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    Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

    Game » consists of 13 releases. Released Mar 03, 2009

    Tom Clancy's HAWX put the player in a variety of aircraft and their goal is to defend various countries from foreign attack

    thehbk's Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (Xbox 360) review

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    • thehbk wrote this review on .
    • 1 out of 4 Giant Bomb users found it helpful.
    • thehbk has written a total of 3 reviews. The last one was for Halo Wars

    You need more than disc to enjoy this game.

    The new air combat game from Ubisoft is one that brings its own formula to the genre and while it is lacking a few things and doesn’t push any new boundaries, it still offers a competent experience that some may enjoy.

    Now, I am always looking out for the next Tom Clancy game to see how much the realism the titles go for will get in the way of having fun.  I could never get into Rainbow Six because being tactical didn’t feel right in first person but I felt right at home in GRAW.  So which of these is HAWX?  Neither.  This game is the least realistic of the Tom Clancy titles and so it makes me feel like maybe it should not be called Tom Clancy’s.  Though being a fan of GRAW I do appreciate how much this game has in common with the Ghosts.  The game is just a set of missions over the course of story that takes place between GRAW 2 and EndWar in this Tom Clancy universe.  Most missions consist of protecting something or someone or going after a target.

    The game consists of a single player campaign and online matches.  The single player campaign can actually be played co-op with up to 3 other friends.  Finding a game is not hard if you go that route.  Playing alone though, you get some wingmen like when you go to a club.  But playing co-op, your friends now become the help and you lose the wingmen commands.  I will put my trust into my friends’ hands thank you.  When playing there was no lag to be had so it was smooth experience, though the lack of system link play caught me off guard.  The campaign just makes you shoot down targets until the opposing force retreats or you have killed every one else so that some target is safe.  The maps however are pretty huge so you might find yourself spending a lot of time flying for a couple minutes until you get to where you need to be, especially if you just died.

    There is a sort of progression system too where you earn ranks and levels unlocking new weapons and planes as you go which is cool but feels just not that satisfying since by the end of the campaign, you get most stuff you want or need so you don’t feel like coming back for that.  Playing the game Co-Op is the best thing about this game and for me, I can’t remember how awesome it was to just yell at my friend and say, “can you see me?  Get this guy off me.”  It makes you feel like you can count on your friends, or not.  They let me down too.

    I wish the game had more variety in missions.  Especially considering this is supposed to take place in a war, you don’t get many dog fights where it’s a crap load of planes flying around and everyone is targeting you.  Its just not as intense as it could be.  The campaign is short too and has some retarded story about PMC’s.  Why a PMC would start a war with the and try to nuke a city is beyond me.  Wouldn’t they just want to make a quick buck like in Army of Two?  However I still appreciated this game a lot more since you fight in real locations unlike Ace Combat.  I just couldn’t get past hearing Estovakian military and Gracemaria defense.  I felt like I could care less about what happens to those people.  But when you are flying over a few places I have been, then it’s on!  And oh yeah, when some punk wants to shoot at my friend Scott Mitchell, well then you just made me mad.

    The multiplayer is OK.  That’s pretty much it, just ok.  With only up to 8 players, you don’t get many intense fights and its not very much fun to use any of the other cool weapons you get besides lock on missiles.

    Usually the first thing you notice in a game like this is the graphics and one cannot help but compare these to other titles like Ace Combat 6.  Well, I will say that Ace Combat had the better looking plane models.  Here the planes don’t leave you in awe.  Don’t get me wrong, they look good but they don’t have a cinematic quality like they did in Ace Combat.  The ground however looks better here and with the use of real world maps, one really does care and about where they are flying and may take a look at familiar sites.  The ground doesn’t have blurry textures but they are not detailed so the look of them is kinda lost.  Explosions and other effects definitely look good here, like looking into the sun for that glare or the smoke trails left by your missiles.  And when looking at the game with the ‘Assistance off’ option, the game looks really good.

    That brings up the ERS system the game uses.  It is just a system that brings up these colored triangle rings that you fly through.  The computer sets them up so you get fire at another plane or hit or get to a specific objective.  It is a neat idea that follows the whole, next generation warfare idea but just takes the fun out of the game.  Don’t use it and just use your instincts.

    The controls in this game are pretty standard.  You move the plane with the left analog stick and look around with the right.  Bumpers control the back flaps and so on.  However I found that the real game to be had is when using the new Saitek Flighstick (available now!).  The game just feels a whole lot better and flying is just more fun.  The planes control more easily and firing a missile and your guns just feel more satisfying.  It changes the game up considerably.  Playing in cockpit view through the whole thing just made it more personal.

    HAWX is pretty short but I loved the game.  The campaign can get tedious and the action needs more variety, but if you pick up or have a flight stick, then this game can be worth it.  Also, go find yourself your own Iceman.

    Other reviews for Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (Xbox 360)

      Well I liked it... 0

      Despite the lukewarm reception this game has gotten, it exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed it.  Good:100 MILLION DOLLAR SATELLITE!? Graphically, the game is great.  Both the aircraft and the landscape look terrific, and I really wonder what satellite technology they used for the ground...Ranks, the game has a great ranking system in place, each kill gives you experience points which is totaled at the end of each mission.  Each level you earn unlocks new missions, aircraft, and weapon load-ou...

      2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

      A Blast to Play, but not worth the RRP 0

        Tom Clancy is the man for near future military action. If his name is on the book/games/film you can tell it will be a least way half decent. Does H.A.W.X. match up to this standard? H.A.W.X. is a arcade style flight combat game from Ubisoft Romania, those fine fellows who brought us Blazing Angels. And this shows, as the game handles very similarly. The A button is fire missiles, B is cannon, right trigger is accelerate and left trigger brakes. Oh and entering the Konami code allows you...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

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