Aces of Thunder (PS VR2)

Gaijin Entertainment, a long‑running war simulation studio, has been tinkering with Aces of Thunder for quite a while. The early footage and screenshots looked promising, especially if you know the team's previous work, like IL‑2 Sturmovik (2009) and War Thunder (2013). Now the wait is finally over. I strapped on the VR headset and took off in some old warbirds toward the fields of glory.

Aces of Thunder doesn't waste your time with unnecessary intro sequences. After the developer logos, you're dropped straight onto a sunny airfield in front of a gorgeous aircraft. A logbook is handed to you, offering a selection of missions ranging from air‑to‑air combat and bombing runs to navigation flights and survival scenarios in various planes. Once you pick one, you're immediately in the cockpit, fighting AI opponents or human pilots online.

But skipping the introductions also means skipping the tutorials. Mission briefings list the steps required for success, like "fly to the train station and bomb all trains", but without a map, even finding the right city from the air requires a lot of squinting and luck, let alone spotting the station itself. And that's before you even consider the challenge of flying an 80‑year‑old fighter with zero guidance.

I have nothing against realistic simulators, but Aces of Thunder doesn't fully commit to that either. There's no instruction on how to operate the detailed cockpit, yet most of the buttons and switches are just static decorations. Some levers can be grabbed, but pulling them does nothing, even when the game hints at actions like retracting the landing gear. A big chunk of your first session is spent simply guessing what works and what doesn't, which undeniably eats into the fun.

Flying itself is built around the basics: steering, throttle, and shooting. You can control the plane realistically with the Sense controllers, fumbling around the cockpit with virtual hands, or switch to the DualSense for a more arcade‑like feel. The core functions stay the same, though oddly, when navigating menus with the DualSense, the game still demands the Sense controllers. It reeks of rushed production and lack of testing, and in practice, it's clumsy and frustrating.

The flight model feels convincingly realistic, though still miles away from the authenticity of Microsoft Flight Simulator. There's no force feedback through the Sense controllers' motors, which is a shame, but the planes respond instantly and credibly to your inputs. Combat outcomes depend heavily on your flying skills. With the realistic aircraft modelling, the atmosphere ramps up wonderfully as you weave through aerial battles, watching bullets whistle past the canopy while enemy planes explode in the distance.

The world of Aces of Thunder is pleasantly rich and detailed. Draw distance is long enough to show trees, buildings, and terrain far ahead. Up close, VR limitations become visible in softer textures and simpler models, but the world still feels lively and stylishly crafted. The aircraft are modeled with impressive precision, inside and out, and part of the charm is simply exploring the wide variety of vintage war machines. Performance on PlayStation 5 is smooth, with minimal loading times. Still, despite the stable framerate, low‑altitude flight can easily trigger VR nausea as trees and terrain whip past, so sensitive stomachs may want to bring a paper bag along.

The audio design is convincingly built. Engines roar with ear‑shaking authenticity, each plane with its own character. Machine guns thump with satisfying weight, selling the intensity of combat. Environmental sounds, from wind rushing past to the creaks and rattles of the airframe, complete the illusion of flying decades‑old warbirds. I don't recall hearing any music, or at least nothing that stuck with me.

Aces of Thunder lands somewhere between a professional flight simulator and a casual dogfighting game, leaving fans of both camps somewhat unsatisfied. The stripped‑down approach, with no external aids or tutorials, forces you to learn the ropes in total darkness while under fire. This raises the barrier to entry and lowers the appeal for players used to lighter flight experiences. On the other hand, with only a fraction of the cockpit's switches actually functional, hardcore sim fans will likely turn their nose back toward Microsoft Flight Simulator. Still, the combination of smooth graphics, detailed modeling, and authentic audio does make aerial combat feel electrifying, wind howling in your ears as your guns punch holes into enemy fighters under a clear sky. Experiences like this are rare enough that it's worth climbing into the cockpit, as long as your stomach can handle the turbulence.