‘Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.’ Review (360)

Sat, Mar 7, 2009

What Is It?

"Tom Clancy's HAWX," simply put, is an arcade-style air combat game where players pilot a variety of famous modern aircraft equipped with futuristic weaponry, while engaging in story-based sorties in order to bring down a powerful private military corporation in the year 2021. Ubisoft's answer to Namco's popular "Ace Combat" series, the game is rooted in the same traditions -- an emphasis on dogfighting, little regard for realistic physics, and enough missiles on board each plane to decimate the population of Tasmania -- but attempts to up the ante by adding intuitive new ways to control the action, as well as jump-in, jump-out co-op play.

What's to like?

Whether you're new to air combat games or a grizzled vet who's getting a little tired of the same ol', the "Enhanced Reality System" in "HAWX" really does provide an accessible, thrilling way to play.

See that F-22 Raptor buzzing Cape Canaveral in the screenshot above? In most flight games, you might be able to see from that angle during a post-flight cutscene. But in "HAWX," vets can dodge every missile and splash every bogey in a cinematic third-person view -- and beginners can learn the ropes using a computer-assisted system that teaches the basic angles of attack using a series of simple gates. See video below:

Levels are well-designed, with enough diverse objectives (seek and destroy, escort, provide close air support, etc.) and surprises to never feel stale, and each is set over picturesque real-world terrain culled directly from professional satellite imagery. Controls are also spot-on, responsive without feeling touchy, and with optional voice commands for directing wingmen and firing off missiles. (No "Fox Two," sadly, but "Double Whammy" works wonders.)

What's not to like?

While I can forgive the game's story for being a forgettable excuse to bomb everything in sight, and while the game's repetitive audio chatter did little to help suspend my disbelief, the most surprising negative in "HAWX" was how poorly Ubisoft integrated co-op functionality.

Though jump-in, jump-out co-op means friends (or random strangers) can supplant your piss-poor AI wingmen at any time, there's no way to tell whether "any time" will be the beginning of a mission -- or the very end, less than a minute from completion. There are no lobbies in which players can gather to attempt a level from beginning to end, those who choose to watch mission briefings will miss out on part of the level -- and because the way "HAWX" compensates for additional human players is by adding additional enemy forces, there are even certain missions where a co-op player joining late can spoil others' chances of success.

But not by a lot, because the other thing missing from "HAWX" is serious difficulty. There are loads of enemy pilots to shoot down, but no aces to seriously test your mettle -- and the majority of your targets will be dumb ground emplacements anyhow.

Is it fun?

If you like the idea of maneuvering a twenty-two-ton aluminum bird through batteries of deadly missiles, absolutely. The dogfights are spectacular, the missions keep you on your toes, and a brilliant "Call of Duty 4" style carrot-and-stick experience system will keep you playing level after level to unlock increasingly awesome planes -- including the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and even a battle-ready version of the famous Blackbird Jet, the YF-12A. And then there's Versus mode...

Buy, Try, Fry?

While I might balk at paying $60 for the 19-mission "HAWX" campaign alone -- don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant weekend rental -- true aircraft enthusiasts should not miss this game's versus mode.

Pure and unadulterated, the eight-player Team Deathmatch available in "HAWX" has exactly what the single-player game lacks: smart opponents and co-op potential. No matter your favorite plane, it likely has a role in a four-player team, as Ubisoft has given each plane useful perks (the A-10 Thunderbolt II carries immense payloads and a heavy vulcan cannon, while the speed demon YF-12 can practically outrun missiles) and team-wide powerups like radar jamming add a "Call of Duty 4"-like edge to play. Versus mode is also where you'll find the opportunity to carry out realistic combat -- there's one game type where players are restricted to a detailed cockpit view, and aircraft are limited to the number of missiles they could carry in real life.

But as usual, don't take our word for it -- if you have a system that can play "Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X," then you almost certainly have access to the free demo.