Tom Clancy’s HAWX 2 Review (PC)

Ubisoft rules out some of the dynamics of the first game to offer a less
futuristic title, more traditional but also more varied. When a game
comes out and divides its qualities and flaws, in general it is expected
that his suite fixes it and is able to gather a little more crowds. Or
worse, you can always settle for a certain status quo. HAWX two chose a
third way to change things but not what most people would have wanted.
However attention, there are nice additions. First, in this sequel, it
no longer represents Crenshaw but three different drivers, one belonging
to the squadron HAWX 2, one Russian and one Scottish. Three characters
for a screenplay based on yet another possible third world war but which
is very difficult to grip, to the point of zapping the most cinematic.
Scenes also not only confusing but often poorly dubbed and not really of
great beauty.

Tom Clancy is still a strong brand in the video game world, thanks to
the enduring fame of the American writer and author of novels of
geopolitics and war, and also to the generally high quality of titles
that bear his name. Sagas like Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow
Six Clancy should make you smile, though probably not a fan of video
games. But his name, for millions of users around the world, is
synonymous with warfare accompanied by a credible story.

Ubisoft has never hidden its intention to expand the range of titles
under the name Tom Clancy, and last year launched at the beginning of
the year, HAWX, a futuristic flight combat game, which included a number
of new playable on gender, simulating advanced systems to track our
enemies, and even including a special way in which we saw our plane in
the third person when trying to hunt down the enemies. All this has been
ruled out for the sequel, which is set in an era closer to today. There
are some tracks, such as visual guides when landing and refueling, but
otherwise the game has no unorthodox things for a flight simulator,
which they backed by the complexity of the first find in this sequel
HAWX a very different game.

HAWX 2 loses, then that unique character, for better and for worse, the
first delivery, but it compensates by offering a variety tremendously
increased in the missions, which actually helps the game easily hook the
player. Flight missions themselves, "classic" because to say the least;
have many twists and different situations. In almost all situations
combined pure and simple attack, which we will end up with dozens of
enemy planes and ground targets, with other defense, very common in the
genre, in which we need to avoid ending up with the enemy aircraft or
ground targets ally. But there will be many special situations that come
into play elements that provide much more variety, such as interactive
weapons, give orders to colleagues, handheld devices via satellite
attack and several more.

Always oriented arcade HAWX 2, however, somewhat changed its gameplay.
First, artificial intelligence knows that some improvements can be felt
especially in his ability to use decoys and avoid your missiles.
Suddenly, the use of the gun is adjusted, which makes a bit more
challenging dogfights and forced to engage in some prosecutions. In the
same spirit, the famous RHS assistance pilot who guided you in
approaches to interception or bombing is not activated at any moment,
but comes at some key moments such as landing or refueling. Ah yes, that
too is new. Now we can take off and land.

We can affirm that on the takeoff phase is of little interest and is
only to start the engine and then speed up. It is soft, it’s long and it
is not particularly immersive. The possibility of land is already more
interesting. First she asked that we be careful in its approach,
secondly it allows, if an air base is in the area during the mission, go
to replenish ammunition and health at any time. Moreover, two or three
times during the campaign, you will be prompted to refuel in flight. A
delicate operation that requires some skill but is ultimately a little
gadget used in the game.

Moreover, in addition to these classic missions, air combat, the game
features in which we handle an unmanned aircraft, or equipment of an
unmanned aircraft. In these missions the game is in line with other
evidence, showing a satellite image, or night vision or thermal, and
asking us to shoot enemies (choosing between different types of
ammunition), protecting an ally unit, ensuring their flight or promoting
their raid.

Other missions will be listening and spying, using an unmanned aircraft
to mark targets, track conversations or make inquiries with the ground.
Perhaps these alternative missions are about 15 or 20% of the game as
much, but will provide enough variety, without going to become
monotonous, and above all give the title some ability to dive. Airplanes
games from last year’s trying to involve the player in history through
dialogue in the missions and cut scenes before and after, but these
stages will involve much more, having to track terrorist telephone
conversation Time , or explore the ground after going to bomb your
fighter.

To change a bit the pace of progress Ubisoft has also integrated
sequences "alternative". A few times, you take control of UAVs is to
deliver you sessions of espionage, or for rolling ground troops. You can
even find a stage on an AC-130 will navigate the turrets. Yes, as in
Modern Warfare. If all looks like a rail shooter and a bit surprising in
the context, at least it helps out a bit of progress and bring some
immersion by making us identify ourselves targets that are must then
bomb. The idea is nice and fits with other quality after the first game:
the diversity of environments and situations proposed. Even if we
deplore the lack of spectacular locations, such as those proposed by the
first episode, Washington, Rio or Cape Canaveral. Well, now, it remains
to address sensitive subjects.

Another big change, a taboo has been broken in games of aircraft (and in
the 80 and 90 did not exist), which are the takeoffs and landings. In
many of the missions of the game we have to take off and land from an
aerodrome or an aircraft carrier, and some even will have to land in the
middle of the refueling mission for ammunition and to "heal" the wounds
of our aircraft. The landing system developed by Ubisoft’s pretty well
done, without being too demanding but requiring the player more or less
close to the runway and land with a minimum balance. You can then slow
down and even warping to correct the course of our plane on the runway,
while we’re stopping. The takeoff is simpler still, of course, having to
accelerate to some speed and then lift the nose to become airborne.

