Tom Clancy's HAWX 2

Fans of the first HAWX will no doubt derive a great deal of joy from another hearty dose of solid dogfighting, but then everyone else will feel the same sort of confused indifference towards the story and will quickly grow tired of shooting down wave after wave of jet fighters.

The flying itself is what matters most and despite the drawbacks, you'll still feel your palms getting sweaty during some of the more dynamic, challenging missions. That being said, the AI spikes halfway through, the control can be iffy during specific actions, the graphics are a little inconsistent, and the special non-flying objectives don't quite cut the mustard.

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 is really a case of more of the same. Fans of the original will enjoy the minor tweaks scattered around, but newcomers likely won't find anything to set this game apart from others in the genre.

While there is a ton of content in this game between all of its modes, all but the missions that take you out of the cockpit play out similarly (take out this target, destroy these planes, and repeat).

For all its sheen, H.A.W.X. remains a curious sideshow in Tom Clancy's murky world rather than a star player.

The system exhibits the surging tendency of a car accelerator rather than the smooth steady power flow of an aircraft's thrust lever, making for an irritating dance of micro-inputs during the delicate maneuvers. [Nov 2010, p.80]

A decent flying game that gives you a fair amount of adrenaline when you take to the skies.

Dogfights in HAWX 2 can be exciting, but some dodgy AI and lackluster missions stop this game from being an air combat ace.

A well-produced sequel to the original that manages to repeat many of its problems. It's still fun, but it's a shame Ubisoft Romania feels little inclination to challenge its established mould – doing so could have yielded a far more interesting end product.

H.A.W.X.2 is a good game that tries to change something in the dogfight genre. Some missions are really different from standard, and the multiplayer is really nice, both cooperative and competitive.

The storyline's barely even worth mentioning over the fact that it's so much of a parody of itself it hurts. [Issue#196, p.89]

When you add all the features up, H.A.W.X. 2 is an improvement over the original, but there is still room to grow.

Overall HAWX 2 tries to build on the solid foundations laid by the original game by adding more variety, but ultimately it fails to recreate the action packed feeling the first game did so well and simply doesn't make the same impact.

Beyond missions that are a touch more variable and slightly better attuned to the story, it's hard to see where HAWX 2 improves over its predecessor. The first game struggled to rise above its own monotonous gameplay and this tedium is only amplified by a sequel - mired in the same monotony - that's been released only a year-and-a-half after the original.

HAWX 2 delivers intense aerial combat and some spectacular views, but gets repetitive after a while and can be very frustrating in single-player mode. Make sure you can play coop before you buy.

Variety makes H.A.W.X. 2 better than its predecessor, but the core gameplay is still pretty much the same. If you are into aerial flight combat, then you will enjoy H.A.W.X. 2.

If you're looking to get in on some air combat without a huge wait, you may be disappointed. More hardcore flight fans, however, will eventually find an enjoyable experience somewhere beneath the fluff.

Ubisoft really dropped the ball with this title. What should be an exciting fast-paced aerial combat game comes off more frustrating than anything because of its control issues, poor A.I, and just downright infuriating level designs.

H.A.W.X. 2 is one repetitive ride that offers little thrills outside of crashing.