I totally admit my dream growing up, even though I know it wouldn’t likely happen, was to be a fighter pilot. I looked into the Air Force and Navy for a career when getting out of high school but some family members were able to sway me a different direction. I think I really just wanted one joy ride on an F-16 or F-22 Raptor and I’d be good to go. Considering I now have a fear of flying, it may not have been the best idea after all. But luckily for me, Ubisoft and the Tom Clancy gang have given me a new sky high in the name of H.A.W.X.
I’ve been a Tom Clancy game fan for many years and the first Ghost Recon game is what got me started playing on Xbox Live, on the original. So I am very familiar with their style of games and am somewhat of a fan. However, after the last Ghost Recon, I felt like the Tom Clancy games including Splinter Cell have just lost their way. I was no longer able to enjoy their games and I guess it just lost its luster. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to H.A.W.X. Fighter pilots, F-16’s and all.. I didn’t care. They won’t be able to make it cool. They’ll make it just as crappy as Ace Combat 6. Just another generic flying game, whoopee!
Man was I wrong. I haven’t played a decent flying game since Top Gun back in I think 1988. Don’t act like you don’t know what I am talking about. That game was the shit for its time. But fast forward to 2009, and the danger zone never looked so good.
I was in the middle of working on my blog last night but I know I wanted to check out the H.A.W.X. demo that just came out on Xbox Live. I needed to give it a test drive so I could form an honest, reasonable opinion on the game. I decided to give it a chance. I had my girlfriend start playing it first so I could see what it was all about. I watched her go through the tutorials for a few minutes before I felt a gravitational pull towards the controller. I soon snatched it out of her hands to get a little taste of this interesting demo. She said she was getting dizzy anyway from the gameplay so I decided to step in and show her my Tom Cruise skills. 
I was very pleasantly surprised how well thought out the gameplay was in this game and how fast I was able to learn how to complete the objectives. At first, I was pissed because I couldn’t figure out how to invert the controls back. I really don’t like pushing up to go down, and down to go up. It usually confuses the hell out of me but I stuck with the default control setup and I now know this is the right way to go. So I just shut up and play.
First time playing, they had me go into ‘assistance mode’ I think is what it’s called. I found myself going into this mode quite often as it made it easier for close counter dog fights in the sky. The camera view is a bit awkward as it shows you your F-16 in 3rd person, but at weird angles. It was difficult to understand how to turn and it was even more difficult to stay in the direction you wanted to go. It seems like they added wind in the game as well to make it feel more realistic and it does throw you off at first. But I kept playing and I became more comfortable with it after a few minutes. A major issue for me in this game, is the HUD. Wow does it block a lot of your screen! I felt like the only thing missing was a Foxnews scrolling ticker updating me on ‘Breaking News’ stories. They do give you an option to hide all of the things blocking your view in the UI but it’s not ideal. I couldn’t tell where the enemies were, where I was supposed to go and what I was was supposed to be blowing up.
One thing I noticed after playing a while, you do not blink at all during this game. My eyes got so hot and dry from staring at the screen that I had to take a break to close my eyes. That happens often to me while gaming but not this hardcore. I really got into it and I am glad I took a chance to play this demo. I’ve been wanting a decent flying game for a long time and I think I may have found it. I was bummed about the Stormbirds game being cancelled and thought H.A.W.X. was nothing more than a wannabe ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ type concept. While that may indeed be true, Ubisoft really pulls it off and have surpassed my expectations. I did not think I would be writing a positive demo impression today to be honest with you. I was so ready to tear this game apart with its wonky controls and uninspired terrain. Now that I have played it, I think I may add this game to my collection. I judged this game in the beginning by it’s uncreative trailers and the fact that Tom Clancy’s name was behind it. It was a ‘been there, done that’ situation. The demo has changed my attitude and now I want to be there, and do that in H.A.W.X. hopefully along with a friend to be my wingman online.
H.A.W.X. comes out in March.
The Gamer Report 