Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
Experience the puke-bucket antics of jet-fighter aerial battles and low-level assaults in a near-future scenario… seriously like never before.
Better technology equals better games, a fact no more clearly illustrated than in Tom Clancy’s HAWX coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC in March. There have been plenty of supersonic aerial combat games for consoles through the years, but HAWX – for our money – is the first to really capture a sense of the silly speeds and glorious views that pilots encounter on duty.
This isn’t a simulator, mind. HAWX is an action-game pure and simple, although lavishing every possible detail and special effect that Sony and Microsoft’s latest consoles and PC hardware will allow. If you have ever romanced the idea of how cool it would be to pull the Gs in today’s most advanced military aircraft, firing cannons and missiles just for kicks, HAWX is with you all the way.
All the aircraft are based on real-world hardware and look magnificent gleaming in the stratosphere or else firing afterburners against a stormy sky. If you’re a bit of a plane spotter you’ll be in your element with over 60 of the world’s iconic jetfighters to choose from, rated strategically for various types of mission. Among them there as follows: F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-22 Raptor, Dassault Rafale C, FA-18E SuperHornet, Eurofighter Typhoon, AV-8B Harrier II, F-117 Nighthawk and F-14D SuperTomcat. Go fill yer bucket!
HAWX, by the way, is an acronym for ‘High Altitude Warfare Experimental Squadron’, a fictitious elite special ops unit of the US Navy. Your character in this story-driven game is HAWX pilot David Crenshaw, who joins private military agency ARES (sorry, no clue what this stands for) after the HAWX project is closed down. Crenshaw’s new money-making missions take him all over the world wherever there is conflict.
There are more 18 locations, each map covering 12000 square kilometres. The spectacular sights of everywhere from Rio de Janeiro to Washington DC are realistically rendered based on high-resolution satellite imagery from GeoEye – seriously impressive even when flying at low levels. Speaking of which you’ll be encouraged to master all manner of aerial tricks and flicks including our favourite the Stall Turn that requires climbing vertically while reducing thrust before going into freefall. No other game of this ilk has revelled in such antics so hungrily before.
Our preview session with HAWX was one-player only, but there are also 8-player Team death-match modes for online. Needless to say you’ll require all your skills to outsmart the best human pilots who’ve got to grips with the surprisingly versatile controls. It is possible to play without any stabiliser assistance allowing for improbably manoeuvrability in the skies, absolutely essential to avoid missiles.
Tom Clancy’s HAWX is scheduled for release in March. We're genuinely looking forward to bringing you our verdict on what’s looking to be another ambitious Ubisoft production.
