Foreword
Flight sims on console have in general been dominated by an arcade style, of which the Ace Combat franchise has been the most prominent one. Between releases of this popular series there have been solid alternatives for similar experiences, fallen in the shadows of a vocal fanbase. Ubisoft's, Tom Clancy's HAWX franchise is one of these alternatives and sadly forgotten.During the early years of the Xbox 360, Ubisoft reinvented it’s Tom Clancy franchise, preparing and fully utilising a brand-new generation of console hardware. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter lead the way, read my review here, and can take credit in raising the Tom Clancy franchise into massive fame after Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six earlier popularity. During this seventh generation of consoles, a lot of genres were explored in the franchise. HAWX, an arcade styled flight sim, was one of these.
Heavily influenced by both Ace Combat and Tom Clancy titles in general, HAWX tried to make success in a new genre, but sadly after two solid titles it would fade away again. Both games are made by Ubisoft's division in Romania, the same people behind the Blazing Angels WW2 titles.
Last year I decided to replay both the HAWX titles, so let's take a look at each one!
Review
Played on: Xbox Series X
Released: 2009 (Xbox 360)
While the simplified, arcade, flight gameplay and stupid amount of missiles each aircraft is carrying may be similar Ace Combat, there’s no denying that HAWX is distinctly different in its presentation. Whereas AC focuses on a melancholic and narrative experience of a fantasy world inspired by our own, with an apparent anti-war narrative, HAWX is the opposite.
HAWX delivers it's story in the vein of a typical Tom Clancy title from the era it released in, with warfare from a not-so-distant future and newsflashes. Its decidedly not anti-war, but then again, you’re not delving into a flight shooter and a Tom Clancy inspired story without wanting war action.
The presentation, from menus to music is futuristic and upbeat, while the story bears a simple premise of depicting an ongoing conflict you’re amidst. It interweaves with other Tom Clancy timelines. This is about being a pilot amidst a massive conflict with tons of information flowing past you, depicted through radio chatter, news flashes and orders from high-ranking officers. It may lack the emotional and human side Ace Combat dwells on, but at the same time it feels current and real as a result.
Although Ace Combat tried reinventing and westernising itself with Assault Horizon, a guilty pleasure title I much enjoyed, it’s sombre and melancholic presentation in the mainline series feels overused. As such, the upbeat vibe of HAWX is refreshing, without the philosophical side to why war exists.
Although Ace Combat tried reinventing and westernising itself with Assault Horizon, a guilty pleasure title I much enjoyed, it’s sombre and melancholic presentation in the mainline series feels overused. As such, the upbeat vibe of HAWX is refreshing, without the philosophical side to why war exists.
I love how missions begin with you blazing atop the clouds, before diving down towards earth. Speeding towards mission objectives and seeing an impressively detailed ground below appear. Each of the 19 missions feature a unique environment, colour scheme and world location to fly over.
It definitely feels like an Ace Combat title, controls are quick to learn and manoeuvring your craft is obviously simplified for casual players to enjoy. With an insane turning radius, no fuel and advanced avionics to worry about, it's a breeze to fly. There are tons of missiles at your disposal, as if any jet fighter could possibly carry that many, and an infinite machine gun to take down enemy craft or ground targets with.
It definitely feels like an Ace Combat title, controls are quick to learn and manoeuvring your craft is obviously simplified for casual players to enjoy. With an insane turning radius, no fuel and advanced avionics to worry about, it's a breeze to fly. There are tons of missiles at your disposal, as if any jet fighter could possibly carry that many, and an infinite machine gun to take down enemy craft or ground targets with.
Uniquely, HAWX features some cool elements of its own. Firstly, a button can be pressed if you’re engaging in one-on-one dogfights, clearly showing the enemy flight path as hoops to fly through, guiding the player to end up behind them to engage fire. It helps newcomers manoeuvre their craft correctly and understand how the ballad of dogfight dances through the air. You don’t want those enemies behind youself!
In addition, there’s a distant camera angle mode you can engage, which allows you to turn your aircraft rapidly and view the action from afar. Useful for orientating yourself in confusing aerial engagements, and enemy missile lock-ons. It’s a fun way to view the action and get out of certain tricky situations, but ultimately I prefer being inside the aircraft. Personally, I found this special angle worked better than the same developers lock-on cam from Blazing Angels.
