- Title: Tom Clancy’s HAWX
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Developer: Ubisoft Romania
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: Flight Combat
- Pros: Fun gameplay; nice presentation; co-op
- Cons: A bit on the short and simple side
Features and Modes
The single-player campaign in HAWX features 19 missions that see you doing fairly standard flight combat stuff – dogfighting and occasionally taking out ground targets – but mixes things up with an escort mission or special requirements here and there to keep everything feeling fresh. The story isn’t anything spectacular and, frankly, the gameplay is more than enough to keep you playing, but elements from other Tom Clancy’s games are present in the game which is pretty cool. Your first mission has you protecting a Ghost Recon team, for example, which really tickled us for some reason. The campaign is also interesting thanks to the locations you are fighting at. You’ll fight in the skies above Tokyo, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and more and they all look great because they were created with real satellite data.
Another great thing about the campaign is that you can play every mission with up to four people on Xbox Live in co-op. There is also a standard deathmatch mode so you can dogfight with human opponents, which can also be great fun. All in all, HAWX is a fairly solid package.
Gameplay
HAWX kicks that arcade ease of use up a notch with a couple of nifty control additions. When you press the “X” button, a series of blue gates (known as the “Enhanced Reality System”) appear onscreen that direct you toward your next objective, helps you avoid incoming missiles, or locks you onto an ace enemy pilot. All you have to do is fly through the gates and you’ll end up exactly where you need to be. The other addition is called Assistance Off mode, which turns off safety protocols that keep your jet from stalling. Don’t worry, in HAWX that is a good thing. It lets you intentionally stall your jet so you can perform crazy physics defying turns and change direction very quickly. Dogfights in HAWX are literally like nothing you have ever seen before.
One additional gameplay note is that we played it using both the regular controller and the Saitek Aviator Flight Stick. If you want the best experience with the game I’d recommend playing it with the Aviator. It single-handedly makes the problems I mentioned in the above paragraph go away because even though you are doing the same stuff, the stick just makes it 100% more satisfying and fun. Find out more about the stick in our full review.
Graphics
Graphically, HAWX is a nice looking game. The planes are all nicely detailed and perfectly modeled. Explosions and smoke effects also look great. As I mentioned above, the cities were created with real satellite images and look pretty stunning from far away. When you get close the ground textures look pretty pixilated, but you shouldn’t be that low anyway, flyboy.
The sound is also pretty well done in HAWX. The sound effects are realistic and the chatter on your radio is believable. Not much more you can ask for.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Tom Clancy’s HAWX is a fun, accessible flight combat game. It is a little on the short side, and isn’t the most satisfying experience the genre has to offer, but as a means of satisfying any lingering Top Gun fantasies and/or playing some co-op with friends in a title that isn’t a first-person-shooter it is a pretty darn good game. I’d recommend it for a rental over a blind purchase, but it is a fun game that is worth checking out.
