GamesRelay

Name: Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

Go on admit it… there was a time when you used to love to run around with your mates in the playground, arms outstretched, imitating a fighter jet… "Neeeeeooooowww…You be Goose, I’ll be Maverick!"

It was a simpler time before jobs, responsibilities and bills, but some things will never be lost with the passing of time.

That's right, just accept it... Deep down, you still think Fighter Jets are cool.

I have never met someone from my age group who does not love Top Gun, (or the poor man's Iron Eagle 1-4), or has not played Fighter Aircraft Top Trumps – One of my personal gaming milestones was when I got an Amiga for Christmas and proceeded to spend the rest of that holiday on F/A-18 Interceptor. A defining title in gaming history.

Shortly after this, excusing a brief hiatus with 'Fighter Bomber' and 'Afterburner', I ditched plane games for… well almost every other genre. I blame FPS and the dawn of Survival Horror.

It is with Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. however, that I have decided to redress the imbalance of my game collection.

I made the purchase in spite of the average reviews most other gaming sites awarded it. That is to say, because it offered something substantially different to the rest of the current titles out there, and that Ubisoft's Tom Clancy franchise has built a reputation for quality and immersive gaming experiences – and excluding some minor gripes, I'm pleased to say that H.A.W.X exceeded my expectations.

H.A.W.X – whose acronym has been skilfully shoe-horned into "High Altitude Warfare eXperimental squadron" (Awesome!) is an aerial combat game which places the emphasis on combat, rather than simulation.

Shakespearian wordsmithery aside, Ubisoft Romania have crafted a very pretty looking game which is set in the near future of 2014 where you play as David Crenshaw, a member of the aforementioned elite squadron. Set in a similar time as the Ghost Recon games, H.A.W.X. is a fast-paced, and story-light dogfighting arcade game and I have to say that I am completely in love with it.

The game format is as you would expect. Choose from a wide variety of aircraft both past and present, as well as a range of devasting weapon combinations to suit your mission - more of which can be unlocked as you progress through the game.

Once selected, you go through a mission briefing section and you are up, up and away. One point I do want to make is that whilst a means to an end, the mission briefing is a little wooden – It seems they blew the budget on the intro movie, because the little heads that appear via “video link” to describe the mission make Thunderbirds look like the gold standard of lip-syncing expertise.

That is a minor gripe however, as when the game loads you are met with a great experience. Gorgeous visuals, responsive controls and some thrilling dogfights that will "take your breath awaaay" - Sorry.

The visuals are dramatically added to via the inclusion of real-life satellite imagery, provided by GeoEye. This is one of the features that really sets H.A.W.X. apart from the rest of the market. Whilst flying to your next waypoint, you will find yourself moving around just to check out some of the awe inspiring scenery.

Whilst there are some very minor complaints of this scenery pixellating at low levels (what do you expect with satellite images – they are shot from SPACE!) no one buys a game for the scenery alone! You will be pleased to know that the combat and control systems work as well as the visuals.

Your fighter is as responsive as you could hope for, to the point where you could be flying on a collision course towards two skyscrapers and with one awesome flick of the right stick, you instantly bank to fly perfectly between the two. So awesome in fact, that it makes you want to do something Tom Cruise-esque, like jumping up and down on the sofa.

Also the HUD works well with the standard lock on icons, and a nice added feature is a mini picture of your next target appears in the top left, to illustrate distance and movement.

H.A.W.X. also brings with it a new game feature called the E.R.S or Enhanced Reality System. This tool projects onto your HUD and will help you either stay alive when evading missiles, or get you to your target much more rapidly for an easier lock-on.