There are three regular camera angles to choose from, behind the aircraft, “bumper” cam and inside the cockpit. The latter offers an impressive way of seeing each aircraft's cockpit with unique visual details. There’s even voice command options, allowing you to fire rockets by using your microphone. It’s one of the few games I’ve used it successfully in, allowing you to fire two simultaneous rockets.
While perfectly playable on original hardware, although it couldn’t hold a steady 60fps on the Xbox 360, it's a rock-solid experience on the Xbox Series X. Sadly, it doesn’t feature any other enhancements, outside the forced 16xAF on the system, but it looks surprisingly sharp and detailed at 720p. You'll have to hunt down the physical version though, as it never was released digitally.
There are three regular camera angles to choose from, behind the aircraft, “bumper” cam and inside the cockpit. The latter offers an impressive way of seeing each aircraft's cockpit with unique visual details. There’s even voice command options, allowing you to fire rockets by using your microphone. It’s one of the few games I’ve used it successfully in, allowing you to fire two simultaneous rockets.
While perfectly playable on original hardware, although it couldn’t hold a steady 60fps on the Xbox 360, it's a rock-solid experience on the Xbox Series X. Sadly, it doesn’t feature any other enhancements, outside the forced 16xAF on the system, but it looks surprisingly sharp and detailed at 720p. You'll have to hunt down the physical version though, as it never was released digitally.
I’m hugely impressed by the detailed satellite imagery used for the terrain and how massive cities feature a healthy number of actual 3D buildings. In addition, the lighting, cloud effects and reflections spice things up with volume and variation.
Sure, the textures don’t hold up close and environment detail like trees and ground vehicles are extremely sparse for a flight sim of this era. However, it’s up there with Ace Combat 6 visually on the same console, with the added benefit of 60fps.
For players accustomed to Ace Combat, or flight sims in general, it’s a fairly easy playthrough. Outperforming enemy aircraft and outgunning them is simple with each aircraft turning incredibly sharp. Their handling isn't exactly depicting their real life counterparts and feel quite alike no matter what model you choose. Although stalls, lack of thrust to keep the aircraft airborne, can occur, I rarely had any challenges flying the various aircraft. Basically, choose an aircraft you enjoy the design of and relax about having to control it in any special way.
There's about an 8 to 10 hour campaign here, with levelling that unlocks aircraft and weapon systems to keep you going for some replays of missions. Coop is highly recommended if you have a friend into flight sims too. It makes missions even easier and quicker, rather than commanding your AI wingmen alone, but there’s something cool flying alongside a friend and helping each other out!
Even though it doesn't revolutionise the genre, HAWX is still an overlooked title in my opinion. It’s right up there with some of the best Ace Combat titles, just without the story drama and melancholy, substituted with a typical straight to the action Tom Clancy presentation and realism, lacking any personal touch. But then again, not every game needs this.
Sure, the textures don’t hold up close and environment detail like trees and ground vehicles are extremely sparse for a flight sim of this era. However, it’s up there with Ace Combat 6 visually on the same console, with the added benefit of 60fps.
For players accustomed to Ace Combat, or flight sims in general, it’s a fairly easy playthrough. Outperforming enemy aircraft and outgunning them is simple with each aircraft turning incredibly sharp. Their handling isn't exactly depicting their real life counterparts and feel quite alike no matter what model you choose. Although stalls, lack of thrust to keep the aircraft airborne, can occur, I rarely had any challenges flying the various aircraft. Basically, choose an aircraft you enjoy the design of and relax about having to control it in any special way.
There's about an 8 to 10 hour campaign here, with levelling that unlocks aircraft and weapon systems to keep you going for some replays of missions. Coop is highly recommended if you have a friend into flight sims too. It makes missions even easier and quicker, rather than commanding your AI wingmen alone, but there’s something cool flying alongside a friend and helping each other out!
Even though it doesn't revolutionise the genre, HAWX is still an overlooked title in my opinion. It’s right up there with some of the best Ace Combat titles, just without the story drama and melancholy, substituted with a typical straight to the action Tom Clancy presentation and realism, lacking any personal touch. But then again, not every game needs this.
HAWX controls easily, feels very responsive and looks impressive considering the hardware it was built for. Give it a chance and discover arcade flight sims outside of Ace Combat.
