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 Post subject: Tom Clancy's: H.A.W.X.
PostPosted: 28 Mar 2010 00:45 
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Joined: 25 Mar 2010 20:32
Posts: 1247
Location: Austin, TX.
To start off my first game review for the AM forum, I'll be doing H.A.W.X. It's a rather odd choice since I'm usually playing first person shooters on my PC. I've enjoyed aerial dogfighting games and there weren't many out for the PC but luckily, H.A.W.X. came out for the PC and helped revive my love for flight games (and no, I don't like flight simulators.) So, before I start to ramble on with a bunch of nonsense, let me dissect this game for you guys.

Story: You are a pilot by the name of Crenshaw who will be dropped from the Air Force due to some reason or another and is hired by a PMC known as Artemis. As a member of this PMC, you'll be going to different locales doing different things ranging from escort and defense to knocking out targets and doing bombing runs. The story is a bit flat but isn't completely dull. You kind of lose track of the game's story when you start to appreciate the bigger things the game has to offer (big list of military aircraft as well as the beautiful locales.)

Requirements: This game doesn't require a big beefy system but to truly enjoy the sights, it's best to have more than what the basic minimum requirements are. So, for the minimum requirements, they are:

- OS: Windows XP, Vista, or 7 (Windows 7 isn't listed as an OS requirement but it works in 7. Service packs are required for XP and Vista)
- Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.0ghz or higher. AMD Athlon XP 2000+ or higher.
- Memory: 1gb or higher **2gb or higher for Vista**
- Graphics: 128mb DirectX compliant, Shader Model 2.0-enabled video card
- Storage: 7gb of space
- Multiplayer: 128 kbps upstream or faster

Do know that these are the MINIMUM requirements and probably won't let you see all the eye-candy this game can deliver.

Gameplay: There really isn't much to say here since it plays exactly like what Ace Combat plays like. I highly recommend purchasing a controller to play this game since using the keyboard can cause massive amounts of pain in your hands. Also, as a side note: for some reason, the DirectX 10 version of the game is quite buggy (at least that's what I've experienced) but works flawlessly in DirectX 9 (there isn't a HUGE difference between the 2.) The list of military jets is very big and comprises of old planes like the MIG-21 and F4 to the newer jets like the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 JSF. Most of these jets you unlock as you go on through the single-player campaign while others you unlock by leveling up to higher ranks. This ensures that the game will have moderate replay value since you unlock like 75% of the list of planes playing through the story while the rest are unlocked by leveling up (and exp. points are hard to gain since they give you a little bit for each kill you make.) Ubisoft adds in a unique fighting style called Assistance Off. What this does is once you press CTRL (default button), it turns off your "Assistance" and goes into a third-person view of the game. This enables you to do trickier moves like drifting to dodge missiles and helps you maneuver your jet better to get faster lock-ons onto the enemy. It's a very unique feature in the game but I don't really use it when playing with the controller.

Graphics: One word can complete this part of the review: BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, this game has beautiful environments and the cities you are flying over are just breath-taking. The jets themselves look identical to their real-life counterparts. But it's the environment that makes this game truly beautiful. The graphics are very easy on the eyes and will make you forget about your objectives in the game sometimes. There is also a free flight mode where you can fly freely in the maps that you have unlocked with the jets that you have unlocked also. This helps to let you really enjoy the sights without having to worry about being shot down or failing a mission.

Sound: The sounds from the jets are superb and truly fit the planes. The voice acting, however, is kinda cheesy and a bit dork-ish. Other than that, it's pretty good. The music...well I didn't pay attention to the music since I was enjoying the game too much.

Misc: As stated before, this game is better played on a controller rather than the keyboard since playing on the keyboard can be extremely uncomfortable. The controller I use is a Mad Catz Xbox 360 wired controller. You can use an original Xbox 360 WIRED controller on your PC (download the driver also.) There are other controllers that are supported but I won't list all of them here since it's a big list.

All in all, this game is a huge break for me from all the FPS games I've been playing. Beautiful graphics, slick controls, and a huge roster of jets. This game brings back good ol' memories for me. While the story is pretty short and the plot isn't a huge blockbuster, it probably won't be the reason that you're going to be playing it. Steam has a demo that you can try out and that demo really did help me in my purchase of the game. This game deserves an 8.75/10.

Pros:
- Very beautiful
- Slick controls (when using a controller)
- Big list of realistic, modern jets
- Nice variety of weapons

Cons:
- DirectX 10 version is buggy and crashes
- Short story
- Some missions are nearly impossible to complete on higher difficulties


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