Written by: PlayDevil.com Staff

 

 

 

GamesCom is almost over so demo of "H.A.W.X. 2".,  the latest Tom Clancy’s game has hit the Xbox Marketplace.

 

The 800MB demo contains 2 different levels, and here are our thoughts.

 

Once again, the focus is very much upon arcade flight in this Tom Clancy game- although real life situations are very much part of the picture.

 

Your plane, however, turns on a dime, with no chance of stalling unless you really hammer the brakes in turns, whilst you are armed to the teeth with around 100 missiles at the start of a mission! Take-offs/ landings are also really easy unless you suffer from Parkinsons- all you need to do is follow your route in, and get the angle right, which is given to you by on-screen prompts.

 

The game introduces in-flight refuelling, however, and I found this to be improbably difficult- taking three attempts to get it right- bizarre given that the rest of the manoeuvres are a) so easy and that b) on ‘easy’ the whole game is very easy. It really is difficult judging your speed and direction to latch on, especially as the refuelling jet moves around in mid-air.

 

The two missions each begin with typical Tom Clancy CGI cut-scenes to raise the tension around the mission- and from what I’ve seen, the plot looks typically bombastic stuff that should prove to be enjoyable. The first mission is a day mission, with a combination of bomber and fighter targets- the action on screen can be pretty crazy at times, but it was definitely fun, and the mountain views were stunning.

 

At the same time, the controversial mode in the first game that zoomed you back from the action has returned, but feels much better this time round- you get a much better sense of the action, although it’s still difficult to get a good idea of exactly where your nose is pointing. It’s an excellent way of avoiding missiles though and surveying the battlefield.

 

Next up is a night mission that involves taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier, and some bombing of enemy targets whilst avoiding heavy flak from the ground. It was quite a tense mission, and the bombing reticule works nicely, allowing you to target your objectives easily whilst still being able to keep the plane level.

 

Both missions were fairly short, but the original game had plenty of content, so hopefully there will still be plenty of missions available when the full game hits in September.

 

The full game also promises improved multiplayer- and with the gameplay and graphics enhancements that you can see have been implemented in the demo, I’m excited for the full game when it hits retail in around a month’s time.