In some ways, HAWX 2 is a more diversified and a stronger package than the first game. It offers new mission types, like controlling drones, performing heavy bombing and even wreaking havoc from a Hercules C130 gunship. Although it lacks the responsiveness of 60fps, it’s 30fps locked and only available on the Xbox 360, it adds more depth with take-off and landing and unique mission objectives.
Presentation retains the same futuristic and Tom Clancy style, and this time it’s directly connected to events in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Allowing you to get a sensation of how air support did their job, while you were on the ground in that game!
To mix things up a little, I played it with a flight stick and it felt quite nice to do so. Although it requires some skill to get into using one, it can aid in controlling the aircraft in a smoother manner. The same flying aids, hoops showing the flight path of enemies and the distant camera mode, all return here. The latter, which allows you to take sharper turns, is actually a little more useful in the second game considering the enemy AI.
Which brings me to where HAWX 2 kinda misses. It ramps up the AI for enemies too far. Sure, they react to your twists and turns as you fly on their tails trying to get a lock-on, utilise flares cleverly, putting your flying skills to the max. Seemingly, a plus on paper. However, its time consuming engagements to take down a single enemy. In combination with tons of aircraft to take down, and often a time limit, makes it a tedious affair for an arcade flight sim.
Had they utilised the smarter enemy AI in certain, one-on-one, missions it would've worked, but not when all enemy aircraft require a tedious chore to take down on later and more difficult missions. Often you'll fail missions because of the time constraints or being hunted by tons of enemy aircraft with perfect aim. Its a frustrating experience, to say the least. Playing coop can ease some of the difficulty, were impressively talking up to four player coop here, but it’s still tough and spikes rapidly as you progress through the story.
Otherwise, it's a very similar title to the first. Some differences are less aircraft choices before a mission, focusing more on individual aircraft than simply jumping into anything at hand. I’m not sure this is reflected with increased handling diversity, though they all feel pretty much the same. As such, I preferred the open choice of aircraft in the first game.
Review
Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2010
In some ways, HAWX 2 is a more diversified and a stronger package than the first game. It offers new mission types, like controlling drones, performing heavy bombing and even wreaking havoc from a Hercules C130 gunship. Although it lacks the responsiveness of 60fps, it’s 30fps locked and only available on the Xbox 360, it adds more depth with take-off and landing and unique mission objectives.
Presentation retains the same futuristic and Tom Clancy style, and this time it’s directly connected to events in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Allowing you to get a sensation of how air support did their job, while you were on the ground in that game!
To mix things up a little, I played it with a flight stick and it felt quite nice to do so. Although it requires some skill to get into using one, it can aid in controlling the aircraft in a smoother manner. The same flying aids, hoops showing the flight path of enemies and the distant camera mode, all return here. The latter, which allows you to take sharper turns, is actually a little more useful in the second game considering the enemy AI.
Which brings me to where HAWX 2 kinda misses. It ramps up the AI for enemies too far. Sure, they react to your twists and turns as you fly on their tails trying to get a lock-on, utilise flares cleverly, putting your flying skills to the max. Seemingly, a plus on paper. However, its time consuming engagements to take down a single enemy. In combination with tons of aircraft to take down, and often a time limit, makes it a tedious affair for an arcade flight sim.
Had they utilised the smarter enemy AI in certain, one-on-one, missions it would've worked, but not when all enemy aircraft require a tedious chore to take down on later and more difficult missions. Often you'll fail missions because of the time constraints or being hunted by tons of enemy aircraft with perfect aim. Its a frustrating experience, to say the least. Playing coop can ease some of the difficulty, were impressively talking up to four player coop here, but it’s still tough and spikes rapidly as you progress through the story.
Otherwise, it's a very similar title to the first. Some differences are less aircraft choices before a mission, focusing more on individual aircraft than simply jumping into anything at hand. I’m not sure this is reflected with increased handling diversity, though they all feel pretty much the same. As such, I preferred the open choice of aircraft in the first game.
Unlike the it's backward compatible predecessor, HAWX 2 is only playable on an original Xbox 360 and, as such, does not benefit from any hardware boost. However, it gave me an excuse to dig out that old flight stick!
Although on paper it's an equally visual experience to the first game, with satellite scanned terrain and real life locations, playing it on a Xbox 360 with a 30fps lock, makes it muddier and less attractive in it's visual fidelity.
Overall, a solid sequel with more mission diversity and an equal lifespan. More to dig into if you enjoyed the first release, just be prepared for the difficulty of enemy AI, it becomes really frustrating further into the campaign.
