Or, the cannon is a pilot's best friend.
When I first read about the reveal that there was a sequel to the first Hawx game I couldn't help but to be surprised because I didn't honestly expect it. I've already talked (way too much) about the game, and the "tie-in" book to it. before but I didn't expect a sequel with the lackluster reception it got. And it with all right, the game just isn't that great. It has it's moments but it just isn't that great.
But now the sequel is out. It's been out for the console for a while now and recently came out for the PC as well after an unexplained delay that I really wish what it was for. So the question is, does the sequel stand against it's predecessor?
Spoilers may occur.
Too Long, Didn't Read it version: Okay game with some minor improvement but nothing amazing added to it. Pick it up at a bargain bin if you want some decent arcade flying action. Also features the Ubisoft DRM solution.
The game takes place sometime after the first game. I have no real idea when to be honest since the plot isn't really mentioned at any point during the campaign. But it's the normal Clancy fare involving terrorists and nuclear weapons. Nothing we haven't seen before. Except this time you get to play as three different pilots, one American, one British and one Russian. And you'll visit such locations as Moscow, the Caucasus and Norway and will see you preforming a wide variety of tasks. Which is a rather refreshing change from the previous game repetition of either escorts or area defense.
Except that you only play three missions as the British pilot, one of them being a tutorial mission and only five missions as the Russian pilot so you spend the majority of the 20 mission campaign as the American pilot. And it's rather short as well, the 20 mission pass on rather quickly and you'll most likely be done with it in about 4 or 5 hours or so if you're decent at the game. And while the new varied missions are a great idea they developers seemed to have missed on a point that actually made the previous game great in some respects. Namely the massive air battles. There really just isn't an equivalent in the sequel to the previous game's massive air battle levels such as levels in Rio, Washington DC and Tokyo. There is one mission towards the end of the game that is kinda like those but that doesn't completely deliver either. While the campaign is a lot better and varied it just feels a bit dull. The final mission is a refreshing change from the horribly trite final mission of the first game and is actually kinda fun, even if it's obvious that they had been looking rather intently at Ace Combat 4 while making it.
The various drone levels and the Specter gunship level is also marred a bit by the controls as you're forced to steer somewhat awkwardly with the joystick or the arrowkeys since they didn't bother adding mouse support for those sections for some reason.
The fact that you can't select what plane you want to fly until you replay the mission is a bit boring as well.
The music is pretty samey as well with the exception of the Russian section with some pretty decent male choir parts. But otherwise it's nothing spectacular.
Other new additions to the game is the survival and arcade mode that are available in full after the campaign has been finished. Arcade is simply selected campaign levels with an added twist to them for a the extra challenge while survival tasks you with surviving ten waves of enemies that increase in number and difficulty. Multiplayer co-op includes both the campaign and survival mode.
Except that the survival mode isn't that much about survival as it can not be won by surviving all ten waves. Because then at the last wave you are tasked at destroying everything on the map. And this includes both the enemy fighters and any assorted ground units that may have spawned during the subsequent waves, all within a time span of ten minutes or less. So why they're really calling it survival I don't know. Not to mention there is only three levels to pick from with the last one tasking you do it within 45 seconds per round and only a few minutes during the last. Which seems a little bit extreme to me.
A chance to be able to customize what the different waves consisted of would've been nice for some variations as fighting the same old planes over and over again on the same two (three) maps get's rather dull quickly.
The game's UI has been changed and trimmed down somewhat from the previous game and this time you have both an altitude and speedometer available in OFF mode. Which is also available from the beginning of the game. Other changes include some changes and addition when it comes to the weapons with the addition of precision missiles and bombs and gunpods. The latter being probably one of the most fun additions to the game as they have infinite ammunition and are incredibly strong. The enemy AI has also been improved and now is a lot more aggressive and evasive than before and will preform OFF mode moves as well. Also the XP system from before is still in but this time you unlock planes and various passive and triggered abilities with points achieved from ranking up. You also gain experience with the specific plane you're flying with to master it and unlock alternative armaments and passive abilities. As well as being able to customize the plane's load out to suit your own taste.
Except that this usually comes in the form of them repeatedly spamming the flares and flying in an incredibly predictable pattern that you will see very quickly and most fights usually turn into a turning fight until the enemy decides to break off during which you just plant a couple of missiles up their tailpipe or manage to shoot them down with the cannon as they're turning. Sometimes I can't help but to wonder if they haven't programmed the wrong AI as they seem to behaving more as if they were supposed to be flying WW2 fighters instead of modern jets with their constant urge to be so close to you. The fact that there is no collision detecting between airplanes is a bit of a blessing in disguise as most fights would've otherwise ended up with you colliding with other planes.
Which becomes blindingly obvious especially when playing the survival mode. In some cases you can essentially hold down the trigger for the cannon ans you're looping and score repeated hits on enemies as the hit boxes for the cannons are incredibly big.
And the much touted OFF mode? It's useless to be honest. During the first game you could use it rather effectively to out turn opponents and managing to throw off a couple of missiles at them but now with the new AI that likes to essentially stay as close as possible to you it's become pointless to use and you're usually just better of using the airbrakes while turning to get a drop on the AI.
The new precision weapons are interesting but they only really work best in the single player campaign as you're moved into a different viewpoint during it to use the weaponry which leaves you exposed to pretty much everything. And the fact that there is no indication if you're taking damage at all while in the mode is a tad annoying as well. Especially now with ground based AA being a lot more accurate and damaging.
The reward unlock system or P.E.C. is a small nuisance, the game doesn't actually prompt you at all about it as you're playing so more than often you'll be left wondering why you haven't received any new planes to use until you go around exploring the menu's.
The plane mastery system is okay, even if some of the predefined load outs are rather annoying at times. The fact that you can customize your own load out however I like and is a very neat idea. Even if the interface for it is rather clumsy to use.
The Ubisoft DRM system is a minor nuisance as well but I imagine some may dislike it due to it's requirement of constant internet connection needed. Also I wish I could explain what Uplay but I haven't gotten a foggiest idea of what it does or what it's for.
Also the game repeatedly asks you if you want to lower the difficulty of the game after dying three times in a row. Regardless of the death was caused by you plowing into the ground or not. It get's old really fast.
In the end HAWX 2 is an okay game. It has some improvements over the first one but offers nothing really amazing and new. The campaign is rather lackluster and the survival mode, while fun for a while, get's worn out somewhat fast. If you go into it expecting more of the same as the previous game you will get that. If you go into it expecting something extra you will most likely be disappointed. I'd recommend waiting a while for the price to drop and some stability issues straightened out.
It's a bargain bin game if anything.
Also, don't buy the DLC for the game. It's for content already in the game. And five dollars or so for a few planes, maps and skins for airplanes already in the game just isn't worth it.
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