The takeoff and landing can laziness in some missions, which can be
considered an unnecessary addition, but it gives the game more
immersive. These sequences to take advantage of radio talks and
additional information about the mission, which makes what we’ll do in
heaven, has a little more sense. In addition, refueling in the missions
that they can be made longer (ie, that we may launch more missiles),
which allows some have twists and unexpected situations and leave enough
of what can be considered "the norm."

Another detail that makes the game more varied weaponry is interactive.
Of course, the basic weapon we find in almost all missions, apart from
the gun, is the heat-seeking missile, a classic air to air combat, and
we will use most often to destroy enemy planes after many turns and
maneuvers at high speed to get to their six. But the game also includes
numerous weapons, depending on each mission, some automatic and these
missiles, and other interactive features. Among the machines are
radar-guided missiles (we have to keep the spotlight focused on the
plane we want to tear down), cluster bombs or rocket launcher, but some
weapons are much more interactive crumb.

For example, there are bombs that will go directly to us, for a few
seconds, controlling the missile in the first person and leading to the
target and can even enter "terminal velocity" to do everything faster.
Another harness it from above, while our plane goes into a sort of
autopilot mode, targeting buildings with adequate precision. Apart from
these weapons of the aircraft itself, in the middle of the missions also
allows access to artillery and control ourselves, destroying ground
targets in support of our ever-endangered troops. As in previous cases,
these additions, which appear in some missions, do they ever get out of
the standard and are more varied and addictive.

These changes are quite radical playable compared to the first game,
whose main asset to differentiate the game of life aircraft trajectories
were guided to intercept aircraft and thus in the end we saw everything
in third person (remains of Anyway, view the "battlefield" similar to
this mode, but not mandatory). HAWX two discards all that, keeping the
guides only for landing and refueling in the air, and instead opts for a
classic gameplay but aiming for a varied design of the missions. The
result is better than in the previous game, which is good news.

If Ubisoft has added things, others have simply been crowded out. The
support crew for example, becomes an option made available in certain
missions only. Worse, and downright horrifying, it is possible to change
your view on the fly. If you want to switch to cockpit view and the
third person, you will need to pause the game, go into options and
change the camera mode. So excuse me but: noted? A serious problem which
we add ergonomic interface sometimes overloaded with information. When
the screen display your three objectives of Defense, 20 potential
targets, a window showing a missile lock on you within a window which
includes a few indicators of communication of threats, it is simple, we
does nothing.

And it is not long to suffer as the two HAWX missions tend to become
confused. Almost all of these are missions in which we must support and
protect other troops, often several groups at that. Then it is clear
what kind of mission, it puts all this pressure, but after a while, you
feel especially deprived of his freedom, constantly watching the health
of the troops, playing with feeling constant under the yoke of a
stopwatch invisible. The rate of sulfur and ultra confusing interface
does not help to know where our help is most expected. Go here, do it,
watch it, dark there, but not there, not here and attention we will
shoot you. All that while battling to avoid enemy missiles.

Other than that, HAWX 2 has more multiplayer modes. We have a
cooperative mode in which up to four players can play through the
network, joining the fly, and a competitive multiplayer where up to
eight players can compete both individually and in teams in air battles
over the network. On the technical side is where the game shines least
showing some decent graphics but not impressive, either at the level of
detail of the ground or in the aircraft. Everything works perfectly, but
we will not stand gaping in the process, as may happen in other games,
but the graphics just met with some interesting and good production
behind the cinematic, but not before becoming a and after in the genre.

The sound, however, has received a great treatment, with numerous sound
effects for different aircraft and weapons, an appropriately epic
soundtrack, with its different shades (the melodies of Russian missions
have that touch of "The Hunt Red October "), and exceptional dubbed into
Castilian in the line of other Ubisoft games. In some missions, only
the aircraft he left the ground that we must already dodging three
missiles. We may end up stuck at six cattle behind and then having to
spend long minutes to linking avoidance maneuvers. You can imagine the
result when the meantime, the ground troops are rolling in just 2
minutes. This is more of challenge, it’s boredom. A feeling that is
reinforced by another change difficult to understand: the degradation of
sensations. Both the first component offered cool arcade feel, as here
we must deal with a unit that has no inertia and moves very dry, almost
jerky and not very convincing rendering speed. Basically, take his foot
playing HAWX 2 is almost a gamble. And it is not limited to the
multiplayer deathmatch that will save the setting.

Conclusion:

HAWX 2 is a much more complete game than the last. You do not have this
commitment to differentiation with these dynamics playable futuristic,
but instead is a game much more varied, more orthodox in their play but
also much better approach to its mission, full of twists and novel
situations . It remains a game suitable only for fans of this type of
security, but the elimination of the eccentric details of the first game
makes it much more open and accessible to all players, they will find a
comprehensive and addictive campaign. Some ideas are welcome, as the
use of sequences into a drone or AC-130, improved artificial
intelligence is also welcome, but what about feelings? Too many missions
boil down again to dodge missiles shot for 3 before he can truly act in
the midst of an unnamed air bazaar. In the end, everything feels a bit
too version 1.5 missing care.