Hero image: Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve screenshot. Image: Bandai Namco Entertainment
I think Bandai Namco has done something good in a way I really don’t like. If you pre-order Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve on Steam, you get a playable F-14A and a copy of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. Not a skin, not a nod to it, the actual game, as its own separate application. The PlayStation trailer description puts it even more plainly, telling you to pre-order “to unlock the F-14A aircraft and exclusive access to ACE COMBAT ZERO: THE BELKAN WAR”. Exclusive access. I keep reading those two words and I keep getting a bit more annoyed.
Let me be fair first, because I don’t want to pretend this is all bad. Getting an older game back in front of people is a lovely thing to do, and plenty of you will be thrilled. If you were always going to buy the new one on day one, this costs you nothing and hands you a whole extra game. I’m genuinely happy for you. And I’d much rather Zero came back like this than not at all, which is, if I’m honest, how a lot of older games end up.
But I mean, think about who this leaves out. A pre-order bonus is a reward for committing before you know anything, before a single player has told you whether the new game is any good. I have never loved that deal, and I like it even less when the prize is a piece of the series’ history. You shouldn’t have to gamble on a new release to get a classic back. And the small print doesn’t help. Steam says bonuses other than Zero “may be released at a later date”. So the jet might turn up for sale later. Zero is the one thing on that list with no such line next to it. Maybe it will be sold on its own down the track, and I’d love to be wrong about this, but nothing on the page says so, and I don’t think you should have to hope.
There’s a better version of this, and it’s not complicated. Sell Zero on its own, and give pre-order customers a discount on it, or a head start, or anything that’s a thank-you rather than a lock on the door. Then the person who wants to wait for reviews, or can’t afford a new full-priced game this month, or only ever wanted the older one, still gets to play it. Is that really so much to ask?
So I want to ask you something. Would you pre-order a game you haven’t seen reviewed just to get a different game you already know you want? I suspect a lot of you will, and I’m not going to judge you for it. I just wish it wasn’t the only way through. And if I’m completely honest with myself, the thing that bothers me most is that I’m tempted too, which is exactly how this is meant to work.
Source: Steam – ACE COMBAT 8: WINGS OF THEVE, PlayStation – Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve 101 Overview Trailer