HAWX (PC)

HAWX takes a pass on pilot doodz, excessive brand placement, and the indie soundtrack. But don't expect a serious flight simulator either. HAWX wantonly bends aerodynamic laws in the name of having a good time. Its X-factor comes from making you feel like a top gun fighter-jock in every mission; Goose, Merlin, and Iceman optional. To keep this an experience accessible to virtual pilots of all skill levels, HAWX strikes a balance described better as believable than realistic. Recognizable planes from modern air forces give newcomers something familiar from recent newscasts to take to the skies in, while the extensive collection in the hanger should satisfy most military aviation buffs. It includes some experimental planes, but you won't find outlandish fantasy craft that break the illusion of the game's near future setting. Each plane feels different as well: Heavy ground attack planes respond more sluggishly and are able to take a heavier beating than the nimble, but more fragile, dedicated air-to-air fighters. Flight basics apply equally across all of them, though, making it easy to hop from cockpit to cockpit and fly whatever suits the mission at hand. Once you select which one to take, HAWX wastes little time getting to the action; the emphasis remains sharply focused on putting those planes to use. After a briefing, scenarios start with you -- and any assigned wingmen -- at the station and then thrusts into battle almost immediately. Not only do you not have to worry about taking off (or landing later), you don't even see it happen. Nor will you fly long legs to waypoints on patrol or rendezvous with air tankers to refuel. Most every moment at the controls in HAWX gets spent in the heat of the fight. Otherwise HAWX falls into the conventional design pattern established by the long list of air combat games that came before it. Missions progress through the usual assignments, such as escorting special planes across a map while under constant attack, and taking out fortified bases. The Tom Clancy canon provides its trademark by-the-book story of a fictional conflict roughly a decade from today as a backdrop. It also allows for some crossover with the special operations teams from the Ghost Recon series. As seen from the cockpit of a Mach 2 Fighter at 5000 feet, it fails to develop much tension and flames out in an unremarkable ending. Though predictable, the individual levels present a target-rich mix of air and ground units and force you to prioritize among them based on the objectives in order to succeed. Ground support missions deliver some of the best moments by building a sense of urgency that, without your help, all would be lost. But it's hard to beat the raw thrill of air-to-air dogfights, and HAWX makes them particularly dramatic with its signature OFF system. OFF combines a dramatic shift in the perspective you play the game from and a generous relaxation of realism to let you toss planes around the sky like toys. In practice, OFF mode lets you throw on the brakes and slip the plane in a radically new direction, much the way you would emergency brake and powerslide a car. To keep up with the action, the camera pulls way out so you can see your plane as it flips around the sky. The first time it does this, and probably many times thereafter, the effect is disorienting. But, if you can come to grips with it, you'll be rewarded with a unique aerial ballet. Being able to watch a missile approach, flip the plane at the last second to dodge it, and then tuck in behind your pursuer and line up a shot gives quite a rush. And it does require developing a skilled touch. Unrealistic though the whole idea may be, the game keeps some semblance of reality by forcing you to keep up your airspeed or risk falling in a stall. This simple limit effectively balances the OFF system into the game. Take it all online and that enemy you're dancing with becomes a real person. In competitive multiplayer the OFF system turns dogfights into frantically swirling masses of planes. Fun in short doses, the chaos of it all detracts from the potential, with kills often being traded in such rapid succession that they lose some of their satisfaction. Playing the single-player campaign cooperatively online prompts the opposite result. Live partners reinvigorate missions that otherwise start to seem repetitive. Having others to split the objectives among creates a stronger feeling of being in a dynamic battle, particularly when you get a full group of four together and can fly in two two-man wings. For the work put into developing these strong online modes, their inconsistent incorporation into the game comes as a surprise. HAWX does co-op right, with the entire campaign available as you unlock it. Friends can even join games in progress, but only if you remember to create your game as online at the start; there's no way to allow them in midway if you didn't. The biggest source of frustration comes from the poor integration with the system for advancing your pilot in the game. Throughout HAWX you earn experience to level up and unlock planes and special weapon packages, but in multiplayer only the host receives the extras awarded for completing the level. If everyone is on their first play through, this creates an annoying situation where the second, third, and fourth chairs each need to host and play through that level again to get the rewards the game presumes you have after that stage. Despite these annoyances, the online play -- particularly co-op -- gives HAWX significant replayability. Everything from the picture-perfect planes to the stunning real world environments looks great, even after multiple passes. And the flyability afforded by the well-executed controls makes you feel like a pro -- it immerses you in the world of being a fighter pilot without ever taking off. Return trips stay fresh too, because you'll find yourself playing out unique mini-stories as each enemy-dogfighting encounter unfolds anew. HAWX is a remarkably exhilarating entry in a genre that seemed to have been stuck in a rut.