Bandits at About Half Past Four. (Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (PC))

Member Name: HarryKeogh

Product:	Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (PC)
Date:	06/04/09 (339 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The new Geoeye technology provides a fantastic backdrop to this brilliant game.

Disadvantages: Stunning backdrop may cause you to crash while taking in the sights.

The 17th March 2009 saw the Tom Clancy game series take to the skies, in the form of the game H.A.W.X. The game is set in the near future and has you playing the part of flying ace Captain David Crenshaw who heads a group of elite pilots of the U.S. Air Force codenamed H.A.W.X.
The game takes place in the same timeframe as another of the Tom Clancy games "Ghost Recon 2" in fact in a couple of the missions feature Captain Scott Mitchell and the Ghost Recon team in it.

After flying several missions for the Air Force your character is hired by a private company to join their personal armed forces. In this timeframe big businesses hold sway much like countries and protect themselves accordingly. Upon being hired you help out securing the company interests by providing escorts, helping to defend locations and destroying key enemy structures.


Graphics

Graphics wise this game is stunning the detailing of the various planes you fly is first class, however this pales into insignificance when compared to the landscape itself the games designers used something called "Geoeye" which provides a photo realistic representation of the ground and the buildings upon it. This graphic capability is best shown off when flying over famous cities such Rio De Janerio, Chicago and even Washington DC where you can see all the main sites of each city quite clearly. Just try not to crash your plane to much while checking out the view.

Sound

Voice wise this game is top notch with plenty of in cockpit conversation going on between your wingmen, any ground forces you are protecting and command. Also the sound of the weapons as they are being released and exploding are fantastic as well, even the alert system for when an enemy has a missile lock on you is great. It not all serious chatter though as your wingmen like to act up a bit and are really competitive with you and each other over the number of kills they gain.

Game Content

Ok so the game is really all about the planes and there are plenty to choose from, everything from the whole MIG range through to the Harrier Jump Jet and even the Stealth Bomber and Blackbird. As well as the planes you get a choice of the weaponry that each can carry so that you can tailor your plane to the mission type that you are performing. So for example bombs would be no good in a mission which solely consists of you shooting down planes, but radar guided missiles would be. The game has also made use of ERS (enhanced reality system) this adds to the whole flight simulator affect by adding things like missile lock detection, anti crash systems and also the ability to project interception and evasion courses for you. After a few missions you gain the ability to turn the ERS off by doing this the camera angle changes and you gain a much greater level of control over your plane. You will then be able to perform far more complex moves such as stall turns and manual missile evasion.

Overall

At first I thought that this would just be another fly around and shoot some things style of game but after playing it for a while I found the game to be truly captivating the plot is good and enough to hold your interest without being overly complicated and bogging down the gameplay. Once you have the ability to turn of the ERS the game takes a whole new level and the fun really starts to kick in as you virtually turn on the spot and attack that pesky plane that was chasing you. The only problem I had was the fact that when I was really into the game I found myself dodging around on my chair as I flew my plane around, much to the amusement of my girlfriend might I add.

Computer Specs needed to run this game are as follows;

Minimum Requirements

Operating System - Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1
Processor - Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 2000+ or higher
RAM - 1GB
Graphic Card - NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 128MB / ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB or higher
Sound Card - DirectX 9.0c compatible
DirectX Version - DirectX 9.0 or 10.0 libraries
Hard Drive Space - 7GB


To find out more about the game and also watch the trailer for the game visit the HAWX website

http://hawxgame.uk.ubi.com/

Summary: A great game series that has soared to new heights.