot was [the 1970s World War II fighter pilot TV series] Baa Baa Black Sheep. Remember that? That just tore my imagination up. When I was in high school, I looked into how I could become a fighter pilot. [But] you have to be a fricking math genius for them to let you in the hundred million dollar plane. That dashed my dreams of actually being a fighter pilot. [But I thought,] Aha, I can still be an actor. For me, being a fighter pilot is right up there with being a cowboy.”

Holloway, who appeared in the 2007 game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, says that he’s not particularly keen on revisiting performance capture in another video game, but is up for adapting more games for the big screen.

“I'm less interested in being a part of the video game world. [Instead,] I'd like to turn one of those into a movie. I feel like there's room in the Ace Combat world to possibly make a feature. Same thing with cowboy[s]. I do want to do that. I've looked at Red Dead Redemption. It's not just a game anymore. They're like real simulators with real stories.”

Holloway, who’s had the chance to play through Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve ahead of the game’s public release, says there’s one major tip he has for anyone who decides to dive in on October 2.

“Be aggressive,” Holloway says. “If I start to chill out, I got somebody locked on my tail already. So you’ve got to be like, ‘Oh my God, I'm going for it,’ and just hammer down.”

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve will be available in early access for Deluxe Edition holders on September 29 and launch for all players on October 2. The game is available now for preorder on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.