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Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X
Take to the skies and save the world, Tom Clancy style.
Ever since Top Gun hit the cinema screens in 1986, manning the cockpit of a fighter jet has been the fantasy choice of adrenaline junkies. Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X hopes to emulate the movie's spectacular dog fights and knock Ace Combat from its perch to become the fight and flight sim of choice. Some readers might find that last sentence a bit confusing. Ace Combat is by no means a simulation, but it is the only aerial combat game that has any credibility left on consoles.
H.A.W.X is an aerial combat game that strikes a clever balance between sim-like realism and arcade thrills. Players take part in anti-terror missions, including reconnaissance and dogfights over real-world locations, stunningly recreated using satellite imagery. Pilots can switch viewpoints at any time to enable greater maneuverability or combat accuracy, catering for casual and hardcore veterans alike. Missions begin with the camera hanging a short distance from the back of the craft, After Burner-style. In this mode a HUD aids fight and flight with radars, advanced warning systems and input from your wingman.
A handy intercept mode opens gateways that, if flown through, will line up an enemy in the jet's sight. The same method is also used for evading missiles, which is a nice added benefit. The second viewpoint opens up a more oblique camera angle that does away with the screen furniture, enabling fancy flying better suited to a maelstrom of missiles being fired your way, while releasing your inner daredevil and losing weapon accuracy.
As you play through the missions, you get points for accuracy and time that help you level up. With this RPG element thrown into the mix, you really need to perform in missions to unlock new planes, maps and weapons, as leveling up is the only way to open new items. Having said that, the extra weapons you acquire have some great-looking effects but they don't do much more than your standard original weapons did in the first place. You can complete any mission from beginning to end with the same set of weapons, which makes your hard work at leveling up a bit pointless... except for those extra maps and planes.
What else, you ask? Up to four players can play the campaign mode in co-op. Online dogfights have been done numerous times before, but never with an online campaign mode. It is an amazing feeling gliding through the air with your buddy (or buddies) by your side and does add some humor to a slightly boring campaign. Should you be unlucky enough to have no social life, and therefore don't have any mates, EndWar-like voice commands are available for you to shout strategic commands to your wingmen.
Visually this game is spectacular, but swoop down to take out tanks and everything gets a bit blurry. Most of your fighting will take place high up in the sky, so it is not something you will have to engage all that often. The stars of the game, the 50 playable planes, all look superb with particle effects - shooting missiles from them looks as realistic as you're going to get. Talking about missiles, add a 5.1 surround sound set-up to the mix and it feels as if the missile is blasting away from your couch into the screen (if you use the cockpit camera).
Unfortunately, H.A.W.X is a victim of the high standards set by other Tom Clancy games. Most Tom Clancy games are lots of fun to play and the word 'boring' has no place in reviews. It was a great idea to launch another flight-sim into the industry, but it just needs a bit of polishing, a longer campaign and less RPG elements - then Ace Combat will have a flight-sim to be terrified of.
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