I wrote this review quite a while back, which I intended to post elsewhere but that didn't go according to plan so I will just post it here. Normally I might ramble on a ton, but this is kept fairly short, for your viewing pleasure.
Tom Clancy?s H.A.W.X. series is, to an extent, made to poke fun at the long standing ruler of arcade flight sims, the Ace Combat series, developed by Namco. H.A.W.X. 1 had its merits as a arcade flight sim, but the general consensus seemed to be that it didn?t quite top Ace Combat. H.A.W.X. 2 aims to change that. Let?s see if it does.
I think there are only two really important aspects of H.A.W.X. 2 to look at for now; story structure and gameplay, the two things that it would have to do better than the Ace Combat games did to secure a higher place of prestige as a notable arcade flight sim. I will focus on these aspects primarily for this short review. Also, please keep in mind that I played this on PC, used the 'Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Flightstick' (yes that's the actual name), and played the campaign through on expert mode for my first playthrough. And be warned, there will be some spoilers.
Let?s jump right into the story. After all, H.A.W.X. 2 spares no time to get you acquainted with just what the hell is going on here. It quickly becomes painfully obvious just how generic and somewhat uncreative the plot is from the very start though. The U.S. military is stationed in various bases throughout the Middle East fighting insurgents, and the Russians are fighting a small civil war with some separatist ultranationalists along the southern border of the country. Sounds like Modern Warfare already, doesn?t it? Well the similarities hardly stop there. Eventually, the insurgents get a hold of some nukes (oh no! didn?t see that coming!) and the Russian ultranationalists take over the Russian government, eventually blowing up a major energy production plant in Russia as a way to gain an excuse to invade and occupy Norway and it?s energy producing resources. There is of course, a whole lot more to this than meets the eye, and alternating between a loyalist Russian pilot, H.A.W.X. squadron pilot, and British Naval pilot, you set out to stop this crap.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="159" Caption="Lessthanthree my Rafale M" Align="right"]http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/8987/hawx22011050300320199.jpg[/Img_Inline]
The plot line seems way too predictable at many points, and whenever you are sent on a mission you easily get that feeling that if you just complete the mission, you gain a huge victory, as if there was no catch or trump card the enemy would use. The story is extremely straightforward, with no prologue to explain the setting better and no epilogue at all either (seconds after you beat the final mission, the credits roll). Compared to Ace Combat, it lacks serious depth and description, which is crucial to any plot line. Ace Combat may have had absurd things itself (flying aircraft carriers/missile platforms), but at least they wove that into the storyline fairly well.
Gameplay in H.A.W.X. 2 is quite different from how it was in the first game. Dogfights feel a bit slower and take place at a much closer range, making usage of cannons an even bigger necessity than before. Assistance OFF mode is still around but I did not find myself using it as much as before. Cockpit view was more than enough to get most of the job done, and actually made dogfights much more fun and interesting. One of the missions has you flying as the British Naval pilot, in a carrier vs. carrier battle in the North Sea. It was a very fun mission, as well as challenging. I remember at one point I had run out of armament and had literally 1% health left, so I proceeded to land my Harrier on our burning aircraft carrier in the middle of a huge aerial and naval battle. And the landing was unassisted, making the approach an extremely intense procedure. Thankfully I nailed the landing almost flawlessly?only to get strafed as I came to a stop on the flight deck.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="159" Caption="The graphics are pretty, I'll give it that much" Align="left"]http://www.cinemablend.com/images/gallery/s24807/H_A_W_X__2_12748955251769.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Overall, the gameplay is actually quite endearing, it is an interesting spin on the whole dogfighting in arcade flight sims thing. Missions are much more interactive than before, requiring a takeoff/landing as a part of nearly every mission. Mid-air refueling is also present, and done manually is actually quite a challenge, but fun nonetheless. Planes are much more specialized, so you?re A-10 can?t go rambo on a Su-47 as easily as you might in an Ace Combat title. Ordinance is also more limited, making it so you really have to choose your shots carefully (I did play on expert mode though, which reduces normal armament, but I think it was well balanced in that respect). The experience isn?t quite like you would expect if you played the first game or wanted something similar to Ace Combat, but it has its own merits. There are plenty of small flaws of course, but nothing is perfect. However, one small complaint I have is with the missile alert system; it actually isn?t loud enough. I did always hate the constant, loud beeping you would get for an incoming missile in other games like this, but in H.A.W.X. 2, it is nearly non-existent. When you are concentrated so much on your own target, you don?t easily register threats to yourself when something isn?t there to tell you about it. I found out how much I appreciated that loud beeping after getting hit so many times by a missile I never noticed was there.
If you really hated the first game, I can?t say I would recommend this to you, though I think the changes are significant enough to warrant a quick look at it. It has enough similarities to the classic arcade flight sim we are used to but is different enough to give you a different experience on the whole genre. I highly recommend using a flightstick though, keyboard controls are horrible for a flight game such as this and really take away from the overall experience. I can?t say it has much replayability though, unless you have friends to play with or just really enjoy flying.
