Tom-Clancys-H.A.W.X-2-Review-Xbox-360-Box-Art-feature

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X 2 Review – Xbox 360

Title: Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X 2Tom Clancys H.A.W.X 2 Review - Xbox 360 Box Art
Platform: PS3, 360, PC, Wii
Release Date: 3rd September 2010
Genre: Flight Simulation, Arcade
Developer: Ubisoft Romania
Publisher: Ubisoft

Pros
– Breathtaking dogfights

Cons
– Mediocre graphics
– Exact mission structures as HAWX 1
– Boring multiplayer
– Boring UAV Levels

 

 

 

 

Reviewed by Jason N 

Singleplayer Review

Break the laws of physics with the latest flight simulator, HAWX II as you fly through at speeds up to Mach 2. Just one year ago, HAWX was released and was widely appreciated by critics from around the world, and yet a sequel is so swiftly formed. Unfortunately, HAWX II does not deliver the same mouth dropping effect as its older brother did and instead feels like it was rushed out just to milk some money. HAWX II has breathtaking aerial dog fights, the same mediocre graphics as HAWX, and the exact same mission’s designs as HAWX and is a more story orientated game. HAWX II certainly has its good points however the developers should’ve put in much more development time to make this game much better if it was to be a worthy successor of the original enthralling game, HAWX.

The dog fighting aspect is the most solid and crucial point of any combat flight simulator and HAWX II has certainly captured this aspect well. The dog fights are nearly always intense as you weave around dodging the latest heat seeking missiles or anti aircraft weaponry. There is a large variety of weaponry that is available to use for the latest jet fighters such as auto-cannons, rockets as well as all kinds of missiles. Dog fights are always frequent and always feel different due to the large array of aircraft you can pilot. A plane ranging from Russian “Migs” to British “Harriers” are all in the game and every single cockpit feels and look different and deliver a real sense of reality and truly insinuates you in the heat of the action. A new style of “UAV” game play is extensively applied within HAWX II’s single player mode and involves you to either deploy infra red strobes or follow vehicles from the safety of the UAV. This sounds like a good idea however the developers have spent too much effort into this and it becomes extremely boring and pointless. The point of HAWX II is to deliver a serious heart racing jet fighting experience however you will find yourself bored to tears piloting a UAV and going about.

Tom Clancys H.A.W.X 2 Review Screen 2

The graphics are more of the same as in HAWX. All the jet fighters look good and realistic however essentially everything on the ground can be described in one word, ugly. The tanks, buildings, vehicles and the ground itself have rough and horrible textures and once you fly low, these flaws are very noticeable. The developers should have spent more time perfecting the graphics of this game before quickly launching it to gain some quick money. Another embarrassing flaw that HAWX II suffers is that the voice synchronization is not properly times and whenever you have a video feed from your plane the synchronization between the person’s mouth and voice are not accurate. These small and embarrassing flaws are exactly what is keeping this game from being as good as it’s older brother.

The missions in HAWX II are far from original and feel exactly like the original game. The exact same missions are present in HAWX II. Many people may think, most flight simulators are the same thing and most missions are the same; however what they do not understand is that flight simulators can differentiate themselves from others by simply changing objectives. HAWX II does not even bother to slightly change the mission designs from HAWX and everything about the game feels the same. The same objectives such as defending a position until help arrives or staying within a certain zone to engage enemies is frequently repeated during the single player campaign. This game had so much potential, yet greedy and impatient developers were too eager to “milk” some money out and obviously they feel it’s more about quantity then quantity.

Tom Clancys H.A.W.X 2 Review Screen 1

Singleplayer Score: 50/100

Multiplayer Review

The multiplayer component of HAWX II more or the same the material from the original HAWX and could have been much better. There have been a few added game modes to keep the online active and the jet fighting competitive however the online component has been under-developed and is missing features that keep the game fun. More game modes should have been added and an even larger selection of places should have made an appearance. In conclusion, HAWX II’s online component can be described short of a mess.

Multiplayer Score: 49/100 

Tom Clancys H.A.W.X 2 Review Screen 5

Overall

Overall, HAWX II is a seriously troubled game that should have spent more time in development and not rushed out swiftly. The lackluster single player is truly a boring and enduring experience that gamers should not have to go through. After playing the game, I was able to deduce that the development team who made the game wished to simply make some quick money by copy and pasting concepts from HAWX and applying it to a second game and giving it a shallow coating of sugar such as adding boring UAV levels in. Just a big mess.

Overall Score: 50/100