Throw the Tom Clancy franchise at a neglected genre and you have the makings of a game that deserves your attention. Give that game a terrible name and clunky cover art, and some might wonder whether it is really worth a look after all. H.A.W.X. might have a ridiculous name and terrible cover art, but gamers not dissuaded by the awkward-looking package will find a surprisingly satisfying experience. The game thrusts you into the Tom Clancy universe quickly, tasking you with providing air support to Mitchell and his squad of G.R.A.W. soldiers on the very first mission. From there, the game delves into a story that frequently jumps years at a time to explore the future of Private Military Corporations in a less dense and heavy-handed manner than Metal Gear Solid. You eventually land in a situation leading to World War, but with everything taking place in the air and radio-transmitted plot, the story lacks the personality to make you care much.
You will quickly begin skipping over the pre-mission briefings as soon as you discern what types of weapons are required for the task. In a jet fighter game, it is all about the action, which is fast-paced and exciting. The best part of the eighteen-mission campaign is the drop-in / drop-out co-op over Live for up to four players. Instead of ratcheting up enemy armor to make things more difficult, the game increases the number of enemies in a mission relative to the number of players. The game separates difficulty by the armor, weapons, and flight mode available, so each player gets to pick their own. It leaves the game just as difficult, if not more, with friends as it is on your own. Choosing your plane, weapons, and difficulty for each individual mission requires some thought. Each mission has a mix of enemy types, with some requiring bombs to drop on enemy clusters on the ground. Splitting up the duties of air and ground attacks between you and your friends makes the missions go much smoother.
The planes generally handle well, although there is a decent amount of handholding that goes along for the first quarter of the campaign. The early portion of the game leaves Flight Assistance on. In this mode, the camera is directly behind the plane and the plane never allows you to stall the engine. The planes handle fine, but shaking an incoming missile can be difficult without the use of the available dodge paths; which appear on-screen when you hit 'X'. The same paths are available to intercept enemy planes, though things get much more interesting when you learn the Assistance-Off mode. Double-clicking either trigger turns the mode on or off, allowing you to shift quickly between the two modes of flying, which is helpful for dealing with differing enemy types.
