H.A.W.X

Tom Clancy’s HAWX can best be described as an aerial combat simulator, a pretty rare genre for modern console gaming although some might remember the Ace Combat series on the Playstation 2. Other titles that would encompass this genre is the recently released HAWX 2, IL 2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon which is due for release in 2011.
So, what does HAWX offer us then?

HAWX puts us in the cockpit of over 50 different actual aircraft in existence today. I’m not kidding either, the game has 50 fully licensed aircraft to unlock and play. Each has its own strengths, weaknesses and weapon packages. Ever fancied flying a Tomcat, Stealth Bomber or A-10 Thunderbolt? Well you can, in fact you can choose whatever aircraft you like for each mission and choose the weapon package to fly with as well. The game, of course, will recommend an aircraft and weapon package for each mission but I used these more as guidelines then choose my own equipment, it’s more fun this way. Admittedly the game has more aircraft than it needs, I found that I didn’t use half of those available.
You’ll find yourself flying a variety of different missions where you’ll be engaged in escorting aircraft, dog fighting, bombarding ground and naval targets and contending with SAM sites. The missions are quite entertaining and bring a strong storyline that sync up and squeeze into the Tom Clancy universe where you’ll find Ghost Recon teams and the like. Although each mission will put you through your paces I did find myself wishing there were a few more missions in the game. Also having finished the game on Normal I moved onto Elite and found no significant increase in difficulty. Granted, when you do move onto Elite you’ll have all the available aircraft and weapon packages unlocked from the previous run through the game so maybe it all balances out?

 

Moving onto the game controls: everything handles pretty well. The aircraft, all jet planes, handle perfectly well. Each aircraft has its own handling limits, of course, but as far as the controls go everything is spot on. That is until you activate Assistance Off. Assistance Off (AO) gives you a zoomed out view of your aircraft in order to let you dogfight more effectively and also to dodge incoming missiles. AO allows you to throw your aircraft around in tighter corners to gain the edge on enemy aircraft and in my opinion is a well engineered idea with but one flaw. While flying in AO you’ll be turning many tight maneuvers quickly and just as quickly it is easy to lose track which side of the aircraft is up and which way you’re turning. It could just be me, mind you, I do have glasses and I am operating on a 22” HDMI TV but I have the feeling others might feel the same way.

Lets move onto the combat. With a small range of guided missiles, rockets and bombs to choose from you’re pretty well equipped to take on whatever comes your way. This being the modern age your aircraft will try to establish missile lock on your enemies and away your missiles go. That might sound easy but trust me in close range aerial combat establishing missile lock is no simple task but it is very enjoyable. Watching an enemy aircraft roar past your cockpit followed by two smoky streaks of guided death is a tasty treat. Lining yourself up for ground targets for a bomb drop or rocket strike is just as fun, especially when you hear that familiar whistling sound of a plummeting bomb.

 

Finally we move onto the graphics and we’ll start with the aircraft. Now I’m no expert on aircraft although I do enjoy modeling them but, to me, it seems all of the aircraft within HAWX are pretty well detailed. As I started each mission I found myself swinging around the camera and admiring my aircrafts style and curves… sexy.
It’s the world around you that’ll really captivate you though. From the dizzying heights you find yourself at you’re presented with stunning scenery. It all looks very realistic until you get closer to the ground… The fact is buildings and vehicles down there aren’t all that detailed unfortunately. It’s not a big loss but for a game with a fair bit of ground bombing they could’ve put a bit more work into it.

All in all I loved HAWX. I loved being able to choose an aircraft for each mission, choose the weapon load out and wreck havoc. The game isn’t perfect but then what game is? I’d recommend this to anyone who is interested in modern aircraft or aerial combat. There’s few of these games out there so why not give it a try?