Tom Clancy's HAWX - Hands On Preview

The last time we came across HAWX was at Ubidays '08 where our first impressions were lukewarm - sure, it was a functional arcade jet fighter game, but it didn't seem to do much that Ace Combat 6 hadn't already achieved. The problem for Ubisoft is that Ace Combat 6 is so immediately comparable to HAWX. They are practically the only two games of their kind on what can now safely be considered the current generation of consoles, while their subject matter and the way it's delivered is incredibly similar. With the obvious exception that Ubisoft has applied a couple of layers of Tom Clancy glaze over HAWX, either game could very easily be mistaken for a direct spin-off of the other.

That said, HAWX does have a couple of features that set it apart from Ace Combat 6. In terms of modes, HAWX's multiplayer co-op offering is considerably more extensive than what Ace Combat 6 produced. Additionally, in terms of pure gameplay, the ERS system and alternative options for camera views (which also have difficulty trade-offs) add something original to the traditional formula for the genre. Luckily, our hands on was a 4 player co-op run through a few levels of HAWX's main campaign, so we had plenty of opportunity to assess this standout feature.

More Hands Don't Necessarily Make For Light Work

HAWX boasts a drop-in, drop-out option for its co-op campaign and, unlike Ace Combat 6, gamers can play through the entire main campaign in this mode. While Ace Combat 6 did offer 4 player co-op missions, they were a limited number of tailor built missions for multiplayer co-op, rather than a direct expansion of the single-player campaign. What's more is that HAWX's developer, Ubisoft Bucharest, has designed difficulty settings that change on-the-fly depending on how many players are populating a multiplayer session. With 4 players careering through the skies, the objectives certainly didn't seem to get any easier, so the feature seems stand up in practice as well as theory.

The missions on offer during our preview session showed quite a lot more variation than Ace Combat 6's, with the range of objectives in particular throwing a lot of different tasks at the player. Two of the levels were fairly run-of-the-mill, requiring our co-op team to firstly defend an oil refinery from incoming air and ground attacks and then perform an offensive against hostile forces in the skies above Rio de Janeiro. Nevertheless, even these two levels had a few new ideas thrown in for good measure, such as the required use of your ERS or Enhanced Reality System (more on that later) to attack dug-in ground targets in the heart of Rio.

However, things really started to get interesting when we had to defend Air Force One from incoming bogies. The President's carrier had run into trouble on the outskirts of Washington DC so the HAWX team was dispatched to come to its aid. By staying close to the world's most executive airline we were able to stave off attacks from the enemy and retain the chiselled, high-school quarterback looking face of the President in all its photogenic glory. If you fail then the webcam style, pop-up communiqués between the HAWX team and Air Force One get ever more frantic and panicked.

The following mission saw us darting between a series of Caribbean atolls with the aim of taking out a fleet of battleships. A fairly straight forward task, you might argue, although the smattering of surface-to-air missile silos across these atolls made the task that bit more of a challenge. Each SAM's range was represented as a red, honeycomb dome that must be avoided at all costs, as getting caught in one for more than a few sections will bring your plane down in a very expensive flaming ball of US government property. Clearly, then, if this taster is anything to go by, then HAWX's main campaign is set to offer much more variation than Ace Combat 6's.                

You will have plenty of firepower on these missions though, because there are a wide range of weapons on offer to aid your defence of the free world (which have thankfully not been renamed as "liberty bombs" or "freedom missiles", as much as the current US government would like them to be). In the hangar, you'll be able to choose from weapon sets that specialise your plane in either air or ground attacks, while a balanced option of each is usually on offer to provide a middle-way for your jet fighter of choice. Whether your hell-bringers of choice are cluster bombs, rocket pods, or multi-target AG missiles, you certainly won't be starved for options in HAWX. There's much more on show here other than just homing missiles and cannons, with the Joint Strike Missile (complete with an on-board cam that lets you ride missiles all the way down) being our particular favourite.

