Wings (not to be confused with Wings of Dawn, is a Game Mod for FreeSpace 2 set in a completely different universe, a 20 Minutes into the Future scenario centered around a fourth World War in the year 2145. The world's nations have coalesced into a handful of massive superpowers after the devastating events of World War III a century earlier. In Russia an aggressive nationalist party has come to power and seeks to regain Eastern European states that were once part of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. The problem is, these territories are now part of the European Union, which controls the most powerful military in the world and has the United States as its ally. The Russians enlist the help of the Pan-Arab Coalition with the promise of giving them Palestine (which has existed under an uneasy peace as a European Union member for the past 50 years or so). While the Russians and PAC set out to take a bite out of the European Union, Earth's various space colonies have decided they've had enough of meddling Earthers telling them what to do and have formed the Spacer Commonwealth. The nations of Earth are rather displeased about this, and you just know it will get ugly.
Wings is notable for its extremely fast-paced dogfighting (speeds of over 500 m/s are not uncommon) and emphasis on atmospheric combat with futuristic fighter jets. The player assumes the role of a rookie American pilot with the callsign Spectre, assigned to the USS Virginia to assist the European Union in the war. The campaign stretches over 20 missions and puts the player in combat at various points against the Russians, PAC, and Spacers, in both the air and space.
This mod includes examples of:
- Ace Custom: Natasha Degarova's custom Su-97, painted black with black widow spider markings.
- Ace Pilot: The player, plus numerous enemy aces that appear throughout the campaign.
- Airborne Aircraft Carrier: These ships also double as The Battlestar as they can operate in both atmosphere and space.
- Amazon Brigade: Colonel Degarova's Black Widow Squadron.
- Applied Phlebotinum: Many kinds.
Don't ask how it works.- Anti-Gravity and Artificial Gravity: For capital ships. They don't need massive engine power or aerodynamic lift to stay in the air because they can just cancel gravity altogether.
- Unobtainium: The exotic matter that allows gravity manipulation. It has to be made in space, which means that the Spacers control almost the entire supply of it.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Allies are designated on radar in blue. Enemies are red.
- Crippling Over Specialization: The Su-100 "Broadsword" bomber. It goes fast. Really fast. And that's about it.
- The Dreaded: The player, after a few missions.
- Energy Weapon: Exotic, temperamental models that play second fiddle to kinetic weapons.
- Faster-Than-Light Travel: Averted. All of the action takes place within the solar system due to the lack of FTL.
- Flunky Boss: Colonel Yuri Chelenkov and his Death's Head squadron, composed of Elite Mooks who, while tough, are not nearly as difficult as the Black Widow Squadron and fly the rather lackluster Su-93 Ferret fighter.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: You go from being just another rookie pilot to having Russia's most elite fighter squadron hunting specifically for you.
- Heel–Face Turn: Most of the Russian military, when the nationalist government is deposed. In the final mission Russian forces help NATO destroy ICBMs headed for the United States. There are still some holdouts, though.
- High-Speed Missile Dodge: Quite easy due to the G-forces Wings fighters can pull.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: Fighters are given more ammunition and missiles in-game than they can realistically hold for gameplay reasons.
- Jack of All Stats: The F-116 Peregrine, the first fighter that the player flies. It is reasonably good at everything and excels at nothing.
- Lightning Bruiser: The elite fighters F-122 Tigershark, Eurofighter Njord, and Su-97 Fuller
- Macross Missile Massacre: Capital ship cruise missile salvoes.
- Magnetic Weapons: The Spacer artillery mass drivers.
- Make the Bear Angry Again: The nationalists gaining power in Russia. At the end of the campaign they're about to be thrown out in a coup and launch hundreds of nukes at the United States. The player has to help shoot them down in the final mission, Operation Guardian Angel.
- Master of None: The Al-Hafiz P22, by far the weakest fighter in the game.
- Middle Eastern Coalition: The Pan-Arab Coalition.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: The attitude of Colonel Degarova and her Black Widows.
- Nuclear Weapons Taboo: The Earth nations avoid using nukes if at all possible because they like having an Earth to live on. Some of their conventional munitions carry the power of small nuclear devices but without the radiation and nasty political implications. The Spacers are much more liberal with nuke use.
- Old-School Dogfight: Hypersonic ammunition and anti-G-force phlebotinum allowing the High-Speed Missile Dodge to become ubiquitous have restored guns to primacy in aerial combat. Missiles still have their place though, especially at long range.
- Punk Punk: Jet Punk.
- Protection Mission: The final mission, where you shoot down Russian ICBMs before they can release their MIRVs and hit the United States.
- Shout-Out
- The player is named Spectre and leads Spectre Team.
- One of the Russian fighters has the reporting name Flashman, and another one is nicknamed Ferret, and there's a bomber designated Broadsword.
- The American heat-seeking missile is called the AIM-31 Mauler and the European one is the Joint Strike Missile.
- The Spacer S-1 Shrike fighter has the Reporting Name "Fangface".
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: The Spacer Commonwealth engages in terrorism frequently, including nuking Miami just as a "fuck you" to the United States.
- Reporting Names: For non-NATO aircraft.
- Space Plane: Ohhhhh yes. Not single-stage-to-orbit though; they need either a rocket booster or a capital ship to carry them into space.
- Stealth in Space: Averted. In fact, advanced sensor technology has eliminated stealth altogether.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The SCS Independence has a devastating beam cannon for a main gun.
