Impressions: Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

Rented H.A.W.X. the other day. I'm not really a fan of flight simulator/dogfighting games, but I liked this one. Read on for more.

 

Okay, first off, storyline. Spoilers ahead, and since I'm not sure if NoobFeed supports a spoiler mask, I'm just gonna jump right in. Skip past the next two paragraphs if you don't want to know.

 

                                                                                                                                                      

Crenshaw (your character), Casper, and Talon are the three members of an elite unit in the US Air Force known as H.A.W.X. squad. The game starts out with you doing basic Air Force stuff; countering terrorist ground forces, and the like. Your squad is disgruntled, due to the fact that the Air Force is going to shut down the H.A.W.X. squad, leaving them jobless. Just after they're laid off, they get an offer from a private military contractor (PMC) called Artemis Global Security, which they swiftly take. Artemis lands a big contract defending Brazil from a seperatist group known as Las Trinidad, and H.A.W.X. unit squashes all of Las Trinidad's attempts to take over Brazil. Brazil then switches to the US for protection, leaving Artemis with no contract, and falling stock. After a large naval battle, Artemis aligns itself with its new client, Las Trinidad, and attacks the remaining US Navy forces. H.A.W.X. squad goes rogue and protects the US Navy, then rejoins the US Air Force. Still with me? 'Cause this story is about to get messed up.

 

Artemis claims that the US has no business interfering with the affairs between Brazil, Las Trinidad, and Artemis. While they are correct, Artemis throws that argument away by attacking US soil, bombing Washington DC and attempting to take down Air Force One (the President's jet). H.A.W.X. squad defends the city and the President, but Artemis quickly takes over many large cities, such as Chicago, and Army bases. This is pretty weird, as there is no way a PMC would have been allowed to have this many military units, and no way they could have hid them all. Why, exactly, they attack the US, a global superpower, is not explained either. I'll leave the story at that for now.

                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

Now, the controls are basic flight controls. RT to accelerate, LT to brake, left stick horizontal to rotate, left stick up to dive down, left stick down to climb up. You have a couple primary weapons (missles with varying effects), and a weaker chain gun that can be used at closer range should you not be able to use missles. The combat is fast and fun, and the use of a system for dodging missles, hitting targets that are in cover, and intercepting enemy fighters makes it accessible to anyone. Multiple times in the game, your enemy jams your missle systems, forcing you to use your chain guns. This is a welcome change of pace, and really makes you think on your feet.

There's a large number of different aircraft for you to use, each of which have about three different weapon sets for anything from anti-air, to anti-ground, to long-range, to all-around. Usually, you'd just use the plane and weapon system that says "recommended" next to it.

There's also a co-op mode and multiplayer mode, though I haven't gotten a chance to try them out. This game doesn't seem like a multiplayer-savvy game anyway, though I can see co-op being fun.

Gonna leave it at that for now. Overall, the game is pure, mindless fun, and very good. I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

 

                                                                                                                                                       

 

In other news, the People's Choice awards, also known as the "Webbys", are underway. NoobFeed isn't listed for the top gaming site nominees. :( But we'll make it next year, just you wait... For now, the race seems tight between GameSpot and The Escapist. GameSpot's offering an emblem to their users who vote for them if they win, so go vote for them if you feel like it.

That about does it for me. See you all soon. :)