Project Wingman is an incredibly flattering imitation of the Ace Combat series, one that does a superb job of emulating its controls, gameplay and story. This is particularly impressive when you consider that it was made by a 3 man development team at a fraction of the budget of the latest AC game. With a fairly beefy campaign of 21 varied missions along with a more procedural conquest mode, this game certainly isn't lacking in content either. The only thing that I can think of that could have been improved upon would be having a greater variety of aircraft, as the current line up seems to be lacking in specialized ground attack and multirole planes. Overall this is an exceptionally good arcade flight game, and one that any Ace Combat fan should definitely play.
Hitman Contracts is a dark, moody game that is often looked at as being one of the more controversial entries in IO Interactives flagship series, with many fans of Silent Assassin dismissing it as being a rushed sequel trying to cash in on the unexpected success of its predecessor. With a lack of any real overriding narrative binding the missions together as well as featuring fewer missions then HM2, about half of which were expanded remakes taken from Codename 47, it's understandable why people tend to regard Contracts as being the dark horse of the series and an inferior followup to Silent Assassin. And yet, in spite of its shortcomings, I consider Hitman Contracts to be the second best game in the series with 1st place being reserved for the excellent Hitman Blood Money. I've found the missions in Contracts to be of a much more consistent quality when compared to those of HM2 wherein for every genuinely good level like 'Basement killing' there was a frustratingly tedious and poorly designed one like 'Hidden valley'. In contracts, every mission is an expansive mini sandbox that facilitates numerous ways to discreetly, as well as not-so discreetly carry out your hit. Indeed, one of the best things about this game as well as the series in general is the freedom in which you are given to carry out any given mission with more patient players being able to slip in and out of a level like a ghost, killing only the target, while more trigger happy players are still able to gun their way through the entire game. The tone of the missions themselves feels appropriately dark for a game that revolves around a contact killer, with many of the levels taking place at night in the rain, and the morbidly ambient soundtrack is once again provided by the excellent Jesper Kyd. To conclude I think that Hitman Contracts was a great entry into the franchise, and one that offered more refined and and generally better overall quality of missions then its predecessors.
I wasn't expecting much from the $9.99 price tag, but I must confess, this is probably the most fun I've had with a opened ended space game since Elite. To best describe the gameplay of this title, think somewhere along the lines of the aforementioned Elite and Privateer, but turn based, with the open ended nature allowing you to follow pretty much any role you can think of. Want to be the most revered bounty hunter in the galaxy? You can do it. Want to be a ruthless pirate and pray upon innocent freighters, and rule your own criminal empire? You can do it. Want to smuggle contraband in pursuit of riches, whist evading the watchful eyes of the authorities. You can do it. Want to be an honest trader who is always watching the economy for the opportunity for profit. You can do it. And there is so much more to this game that I have not covered as well, such as the ability to own factories, being able to board and capture enemy ships, the four factions that are at war, and how your actions can influence it, etc To conclude, I find this game to be completely addicting, and definitely one of the better examples of the open ended space game. If you are in to these types of games, buy it. Trust me, you won't regret it.
