Joystiq hands-on: H.A.W.X.
Editor's note: Former Joystiq writer (and now, former GameTap writer) Jared Rea suddenly found himself in possession of his writeup of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. with no audience to read it. That's where you come in ...
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No, Tom Clancy isn't making a squad-based, tactical skateboarding simulation. Ubisoft is merely flexing their branding muscle and christening their new air combat series in his name. Ah, Air Combat. From meager beginnings came a lucrative franchise for rival publisher Namco-Bandai as their Ace Combat series of dramatic flight sims have since become the only available option for maverick gamers. Where Namco has found a niche with their anime inspired theatrics and pop-star plastered jets, Ubisoft is hoping to bring a bit of seriousness back to blowing stuff up.
Our single mission demo of H.A.W.X. took place over Rio De Janeiro and a realistically mapped one at that. The entire game is set to feature real world locations created with actual satellite data, which means that – from the cities to the mountains – it's as close to the real deal as you can get. As an added touch, the mission began with a fly-by of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue, which we left alone in fear of bad karma. And the Lord sayeth unto us, "Negative, Ghost Rider. The Pattern is full." Being a Tom Clancy title, H.A.W.X. takes place in the not-too-distant future and in the same world as other lineage titles, most notably the Ghost Recon series. One missions actually recreates a level from GRAW 2, putting you in the air supporting the troops on the ground. Meta.
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For as true to life as the environments are, the same doesn't apply to the flying mechanics behind H.A.W.X.. More Ace Combat than Flight Simulator, H.A.W.X. still straddles the line between arcade shooter and rigid simulation, with just enough touches to make you a believer. For those not adept in aerial combat, the HUD allows for a variety of tricks to teach you the basics. For example, while chasing an enemy fighter, you can pull up a flight path indicator that will display the best possible route for you to intercept your foe. While the HUD is an intimidating sight, it's actually quite easy to understand in action, even if you haven't played a flight game in a while. Combat in H.A.W.X. is what you would expect from this style of game, or just about any scene from the 1986 classic, Top Gun. You fly ludicrously fast through the sky, lock-on to your target and fire away. What sets H.A.W.X. apart in this respect is its assistance system, or lack of.
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By default, all of the flight assists in H.A.W.X. are enabled, with the game taking care of the advanced work, such as adjusting your throttle so you don't stall out. Double-click your brakes and the assists turn off, the camera zooms out and you're on your own. Suddenly, your jet controls like something out of an anime, giving you incredibly enhanced turning capabilities and letting you perform maneuvers only possible by forcing stall outs. The use of this mode becomes critical not only for chasing down tougher enemies but, more importantly, for dodging incoming projectiles. The use of flares can only get you so far and eventually you'll have to pull off some intense moves to scrape by.
Our time with H.A.W.X. was brief, but positive overall. On the surface, it comes off as a love letter to Ace Combat, but as we pulled back a few layers it began to show a personality of its own. The assistance features, while difficult to wrap your head around at first, became a great source of entertainment once we were able to show off a bit. With the gameplay more or less a hit, it'll be interesting to see how the missions play out and how Ubisoft will deliver on their promise of online co-operative play.
Rabbids, Persian Princes and Beyond Good & Evil 2? Check out all our coverage (and a bountiful amount of screenshots) from Ubisoft's Ubidays 2008 event.
