Games

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

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

Release date: March 6 2009

Publisher: Ubisoft

Format reviewed: PS3

RRP: £49.99

Rating: 8/10

As a new sub-genre from the Tom Clancy franchise, who have been working with the designers that brought us such gems like 'Far Cry', 'Prince of Persia' and of course the previous Tom Clancy games, this title certainly has a lot to live up to.

And fans of the previous Clancy titles will not be disappointed. Although this is an entirely new chapter in the franchise, H.A.W.X proves that the sky's the limit for flight simulator games featuring intense dogfights and gravity-defying manoeuvres that are seriously fun to master.

In brief

This latest offering, set in the not so distant future, jets the gamer into the boots of a highly decorated fighter pilot David A Crenshaw who has been headhunted by the boss of a Private Military Company (PMC) to lead a team of elite fighters. This basically involves flying lots planes and generally blowing up anything that moves.

The game itself is visually pleasing with a soft fluidness to your flight and astonishing attention to detail on the ground. Slightly disappointing is the fact that the people at Playstation HQ have not included the use of the Playsation 3's unique 'sixaxis' opting for the L toggle as the primary direction control.

A new feature to this game is Enhanced Reality system (ERS) which can turn the novice gamer into a deadly airborne assassin by simply following a series of translucent triangles in an aim to get a better angle on your enemies.

This however does have a downside as gamers can get caught up in a one on one dog fight when it's necessary to be concentrating more on the bigger picture. But used as an aid and not a guide, this feature will have you wiping multiple bogies off your screen in no time.

The scoring system is much like that most popular first person shooters, acquiring experience points to 'level up' as it were, unlocking new maps, new planes and new weapons. The gameplay is good enough to have you scouring the skies for hours and missions are of a suitable length, packed with aerial action to keep those with shorter attention span interested. This might have something to do with the lack of tedious checkpoints which some previous combat games have been famed for.

What's the score?

In a world where the action flight simulator is becoming dated, the people at Ubisoft have taken their antecedent knowledge of what makes a war game tick and applied it to one of the oldest and most adored game structures ever created.

And with 50 planes to unlock as you play 'Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X' constantly gives gamers the incentive to buckle up and have another go.

Devoted fans of Clancy's classics such as 'Rainbow Six' will find this title a refreshing challenge. Those who are new to the franchise will be given a taste of one of the most sophisticated and thrilling gaming experiences yet to land on the PS3.