Project Wingman

Project Wingman is a combat flight action game similar to the Ace Combat series in which the player flies a combat plane into battle and destroys enemy targets. The player can choose from a wide selection of planes inspired by real-life combat aircraft and equip the plane with special weapons. The player can choose to play in first-person (with or without the cockpit view) or third-person. Virtual reality (VR) and hands on throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) are supported.

In campaign mode, the player completes twenty-one missions, with objectives ranging from destroying enemy planes, annihilating ground forces and bases, and protecting allies. Completing a mission awards the player credits, which can be spent on new planes. The game's campaign follows a story in which the mercenary pilot Monarch fights for the Cascadians in their war of independence against the Pacific Federation in a future Earth previously devastated by a cascade of tectonic events in the Ring of Fire. There is a separate section for the Frontline 59 campaign, which plays similarly to the main campaign.

The game takes place in the indeterminate future, on an Earth afflicted by a worldwide volcanic cataclysm centuries earlier in an event known as the "Calamity". This event not only destroyed modern technological civilization in an estimated 150-year nuclear winter, but also created multiple exclusion zones across the planet and led to the discovery of a valuable energy resource called cordium. By the year 432 AC (After Calamity, a new calendar established after said nuclear winter), civilization has returned to levels comparable to and even surpassing its previous height.

One of the world's superpowers is the Pacific Federation, a multinational political union based around the Pacific Ocean and its coast. The Pacific Federation bases its power on control over the cordium deposits across the Ring of Fire. In recent years, however, tensions between member states have risen due to the Federation's imperialist policies, which have been fueled by the rich cordium deposits of United Cascadia (a member state located along the Pacific Northwest region of North America). Additionally, the Federation plans to cement its control over Cascadia to further exploit its resources.

Abi Rahmani started Project Wingman as a portfolio piece in November 2015. In 2017, Project Wingman became a full-time project after receiving an Epic Games Unreal Dev Grant. Fans donated to the game's Kickstarter campaign, raising AU$114,544 and exceeding its goal of AU$35,000. Story mode was confirmed by the development team, but cutscenes were not included due to being outside of the Kickstarter budget. Project Wingman's release date was originally stated for summer 2020 before it was pushed back to early 2021, but the release date was moved to 1 December 2020, due to development proceeding faster than expected.

Project Wingman was later ported and released on Xbox One on 28 October 2021. The game was also released on the online PC game store GOG.com on March 28, 2022.

Project Wingman received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics have praised the game for its audio and visual feedback.

Polygon's Charlie Hall praised the game for its action that can be commonly found in modern first-person shooters. TheGamer's Sean Murray noted the game's improvement on the Ace Combat formula by allowing players to equip multiple weapons and adding a rogue-like conquest mode, but he criticized the game's lack of mission variety due to being "go here, shoot things".