Recently I purchased a new game, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. (HAWX). I had heard about it before it’s release and the only real thing that interested me then was the fact that the game developers chose to use real satellite images as the basis for the in game landscapes. They took the satellite images and added in the 3-D element of terrain and buildings. This gives this game a very realistic feel.

I didn’t look too much more into it then because for the most part I’m not interested in flight simulator games. My biggest gripe with flight sims is that they make the most mundane elements of flying the focus of the game. Landings, take-offs, etc are not why I play flight games. I think the last flight game I actually enjoyed was the old Sega game After Burner II, which I used to play at the youth center on the military base I lived on at the time. At least now I don’t have to save up my quarters to play the games.

One night some friends and I just finished playing some video games together (probably Halo 3) when we decided to all download and try out the HAWX demo. I was very pleasantly surprised. HAWX is in no way a flight simulator, despite the excellent graphics in the game. This is 100% a fighter arcade game. No more practicing landings where precision control is required. This game just throws you into the middle of a dogfight and goes until all the enemies are killed. You get virtually unlimited ammunition and a wide range of aircraft to pilot. The game gives you the option of playing the campaign in multiplayer cooperative mode. Unlike other games where playing co-op makes the game easier (because you have more help on your side) HAWX developers scaled up the number of enemies you have to stave off when you add more teammates to the battle. This can be quite unnerving when you’re playing missions where the objective is to protect a valuable target from enemy fire.

After playing the demo we all went out the next day and picked of the full version of this game. HAWX developers did a great job with the landscapes in the game. Having visited some of the cities in the game, I was able to find key landmarks and even follow the roads to a friend’s parent’s house (Sorry Nate, I crashed into your parent’s house). The game took out the the realism that makes flight simulators so boring, in my opinion, but left in all the aspects of flying a jet fighter that any little boy wants to experience. This game lets you fly everything from the A6 Intruder to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. (note: the F-15B is the actual fighter depicted in the game, with the vertical landing engine visible) They even threw in the YF-12 (SR-71 Blackbird). Even though the YF-12 isn’t a fighter plane, they made it handle like one. I remember going to the Air Force museum as a kid and seeing this plane on display and imagining what it’d be like to fly that fast. Those type of imaginings are what I think spurred developers to include this plane.

The multiplayer versus mode of the game can be a bit unnerving at first. Instead of flying against the artificial intelligence pilots in the game, you’re flying against other gamers. The reaction time has to be quick, but the thrill of lining up a shot and blowing the other guy’s plane to smithereens exceeds anything felt when I watched Top Gun the first time.

Overall, HAWX is a great game that will provide many hours of enjoyment. The game could use a bit more flexibility in the multiplayer setup, such as implementing a party system where players can join a game together, but what it does provide is sufficient. This is a game I recommend to anyone who can still connect with their inner child and enjoy the thrill of flying big, fast airplanes.