Xbox 360
Tom Clancy games can be quite hit or miss. They usually involve popping towel headed terrorists, in genuine world locales with super realistic gun fights. Hawx breaks from this trend however, it being all about the fighter planes.
The first thing you'll notice about Hawx is just how easy a game it is to pick up. The control system is simple & intuitive, which translates to a forgiving difficulty curve. Hawx feels far more like an arcade title rather than a pure flight simulator. This is further accented by the lack of long boring intercepts and the fact you are never expected to take off or land your plane.
Even Tom Clancy's usual extreme realism takes a back seat in Hawx as the game developers have thrown in a cool, interesting new control mode called the OFF system. OFF lets the player turn off their flying machines computer assistance. (Think of turning off the ABS in a car). OFF couldn't be easier to use, simply double slap either trigger (R2 or L2 for you fancy PS3 owners) and the camera angle will change to a cinematic viewpoint. OFF then allows you to flip, roll, spin and hurl your plane about screen with incredible, physics bending, anime style aerobatics. The stylish camera angle also means that you will never miss any of your Top Gun style manoeuvres. Truly the OFF function is Hawx' most defining feature, changing the dull, linear dog fighting of other flight games into a vicious aerial ballet.
Every vehicle you pilot has been beautifully and painstakingly re-created. Couple this with the perfectly designed, real world cityscapes & the impressive light / glare effects all of which make Hawx a sharp and stunningly rendered game. Your virtual hanger will comprise of old favourites from times long passed (The cold war era) and some new prototype models. Aviation buffs will practically cream themselves at Hawx' line up and it should impress even the most cynical of flight-sim fans.
The experimental air craft offer some credibility to Clancy's ‘near future' setting. Even if the dialogue reads like big Tom cracked one off into the star spangled banner. However storylines in flight games are often needless attachments bolted onto the side of a fun engine, designed solely for aerial carnage. Thankfully the storyline and voice acting can be easily ignored so you can focus on more important matters (ie shoving a missile up your opponent's tail pipe). There is also a slight crossover with Hawx' story and that of previous Clancy titles (Ghost Recon particularly) and this may please grass roots fans but for the rest of us it seems like Hawx is whoring itself off the back of prior, vastly popular games.
The single player is mission based, as is often the case with these games, and they are broken up into ground assault, air to air and simple protect / escort tasks. Before long though missions quickly begin to repeat themselves, causing some minor frustration. Mercifully there's an online co - op function which helps mix things up a little and offers a degree of replayability.
Of course no game these days would be complete without an online death match and Hawx is no exception. It seems as though the online function is everything Hawx has been leading up to but the servers are depressingly under populated and the minimal choice of game types is nothing short of comical. These problems along with the standard issue indecency of modern internet gamers, means that Hawx online is no where near as fun as it should be.
Hawx has a solid foundation. It manages to rekindle a childhood love of flight and accent it with incredible, science fiction style aerial manoeuvres. The OFF function takes a half step forward at least as far as flying games are concerned but a few minor irritancy's means that Hawx falls short of true greatness. It's good but leaves us would be pilots dreaming of something more, something greater, something far above that oppressing azure sky
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