Action packed aerial combat

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X takes the series into the air, in this fast paced aerial combat game. The demo gives you two missions – a training mission, and a hectic battle over Rio.

The action takes place in 2021, and the world hasn’t got any more peaceful, luckily for gamers. This is not a technical flight sim – while there are of course numerous keys to use, it’s a forgiving, arcade-like control system.

The training mission takes you gently through basic controls and maneuvers, including what seems to be the game’s party piece: dropping thrust to flip over and fall back behind an enemy. There are two flight modes, a traditional behind aircraft view, and the ‘unassisted’ mode that allows you to pull off dangerous moves, with the camera much further away from the plane.

This, along with the easy controls, make dogfights a little easier to manage, and give the battles a really cinematic feel. Your wingmen are in constant contact, and you are given running updates on the battle as a whole, along with new objectives. Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X fights are intense, exciting and great to look at.

In terms of story, it doesn’t seem like anything revolutionary. Your pilot is described as a maverick, for example, which is nothing new! However, the story is less important than the gameplay, and it’s really fun in Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X is a surprisingly accessible, visually impressive game that keeps the emphasis on action rather than detailed simulation.