Thanks to almighty Wiki we found out that H.A.W.X is the acronym for "High Altitude Warfare eXperimental squadron", a so 'clancy' terminology. Developed by Ubisoft Romania (known for Blazing Angels series), for PC, XBOX 360, and PS3, the game wants to bring some realism to the flight action genre by including two new gameplay features: the Enhanced Reality System (ERS) and the new high resolution image program GeoEye.

The ERS is an assistant application that tries to simplify the actions taken while flying without reducing the fun factor. This system can be activated or deactivated at any time in the game, by double tapping the right or left triggers of the controller. It includes a tactical map, incoming missiles detector, mission information, weapons control and a simplified squadron control. If you wish to sum up all these enumeration, the ERS is nothing else but the HUD of the game and all its functions.  With this system activated you have access to three different camera views: a cockpit view, a first person one and a third person one. Obviously the most desirable one is the third person view because of its increased view range. If you decide to go on a more tactical approach you should definitely deactivate the ERS. This action leads to a fourth point of view, a distant third person characterized by a dynamic camera that follows the aircraft. It is similar to the follow camera in Blazing Angels, only this time, the perspective being much more far away. In this mode the real fun begins. Not only you have a better view of the horizon and the surroundings, but also you can fight more tactical. This is where you can actually feel the power of the graphical engine and how much the GeoEye has increased the quality of the ground environment.

At the last Games Convention in Leipzig I had the opportunity to play an earlier alpha version of the game for XBOX 360 at the official Ubisoft booth and I was disappointed by the looks of the graphics regarding the ground environment. GeoEye is the one that fills this hole and delivers one of the best ground views available in flight games. Not only delivers a high quality graphics but also based on the commercial Earth-imaging IKONOS satellite system, GeoEye delivers realistic environments. If you play the Rio de Janeiro mission present in the demo, you can actually see that the surroundings fit the real image of the city. Buildings, streets, parks, are realized upon high-resolution satellite imaging.  

The game has been definitely linked with the rest of Tom Clancy's past games, and therefore it is no mistake to say that HAWX is a part of Ghost Recon universe. First rendered movie of the demo actually shows a Ghost Recon soldier who is trying to ask for help from an air-combat squadron. It's a short scene but long enough to tell the gamer that this game is a part of the Ghost Recon military universe.  Some interviews taken from the developers crew, say that the action in the game is placed somewhere between Ghost Recon 2 and End War.

In my opinion the demo was enough for me to realize that the gameplay is quite repetitive and the mechanism behind it is the same with the one in Blazing Angels series. Some 'dog fight' moments combined with several ground attacks makes the gameplay worth for a while, but all these ingredients should have been used in shorter missions. On the other hand I don't think that both, the ERS or the GeoEye have brought enough flight simulation.  The left analog stick is enough to control the aircraft in any direction while the triggers are used for increasing and decreasing the speed.  By combining directions with the speed control you can perform evade maneuvers. In general you will perform drifts, which consists in tight turns which cause in extreme conditions the engines to stall. In such situations the only solution is to boost the engines at the maximum in order to regain the floating effect.

With such a simple handling system the whole idea of the game has been centered to fighting scenes. Despite this, I hope for a bigger variety in terms of objective missions in the full version of the game. HAWX also features a wide area of aircraft models which are unlocked by increasing your experience bar. By accessing the hangar before starting any mission I got a déjà vu feeling. The image was like in Need for Speed series where you can hover the camera around any aircraft model to view its details.

Short Conclusion

HAWX is a good looking game but not very promising. Its simplicity causes the gameplay to become repetitive. The distant third person view brings a tactical approach of any battle and feels, if not intuitive, at least artistic. Best addition in the game is the GeoEye program, which brings what other flight games don't have: detailed ground environment based on real satellite readings.