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Mixed or average reviews - based on 65 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 48 Ratings

  • Summary: Tom Clancy's HAWX (high-altitude warfare) promises to revolutionize the way players think about combat in the sky. The story begins in the year 2012. As the era of the nation-state draws quickly to a close, the rules of warfare evolve even more rapidly. More and more nations become increasingly dependent on private military companies (PMCs), elite mercenaries with a lax view of the law. The Reykjavik Accords further legitimize their existence by authorizing their right to serve in every aspect of military operations. While the benefits of such PMCs are apparent, growing concerns surrounding giving them too much power begin to mount. The Enhanced Reality System is the backbone of the HAWX flight experience: radars and incoming missile detection, anti-crash system, damage control system, tactical map and information relay, and weapons trajectory control. E.R.S. also allows players to issue orders to their squadron, making this system as iconic to HAWX as the Cross-Com system is to Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Players can ease into their flight missions and gain a level of comfort with the use of the assistance mode. Once employed, players can take full advantage of their technological support through the E.R.S and gain maximum piloting security. If the situation calls for the player to unleash the full potential of the aircraft, the assistance mode can be switched off and all safety features will be deactivated. For the first time ever in the air-combat genre, players can experience the entire solo campaign in four-player JUMP IN co-op mode. In PVP mode, players can challenge up to 15 friends in intense dogfighting sessions and find out who's the top gun. Winning players are rewarded with experience points and money to unlock more weapons. Players have the opportunity to take the throttle of over 50 of the world's most famous aircrafts, as well as being able to dogfight over realistic modern landscapes that have endured years of post-war trauma. [Ubisoft] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 65
  2. Negative: 0 out of 65
  1. H.A.W.X. is the best flight game so far this generation, and a worthy addition to the best in the Clancy stable.
  2. 85
    Even with the small targeting issues, and the lackluster multiplayer Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. is an excellent newcomer to the air combat/shooter genre that has been dominated by Ace Combat, I for one hope that they continue to build on the wonderful ideas that this game has shown, if only to make H.A.W.X. 2 an even better.
  3. H.A.W.X. is a nice, action-packed distraction with some promise, but if you're squeezed on cash and are still waiting on the next Crimson Skies or Ace Combat, you might want to sign on as a pilot-for-rent instead.
  4. Potential is a key word for discussing HAWX. There's a lot of hope within the engine, and the core gameplay is competent enough to secure its position as an emerging IP. It's still a bit rough around the edges, though, and Ubisoft should perhaps be a little bit ashamed for not allowing its natural potential to shine through.

See all 65 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Negative: 4 out of 18
  1. JulianB
    10
    Played this game, it's pure awesomeness. Not simulation, not arcade, but a blend bent on fun and accesibility, giving you control of how you want to play it, bymeans of ERS and assistance on/off. The visuals are tight, sound...sounds very good. An enjoyable experience. Expand
  2. KyleK.
    8
    A total departure from the rest of the Clancy games in that it focuses on pure arcadey fun instead of realism. That being said, it's still a great flight-action game with enough gorgeous jets to make even Ace Combat 5's massive hangar look like a rural airfield. However, the professed "50 planes" does take into account multiple versions of the same aircraft - there are three different F-14s, for instance. The story's also not worth writing home about, and compared to Ace Combat, it's a bit of a cakewalk. That being said, it's a good entry point to the genre and a good in-between while waiting for the inevitable AC7. (Note to Namco Bandai - get on it.) Expand
  3. WillL
    6
    I would certainly have given this game a higher rating if it hadent been so painfully short, literally I finished this game on elite difficulty in under 6 hours, Another problem is that it does what every game with Tom Clancy in the name seems to love to do, involving putting an unrealistically pitiful force to take on an entire army, its fun but at times has needless tediousness. Expand
  4. JohnT
    4
    This game is graphically beautiful, control system is great, but missions are lacking. There are too many step by step instructions throughout the game, and not enough free flight time to attack as you wish. It is a weak rip-off of the Ace Combat series. Also, this game requires you to play it over and over again to unlock basic weapons packages for aircraft. After I completed the campaign I was on lvl 20. Most of the extra weapons packages don't unlock until around lvl 39 or 40. If there were cheats to unlock all the weapons packages there might be some replay value...but unfortunately there isn't. I'm returning this game. Expand

See all 18 User Reviews

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