A 'Quickie' HAWX 2 Review
Tom Clancy?s H.A.W.X. series is, to an extent, made to poke fun at the long standing ruler of arcade flight sims, the Ace Combat series, developed by Namco. H.A.W.X. 1 had its merits as a arcade flight sim, but the general consensus seemed to be that it didn?t quite top Ace Combat. H.A.W.X. 2 aims to change that. Let?s see if it does.
I think there are only two really important aspects of H.A.W.X. 2 to look at for now; story structure and gameplay, the two things that it would have to do better than the Ace Combat games did to secure a higher place of prestige as a notable arcade flight sim. I will focus on these aspects primarily for this short review. Also, please keep in mind that I played this on PC, used the 'Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Flightstick' (yes that's the actual name), and played the campaign through on expert mode for my first playthrough. And be warned, there will be some spoilers.
Let?s jump right into the story. After all, H.A.W.X. 2 spares no time to get you acquainted with just what the hell is going on here. It quickly becomes painfully obvious just how generic and somewhat uncreative the plot is from the very start though. The U.S. military is stationed in various bases throughout the Middle East fighting insurgents, and the Russians are fighting a small civil war with some separatist ultranationalists along the southern border of the country. Sounds like Modern Warfare already, doesn?t it? Well the similarities hardly stop there. Eventually, the insurgents get a hold of some nukes (oh no! didn?t see that coming!) and the Russian ultranationalists take over the Russian government, eventually blowing up a major energy production plant in Russia as a way to gain an excuse to invade and occupy Norway and it?s energy producing resources. There is of course, a whole lot more to this than meets the eye, and alternating between a loyalist Russian pilot, H.A.W.X. squadron pilot, and British Naval pilot, you set out to stop this crap.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="159" Caption="Lessthanthree my Rafale M" Align="right"]http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/8987/hawx22011050300320199.jpg[/Img_Inline]
The plot line seems way too predictable at many points, and whenever you are sent on a mission you easily get that feeling that if you just complete the mission, you gain a huge victory, as if there was no catch or trump card the enemy would use. The story is extremely straightforward, with no prologue to explain the setting better and no epilogue at all either (seconds after you beat the final mission, the credits roll). Compared to Ace Combat, it lacks serious depth and description, which is crucial to any plot line. Ace Combat may have had absurd things itself (flying aircraft carriers/missile platforms), but at least they wove that into the storyline fairly well.
Gameplay in H.A.W.X. 2 is quite different from how it was in the first game. Dogfights feel a bit slower and take place at a much closer range, making usage of cannons an even bigger necessity than before. Assistance OFF mode is still around but I did not find myself using it as much as before. Cockpit view was more than enough to get most of the job done, and actually made dogfights much more fun and interesting. One of the missions has you flying as the British Naval pilot, in a carrier vs. carrier battle in the North Sea. It was a very fun mission, as well as challenging. I remember at one point I had run out of armament and had literally 1% health left, so I proceeded to land my Harrier on our burning aircraft carrier in the middle of a huge aerial and naval battle. And the landing was unassisted, making the approach an extremely intense procedure. Thankfully I nailed the landing almost flawlessly?only to get strafed as I came to a stop on the flight deck.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="159" Caption="The graphics are pretty, I'll give it that much" Align="left"]http://www.cinemablend.com/images/gallery/s24807/H_A_W_X__2_12748955251769.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Overall, the gameplay is actually quite endearing, it is an interesting spin on the whole dogfighting in arcade flight sims thing. Missions are much more interactive than before, requiring a takeoff/landing as a part of nearly every mission. Mid-air refueling is also present, and done manually is actually quite a challenge, but fun nonetheless. Planes are much more specialized, so you?re A-10 can?t go rambo on a Su-47 as easily as you might in an Ace Combat title. Ordinance is also more limited, making it so you really have to choose your shots carefully (I did play on expert mode though, which reduces normal armament, but I think it was well balanced in that respect). The experience isn?t quite like you would expect if you played the first game or wanted something similar to Ace Combat, but it has its own merits. There are plenty of small flaws of course, but nothing is perfect. However, one small complaint I have is with the missile alert system; it actually isn?t loud enough. I did always hate the constant, loud beeping you would get for an incoming missile in other games like this, but in H.A.W.X. 2, it is nearly non-existent. When you are concentrated so much on your own target, you don?t easily register threats to yourself when something isn?t there to tell you about it. I found out how much I appreciated that loud beeping after getting hit so many times by a missile I never noticed was there.
If you really hated the first game, I can?t say I would recommend this to you, though I think the changes are significant enough to warrant a quick look at it. It has enough similarities to the classic arcade flight sim we are used to but is different enough to give you a different experience on the whole genre. I highly recommend using a flightstick though, keyboard controls are horrible for a flight game such as this and really take away from the overall experience. I can?t say it has much replayability though, unless you have friends to play with or just really enjoy flying.