I truly can’t remember the last time I’ve even attempted to play a “Flight Simulation” game (possibly Top Gun for the NES?).  Thankfully Tom Clancy’s HAWX seems to be a solid attempt by Ubisoft to provide a more accessible dogfight experience.  At first glance HAWX is barely indistingusable from any Ace Combat game but perhaps having the Tom Clancy name attached to the property might allow for a deeper story driven experience.

The maneuverability of the planes within the game is absolutely amazing.  I remember how frustrating it was to control planes in other flight simulation games because they adhered a bit too much reality causing me to repeatedly to crash when performing my awesome Maverick-like moves.  Yes, I crashed a few times within the HAWX demo but that was only because I continuously pushed the limits of my plane by flying feet above the ground while taking out the baddies for no reason other than seeing if I could.

I’m hoping the game itself has a bit more variety than the demo because I was already feeling fatique after the 30 or so enemies the demo has you take out during the first mission.  Whether or not there’s a reason the Tom Clancy license was tapped for this game remains to be seen.  But it may provide an interesting story arch if you’re providing air support for the Ghost Recon, GRAW, or Rainbow Six teams.  I was writing this game off as just being another way to milk to Tom Clancy license but after playing the game for a bit I’ve warmed up to it and I’m looking forward to getting a nice and long play session with the final product when it’s released.

Related articles:

• ‘Hawx’ Is ‘Beginning’ Of Combined Tom Clancy Gaming Universe (multiplayerblog.mtv.com)
• Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. Demo Hits Consoles This Week [Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.] (kotaku.com)
• Ubisoft details 2009 fiscal year game line-up (crunchgear.com)