Planes were plentiful as well. The list we had to choose from included the F-14 Tomcat, A10 Thunderbolt, F-22 Raptor, Harrier Jumpjet, and Mig-33 to name but a few. We also spotted the silhouette of an F-117 Stealth Fighter in one of the loading screens, and Ubisoft Bucharest confirmed that this illusive jet is unlockable through the game's main campaign. All of these aircraft differ not only in appearance but also in capabilities (through 'Speed', 'Armour', and 'Handling' attributes) although the hefty Thunderbolt is still able to pull off some fairly unlikely aerobatic displays. As HAWX is set in a war from the near future, there will be a few sci-fi jets on the rosters such as those based on fighters that are currently in the prototype stage (e.g. the F-35), but other than that you can expect 100% real-world aircraft in HAWX and none of the fictional hybrids of the type featured in Ace Combat 6.

Perfect For BeginnERS

Standout gameplay features are undoubtedly headlined by the ERS system, which eases inexperienced players into the cockpit before they develop into a fully fledged top gun. When switched on, the ERS (or Enhanced Reality System) projects helpful guides on the HUD from the plane's default camera view just behind the afterburners. Appearing as triangular shaped hoops in the sky, these guides display the textbook angle of trajectory for your plane to follow in order to perform certain manoeuvres. Following the hoops allows you to do everything from evading locked-on missiles to sending your plane into vertically descending attacks on dug-in ground targets such as tanks. Of course, you can always try and complete these tasks without the ERS, which is where the game's second camera view comes into play.

This camera angle is set a couple of hundred yards off your plane's wingtips from a side-on perspective. Although you no longer have a cockpit style HUD to play with and spotting targets is markedly more difficult, it does allow certain aerobatic liberties that the standard camera angle doesn't. The airbrake takes on a whole new lease of life as you perform controlled stalls to make gravity defying 180 degree turns and mid-air plunges. Just be sure that stall doesn't become uncontrollable though, turning your plane into a lead weight with all the aerodynamic properties of an office block. Using this camera angle, you'll also find it easier to evade locked-on missiles with the ability to make sharper turns and faster climbs. As long as you leave a few flares in the right place, you'll be harder to catch than Chlamydia in a nunnery.

Another nifty feature that Ubisoft Bucharest has latched onto the jet fighter experience is the addition of an EndWar style voice command system. Although we haven't gone hands-on with this feature so far, we've been assured that the same reliable software that guided the EndWar system has been faithfully grafted onto HAWX. It seems players will be able to issue commands relating to HAWX's tactical map and radar, weapons and flares, the ERS, and give orders to teammates from their headsets during multiplayer bouts.

Other than the co-op multiplayer mode, an adversarial multiplayer mode will also be available come the game's release. Up to 8 players will be catered for in team deathmatches, although no additional multiplayer modes will be on offer. This is a tad disappointing as there doesn't appear to be any good reason why Ubisoft Bucharest couldn't include an individual deathmatch or a base attack/defend mode as well. After all, both of these were available in Ace Combat 6 alongside a team deathmatch for up to 16 players.

The visuals in HAWX also take a back seat to Ace Combat 6's aerial display. Both the lighting effects and the shining beacons of modern aviation that they complimented were stunning in Namco Bandai's take on the genre, but Ubisoft Bucharest's attempt looks relatively average in comparison at this stage in development. That said, HAWX neither betters nor surpasses the environmental depiction laid down in Ace Combat 6, exhibiting painfully noticeable square 3D textures for objects on the ground at the best of times and uninspiring sprites in all other cases.

HAWX looks set to offer the most well thought out and varied single-player campaign yet provided for the genre on this generation's crop of consoles, and the 4 player co-op offering will sit faultlessly alongside this. While Ubisoft and Tom Clancy's first foray into the clouds together is unlikely to better Ace Combat 6 in areas such as the adversarial multiplayer and graphics, a raft of fresh gameplay features in HAWX should keep any jet fighter enthusiasts more than happy.